4 Players Who Could Surprisingly Make Toronto Maple Leafs Line-Up

The Toronto Maple Leafs kick-off their preseason this weekend, with a number of players fighting to make the line-up.

If you look at the Toronto Maple Leafs roster, it’s pretty much set. However, a few recent injuries could open the door for a number of players.

Jake Muzzin, Pierre Engvall and Timothy Liljegren are all expected to miss some time, who would all have made the Leafs opening night roster. We don’t know if all three will miss opening night, but if they do, it allows three more players to make the roster that weren’t initially expected to.

Below is what the forwards and defenseman pairings will look like with a few unknown’s:

Forwards:

• Michael Bunting/Auston Matthews/Mitch Marner
• Unknown/John Tavares/William Nylander
• Alex Kerfoot/David Kampf/Calle Jarnkrok
• Unknown/Unknown/Nicolas Aube-Kubel

Defenseman:

• Morgan Rielly – TJ Brodie
• Mark Giordano – Justin Holl
• Unknown – Unknown

With Muzzin and Liljegren out and then Sandin still not signed, that defensive-core looks pretty terrible, so the team will hope that all three return to the line-up soon.

As for the forward group, you’ll probably expect Nick Robertson to make the roster somewhere, but that’s definitely not for certain.

Regardless, here are four players who could surprisingly be in the line-up for the Toronto Maple Leafs on opening night.

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.