Berube makes key line-up change ahead of Ottawa game

The Toronto Maple Leafs are set to take on the Ottawa Senators on Saturday night and coach Craig Berube has made several key line-up changes in an attempt and turn things around for his club.

Healthy scratched for the contest will be fourth year Toronto Maple Leaf David Kämpf who is in the second year of a four year deal that carries a cap hit of $2.4 Million.

Kämpf has been, at best this season invisible; and had just 8:41 of ice-time on Thursday night against the Florida Panthers marking the fourth time this year that has played less than nine minutes in a game. Against the Panthers, Kämpf was the only forward to fail to create any positive individual Corsi Events and finished the night with just a 31.2 CF% (ref: hockey-reference.com).

This isn't the first time that the Czech born center has been a healthy scratch since signing his $9.6 Million extension. There was a bit of a media storm when former coach Sheldon Keefe decided to sit him due to his lack of production in December 2023 which ended his consecutive game streak at 323 games.

Taking his place as the fourth line center will be Pontus Holmberg who many felt that him along with his $800,000 salary would have been a suitable replacement last season to free up cap space. The Swedish born forward has played all over the line-up including a long stretch as the left winger with John Tavares and William Nylander; a role that is not fitting for the depth skater.

The line-up change will also bring back Nick Robertson who has been a healthy scratch over his last two contests after going without any points or shots against Vegas and Colorado. In his last contest which came against the Avalanche he played just 9:21 and has had just three goals in his previous 16 games which came over a two game span in late February.

Berube makes key line-up change ahead of Ottawa game

While sitting Kämpf may be the headline, the biggest news ahead of the game against Ottawa is that Berube has elected to put Nylander, Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner all on separate lines in attempt to create more offense.

Matthews will see Max Domi who had his best game of the season on Thursday join him and Matthew Knies on the top line. Domi and Matthews shared success late in the 2023-24 season to lead many fans wanting to see them reunited, however they were only given a two game sample size earlier this season. By removing Matthews and Marner, this should give the Maple Leafs captain more puck touches and allow him to generate more opportunities.

Marner will take the place of Nylander on the second line with John Tavares and Bobby McMann. The Maple Leafs 2015 fourth overall pick is at his best when he holds onto the puck as long as possible to out wait defenders to find openings. By playing him with Tavares this should allow him to be a bit more creative.

Nylander will join Calle Järnkrok and Scott Laughton on the third line and Calgarian-Swede should see more success playing on this line. Nylander is at his best when he is lurking around waiting for opportunities and since Järnkrok's return to game action he has shown a tenacity on the puck that can create turn overs for the Maple Leafs top goal scorer.

This is the third and final time we will see the Battle of Ontario in the regular season. Ottawa took both of the first two games, first by shutting out the Maple Leafs in November 3-0 and then taking the second game in January by a score of 2-1. Both teams come in with identical 6-3-1 records in their last ten games and a regulation win by the Senators would bring them within four points of the Maple Leafs in the Atlantic Division standings.