The Toronto Maple Leafs made a whole lot of additions this summer, but that could leave a lineup regular up in the press box to start the season.
With the departure of Mitch Marner, Leafs general manager Brad Treliving poured the available cap space and roster spot(s) to add wingers like Matias Maccelli and Dakota Joshua, in addition to getting center Nic Roy in the sign-and-trade for Marner. That’s a whole lot of new players coming in to try and change what this Leafs team looks like upfront, with limited departures.
Due to this, could we see someone like Bobby McMann take a step back in his role? Especially after his scoring was minimal in the playoffs and when the games mattered the most?
TSN’s Bryan Hayes seems to think so, as he said as much on Tuesday’s OverDrive show.
"There's guys that haven't proven that they can score goals, one of those guys being Bobby McMann,” Hayes said . “So it's not like McMann can put his hand up in guaranteed a spot on the opening day line up. He's making $1.3M. He might just be the 13th forward. It's possible."
While this could just be played off as speculation, it feels like a reasonable conclusion. If we lightly pencil in a top-six forward group featuring Auston Matthews, Matthew Knies, William Nylander, John Tavares, Max Domi, and Matias Maccelli, the lineup somewhat falls in place after that.
Toronto has the aforementioned Joshua and Roy, and then the other depth duo of Steven Lorentz and Scott Laughton. That essentially leaves two winger spots up for grabs.
Nick Robertson is going to get a contract after going through arbitration this Sunday, and should probably stake claim to one of those remaining spots. So, if Robertson is still on this team, McMann could be facing a battle with forwards like Calle Jarnkrok and Michael Pezzetta for the lone free spot in this lineup.
And even if McMann is above those two on the general depth chart, he feels on the very bottom overall and could see him in and out of lineup throughout the season. It is easy to see head coach Craig Berube opting to cycle through those three wingers depending on what he wants his team to look like and play like.
Last season, McMann scored 20 goals and 34 points in 74 games while averaging 14:30 TOI.