4 Players Who Could Surprisingly Make Toronto Maple Leafs Line-Up
No. 1: Joey Anderson
Prior to joining the Toronto Maple Leafs, Anderson had played 52 games in the NHL and was blossoming into a player who could be an everyday fourth-liner, with potential to move up the line-up.
However, since joining the Leafs, he’s only played six NHL games and hasn’t registered a point. Despite the disappointment of not cracking the Leafs roster, he’s been one of the best players on the Toronto Marlies.
Anderson had 26 goals in 56 games last year and showed that he’s deserving of the next step.
This is a huge year for Anderson, as he’s on the final year of a three-year deal with the Leafs. If Anderson can have a good training camp, it wouldn’t be shocking to see him start the season on the Leafs fourth-line.
No. 2: Jordie Benn
Maybe this one isn’t too surprising, but if you asked Leafs fans during the offseason if they’d want Jordie Benn in the team’s opening line-up, they’d probably say “no, thanks.”
However, Benn brings a lot to the table that a few young prospects can’t, with his most important asset being experience.
With 595 NHL games under his belt, Benn has been a steady NHLer for the past decade. He’s never been one to provide much offensive output, but his size is always a welcomed sight on the blue-line.
At 6-foot-2, 200 pounds, Benn’s size is always an advantage. Although, he’s not a huge physical defenseman, that reach and size in front of the net is important to help clear pucks.
You probably don’t want Benn to stay on the roster all year, but at the end of the day, he is a NHL defenseman. He’s not going to make huge mistakes like a young prospect could, but instead will be a solid professional.
No. 3: Pavel Gogolev
This would be a huge shock, as I bet there’s not a ton of Toronto Maple Leafs fans aware of this player, but there’s an outside chance that Gogolev plays his way onto the roster.
For those of you unfamiliar, Gogolev is the ultimate goal-scorer. Throughout his junior career and now early into his professional career, all this player does is score.
In junior, he had a 30-goal campaign and then followed it up with a 45-goal season. After junior, he then scored six goals in his first 13 AHL games and nine goals in his first 14 ECHL games last year.
More likely than not, Gogolev will play a full season with the Marlies this year and develop his overall game before taking a leap to the NHL, but he could surprise people in training camp.
At 6-foot-1, 180 pounds, Gogolev could bring size to the Leafs and potentially ride shotgun on the Leafs second-line with John Tavares and William Nylander. That would be a huge shock to put him ahead of Nick Robertson, but Robertson’s size is still an issue.
Since he’s waivers exempt, I’d love to see Gogolev start the season and play a few games with the big club before sending him down (if they want), but make sure you watch this player in camp because he could make some noise.
No. 4: Victor Mete
With 236 games of NHL experience, the 24-year-old is bound to crack the Toronto Maple Leafs roster if Liljegren and Muzzin aren’t ready to play on opening night.
Mete was a high-end prospect and is currently on his third NHL team in only a few years. Although he’s small, he fits everything that Toronto loves. He’s a great two-way player, who is a wonderful skater and is very quick.
Toronto loves seeing their defensemen move the puck quickly, or skate up the ice and get it out of their zone, so Mete would fit that philosophy, well.
It’s a little surprising that he hasn’t produced good stats in the NHL based on his skating ability, but that could change on a Leafs team that’s very good.
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Once Muzzin, Liljegren and maybe Sandin return, Mete would probably be summoned to the AHL, but he’s a professional defenseman that won’t hurt your team if he’s in the line-up. He’s a fine bottom-pairing defenseman and could have offensive upside on this roster, so it’ll be interesting to see how he performs, if he makes the opening night roster.