There is a long way to go to get the entirety of the Toronto Maple Leafs healthy, but recent call-ups are making fans wonder what is the team going to look like going forward.
Sunday night the Toronto Maple Leafs were missing, what should be their entire first line with Matthew Knies, Auston Matthews and Max Domi out injured, along with Max Pacioretty, David Kämpf, and Calle Järnkrok also healing body parts, while Ryan Reaves was serving his second game of a five game suspension.
In their absences, Fraser Minten, Nikita Grebenkin, Alex Nylander and Alex Steeves were receiving their first opportunities of the season with the big club.
Players are going to start getting healthy, which leaves one to ponder who will be remaining with the club as they push through the season. From the four most recent call-ups, Fraser Minten has situated himself the best to remain with the club for the foreseeable future. The 20-year old center is appearing to give the team something they have not had since Ryan O'Reilly was here for one stretch drive which is a competent third line center.
Putting the Nylanders together on a line would be a smart choice
The younger Nylander brother did not look out of place in his first appearance as he showed glimpses of why he was a top ten selection in the 2016 NHL Entry Draft. When everyone is healthy, a decision needs to be made: Alex Nylander, Nick Robertson or Max Pacioretty. My preference would be to situate the two Nylander brothers on the flanks of Minten to see if something special could happen.
The John Tavares, Mitch Marner and Bobby McMann line has looked like a lethal trio and there would be no need to separate them. We are just at Game 21 of the regular season, but Tavares and Marner look like they are playing their best hockey of their careers.
As stated, the club was without an entire top line Sunday night and I would give a long look at Domi on the right side of Matthews and Knies. While Domi has looked awful all season long, he has been playing center which is a position he has struggled with throughout his career and the undisclosed injury could have also played a part. Craig Berube should give him a long look to see if the chemistry from late last season can be reignited.
The fourth line should see Pontus Holmberg, Connor Dewar and Steven Lorentz skate together and while they could be one of the better depth lines in the league, the Maple Leafs could potentially have three lethal scoring lines so these guys would not get much playing time any way.
Management should know by now what they have in Järnkrok which is a hustle player that is always injured and disappears in playoffs; Reaves is a non NHLer, while Kämpf is a non factor that is eating up way too much cap space.
The player that I would leave as the 13th forward is Alex Steeves who is showing he can playing in almost any role on the team and would require waivers to be sent down.
Pacioretty who could be a 14th forward if he can be heathy which has not been the case for years and Grebenkin who fortunately is waiver exempt. Grebenkin can be recalled and sent down to fill in when bumps and bruises occur. It is time to cut the dead weight and move on with the right players when the team gets healthy.