Toronto Maple Leafs: An Experiment That Is Long Overdue

When the Toronto Maple Leafs signed skilled forward Max Domi during the 2023 offseason, it reunited him with his former London Knights’ teammate Mitch Marner.

Many had thought that now that they are together once again on the same Toronto Maple Leafs team, wouldn’t it be great to see them finally on a line together?

However, right through the preseason and now ten games into the 2023-24 NHL season, the official Domi-Marner reunion on a line has yet to be materialized.

Marner has played with his usual partner in crime Auston Matthews, along with the auditions of both Tyler Bertuzzi and Calle Jarnkrok on their line.

With the forechecking style of play of either Bertuzzi and Jarnkrok, it should work on paper as they would complement the style of play of both Matthews and Marner.

However, the chemistry appears to be slightly lacking still so far this season, as the line hasn’t taken off as expected with either player.

An Experiment the Toronto Maple Leafs Should Try

At the same time, Domi appears to be also struggling in his third line role on the Leafs, as in 11 games, he has only four assists to show for, along with 16 penalty minutes.

In a way, the Leafs have kind of been asking Domi to carry his own line with David Kampf and Matthew Knies. However, those that have seen him play in the past know that he is most effective as the complementary piece on a line, and not as a line-driver. (All stats from hockeydb.com)

As a result, to get both the Leafs top line and Domi going, it may the right time to experiment with putting Domi on the same line as Matthews and Marner.

The Leafs have lost three in a row and would be bound to have a shake-up in the lineup, so this move would work perfectly. In addition, hopefully by putting Marner and Domi together, it could rekindle some of the London Knights’ magic they had when they were on the same team back then.

Thirdly, both Bertuzzi and Jarnkrok haven’t had super success thus far on the top line, so why not put another player to audition for the spot who has shown in the past to be strong when playing with elite players.

Hopefully in doing so, the Toronto Maple Leafs would discover a new, prolific line that works and that can start dominating the opposition in the offensive zone. All else fails if it doesn’t pan out after a few games, there’s always that rookie on the third line that has been desperately waiting for his chance to shine.