When it comes to the Toronto Maple Leafs, they certainly have a luxury of riches when it comes to throwing out offensive lines against their opponents.
But being able to utilize the most effective line combinations would ultimately be the key to success for the Toronto Maple Leafs in the long run.
In doing so, it could help the team control puck possession and play throughout the game, along with maximizing their scoring chances.
At the same time, they have to be responsible defensively to ensure that the puck also stays out of their own net.
The Toronto Maple Leafs Optimal Line Combinations
As a result, to construct the optimal scoring line combinations, they should try to meet the following criteria per line:
1) Someone should be a lethal shooter
2) Someone should be an elite playmaker
3) Someone should be good at forechecking and winning puck battles
4) Someone should be responsible defensively
Taking all of that into consideration, here are the lines the Toronto Maple Leafs should roll out this season.
Tyler Bertuzzi – Auston Matthews – William Nylander
Matthew Knies – John Tavares – Mitch Marner
Nick Robertson – Max Domi – Calle Jarnkrok
Sam Lafferty – David Kampf – Ryan Reaves
On the top line, Matthews obviously is the elite shooter and also strong defensively, Nylander is the passer, and Bertuzzi will do the grind work. In doing so, it separates Marner from Matthews and Nylander from Tavares, which makes most sense because both Nylander and Tavares aren’t strong defensively and were often hemmed in their own zone last year.
On the second line or 1B, Tavares is the shooter, Marner is the playmaker and defensive stalwart, and Knies will be going into the corner for puck battles. As one could recall, it was Knies that successfully got the puck to Tavares for the OT series winner against the Tampa Bay Lightning last season in the playoffs.
On the third line, Robertson’s booming shot makes him the shooter, Domi is the highly underrated playmaker, and Jarnkrok will battle it out for the puck.
Finally, on the fourth and so-called checking line, there won’t be someone that is exceptionally strong in any particular criteria, but the Leafs can get by with Reaves being the energy grinder, Kampf being the defensive wizard and passer (at least he can make plays like this), and Lafferty being a reasonable shooter (he did have 10 goals last year with the Chicago Blackhawks before adding two more after joining the Leafs).
In doing so, it creates balance across the four offensive lines, which can create headaches for the opposition in terms of matchups.
Of course, this is also assuming both Knies and Robertson win spots in the starting lineup out of training camp. But at the same time, there doesn’t appear to be anyone else in the system that may be at their level in terms of the role that they will play from the line combinations proposed above.
So as much as Sheldon Keefe and the Leafs have enjoyed tinkering with their lines in the past season, using this logistical way to determine scoring line effectiveness may be worth a shot at trying for the coming season.