Jim Hiller unveils puzzling Maple Leafs lineup ahead of brutal schedule

At morning skate on Tuesday before the Toronto Maple Leafs host the Colorado Avalanche, head coach Jim Hiller decided to change up part of the lineup and it's not in a way that really makes sense at first glance.

The Leafs have to make do with what they have. Unfortunately, they are dealing with now four impactful regular players who are out with an injury. Morgan Rielly, Colton Sissons, Kirill Marchenko, and Nick Blankenburg are all out for the time being and for at least this upcoming game against the Avalanche.

Sissons, who signed a two-year, $8.5-million contract with the Leafs this past summer, suffered an injury during Sunday's shutout loss to the New Jersey Devils and is now declared out week-to-week. The 33-year-old veteran forward was placed on the second line next to John Tavares and William Nylander for that game. So, instead of jumbling the lines further, Hiller made a simple swap with his injury replacement.

The Leafs called up Ryan Tverberg on Tuesday morning and immediately, he finds himself on the second line with two of the most important players on this team. The 24-year-old will be playing in his third NHL game ever after hitting a career-high 36 points in the AHL last season.

We have all the love for someone like Tverberg, who was a seventh-round pick of the Leafs back in 2020, played through four years at the University of Connecticut, and is now deeper into his pro career. But for him to just be placed directly on the second line feels unjust.

Why is Tverberg on the second line and not anyone else?

The Richmond Hill native has carved out a solid pro career so far, but he's not a scorer by any means. Tavares and Nylander will certainly be in that role, to be fair, so maybe Hiller is telling the new call-up to just go around and clear out some ice for the other two forwards -- which is probably something Sissons was also told to do.

But why not someone else on that line up against the juggernaut that is the Avalanche? We've already tried Gavin McKenna up there and that trio ended up being caved in almost every single night and was one of the worst lines in hockey, statistically. So, that's out of the question.

So, why not Dakota Joshua up there? Someone who has scored in the NHL before? Or, we know the fourth line is working some magic but why not reward Brandon Duhaime for being a big agitator and give him this opportunity to maybe carve out a new role? He has the skating ability to me a nuisance on the ice and he can certainly clear the ice for both Tavares and Nylander, and could even handle the puck, too.

It just feels short-sighted to just do a one-for-one swap in the lineup and be so precious about your lines that you can't break up the fourth line to get some help in the top six.

We'll see how this pans out on Tuesday night against the Avalanche. Something tells me it won't work out well.

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