"This is our optimal look": Keefe reveals latest Leafs lines
Much was made of Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe tinkering with his lines over the course of the last week.
At the centre of the discussion was the breakup of Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, and William Nylander, which put each star forward on a separate offensive line.
On one hand, the experiment went well. The Leafs picked up wins in both games they played: a 4-3 shootout win over Anaheim and a 7-4 win over Detroit to extend their winning streak to three games.
But midway through Saturday’s game against the Red Wings, Keefe departed from the separation of the three players, a trend that continued at Monday’s morning skate.
Per TSN’s Mark Masters, the Leafs’ forward lineup now looks like this:
Michael Bunting — Auston Matthews — Mitch Marner
Alex Kerfoot — John Tavares — William Nylander
Ilya Mikheyev — David Kampf — Ondrej Kase
Pierre Engvall —Jason Spezza — Wayne Simmonds
“We tried something different and we will continue with that throughout the remainder of the season at different times. But this is our optimal look,” Keefe said.
The Leafs play host to the New Jersey Devils tonight before travelling to Newark tomorrow to play the Devils once again. After that, they’ll be waiting six days to play again, with the NHL All-Star break coming up this weekend.
Keefe said the opportunity to face the Devils twice in a row will allow Toronto the opportunity to “stress” New Jersey’s defence and goaltending, including tonight’s starter, Akira Schmid, who is playing just his fourth NHL game.
“It’s a really good chance for us to get back to playing a complete game,” Keefe said.
Keefe added that the Leafs’ lines are often dictated simply by who the team can afford to fit under the $82.5 million salary cap.
“Our roster, our lineup is pretty set by the salary cap,” Keefe added. “So there hasn’t been a lot of decisions for me to make — really any decisions that matter … for the last little while.”
Tonight, the Leafs remain without forward Nick Ritchie (COVID-19 list) and defenceman Jake Muzzin (concussion), with Keefe adding that Muzzin was “on the right track” in his recovery.