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Guessing the Toronto Maple Leafs' Opening Night Roster

Writer's picture: Connor HallConnor Hall


With just 53 days until the Leafs take on the Habs at the Bell Centre to open up the season, there are still a lot of question marks surrounding what the opening night lineup might look like. Will Robertson still rep the blue and white, or will he be dealt before the season begins? Is Reaves going to be a regular or will he spend most of this season up in the press box? Do Cowan and Minten have a legitimate chance at being in the opening night line up, or will an unnamed PTO sneak onto the team like last year? 


Only time will answer any of these questions, so let’s have some fun with it.


Looking back on the lines that have had Craig Berube behind them over the last few years, we know that Chief likes size/speed, as well as a balanced scoring approach across all four forward lines. 


With so many variables at play, let’s take a guess and try to predict what 18 players Craig Berube will ice on October 9th against the Leafs original 6 rival. 



First Line:  Knies - Matthews - Domi


With Bertuzzi packing his bags to go play alongside Bedard in Chicago, I expect Matthew Knies to take the 1LW spot and to thrive in Craig Berube’s system this season. Towards the end of last year when Keefe would play the Bertuzzi - Matthews - Domi line, the team had a sort of swagger that ran through the whole forward group. With similar playing styles, I think that Knies can fill the Bertuzzi spot just fine, possibly even more effectively. This should allow new-captain Auston Matthews to lead by example and show this team the compete and intensity that is required to be more than just a regular season team.


Second Line: Robertson - Tavares - Marner


I’m sure there are at least a couple of raised eyebrows looking at the screen right now; but allow me to explain. Firstly, Robertson not being dealt yet following his trade request earlier this summer tells me that he is here to stay. To convince him why it may make sense to come back comes the sales pitch on playing top 6 minutes alongside John Tavares and Mitch Marner. Their ability to set up plays will allow the Leafs to get the most out of Robertson, as well as Robertson get the most out of the Leafs - plus it allows for Toronto to balance out the offensive attack. I get this is a bit of a stretch, but betting on the obvious won’t work for all four lines. 



Third Line: McMann - Minten - Nylander


Obviously this prediction rests on the fact that Minten has another impressive showing in training camp/pre season, but with his defensive responsibility and maturity demonstrated on-ice, ultimately leave me to believe that he will once again be ready to start in the season opener. I think that McMann will continue to grow as a player, finding extra success under Craig Berube, playing similar to Knies and the role that he will have on line #1. As well, I think Nylander will be able to drive this line offensively, as he has shown many times before in the past - his ability to push play and set up others will keep this third line as a scoring threat, while Minten and McMann are able to play responsible defense. Despite their limited experience, I think that Minten and McMann will be able to play effective hockey alongside Nylander, allowing their third line to be a legitimate scoring threat. 


Fourth Line: Dewar - Kampf - Jarnkrok


As I have said before, Berube has a tendency to spread scoring out across the 4 lines, and that leaves me to believe that a player like Calle Jarnkrok may be the Swedish army knife that helps Berube do this. Sure, maybe he stays as a 3RW with Nylander once again starting the season at 3C, but with Keefe no longer at the helm, I see the former as a much more likely situation. Of course by now it is probably apparent that Reaves hasn’t been named yet, and that’s because I feel he may lack the speed that is required on a Craig Berube bottom-6 line. Following an injury and a slight shuffling of the lines, I do think that Reaves can play some big minutes for this squad, just unfortunately I don’t expect him to do this consistently. I think in a perfect world, Jarnkrok is traded and replaced with a lower cap-hit forward that assumes more of a checking role, but for now this is how I see Berube utilizing him. 


Defense Pair #1: Rielly - Tanev


I don’t think that this will shock a lot of people, as this will be the best d-partner that Rielly will have had in his career, as long as Tanev can play anything like he did this last year. I expect Rielly to have one of his best offensive seasons as well for the blue and white, as Tanev will allow him to focus less on the defensive side of the puck. It will be really exciting for Leafs’ fans to finally have Rielly paired up with a consistent, responsible defensemen, giving this team a reliable 22-24 minutes a night.



Defense Pair #2: Ekman-Larsson - Liljegren


It was a toss up between the Benoit - McCabe pairing, or this one, but ultimately I decided that this pair is more well rounded than that pairing, especially from a puck-moving and breakout perspective. I think that having McCabe and Benoit in the third pair takes pressure off of Benoit, while also allowing McCabe to bring the gritty style of his game to the forefront, and not overwork himself. Furthermore, this will allow McCabe to play penalty kill minutes with more energy in the tank, improving a much needed aspect of this team's poor special teams. 


Defense Pair #3: Benoit - McCabe


Rationale above.


Goaltending: Woll - Stolarz (Bench)

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