Battle of Ontario Preview 2024-25

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Bottom 6 Forwards:

Personally, I despise the Maple Leafs bottom 6. Apart from Domi and Robertson - if he ends up signing an extension - the Maple Leafs have massive problems in the bottom of their line up.

Calle Jarnkrok has proven to be ineffective come playoff time, with just one goal in 18 playoff games with Toronto. On top of that, he makes $2.1 million a year and does not bring what the Maple Leafs need in the bottom 6.

David Kampf is a great defensive fourth line centre but your fourth line centre should not be making $2.4 million dollars. They should try and move on from him and see if Pontus Holmberg can take on that role.

Ryan Reaves and Connor Dewar are both underwhelming and should be replaced as well, if possible.

As for the Senators bottom 6, they made some changes this offseason. They signed David Perron, Michael Amadio and former Maple Leaf, Noah Gregor to help bolster their bottom 6.

Perron-Greig-Amadio is a good third line and every player seems to bring a different element.

Greig is a hard checking centre, who is reliable on both sides of the puck, scoring 26 points last season in a reduced role. He is also nasty to play against for those who remember the Ridly Greig, Morgan Rielly incident from last season.

He is not afraid to be a pest out on the ice.

David Perron has been around the league for over a decade now and has been effective on every team he's played for. He's a middle 6 scoring winger who brings a veteran presence and knows what it takes to win Lord Stanley.

The Maple Leafs were rumored to be interested in him before he signed in Ottawa.

Amadio just spent the last two seasons in Vegas where he won a Stanley cup and contributed 27 points in both seasons. Another hardworking winger that will make Ottawa's bottom 6 tough to play against.

I'd would much rather Ottawa's third line over Toronto's.

As for the fourth line in Ottawa, Gregor will play alongside Ostapchuk and Zach MacEwen. A typical NHL fourth line that will play limited minutes and try to hit everything that moves.

Here, I would give the edge to Maple Leafs, as Kampf has proven he can play against tougher matchups, not sure Ottawa's fourth line will be playing against many top lines.