Projecting the Leafs' lines for opening night next season
The Toronto Maple Leafs will be looking a little different the next time they take the ice.
The Leafs might be a few months out from dropping the puck on the 2023-24 season this coming October, but it’s never too early to project their lines.
While the nucleus of the the team — a high-powered offence run by Mitch Marner, Auston Matthews, John Tavares, and William Nylander — remains unchanged, there have been some fairly significant tweaks throughout the first two weeks in free agency so far.
Based on who the Leafs currently have on their roster — plus some help from DailyFaceoff.com, here’s an educated guess for what Toronto will look like come October.
Forward lines
- Tyler Bertuzzi – Auston Matthews – Mitch Marner
- Max Domi – John Tavares – William Nylander
- Matthew Knies – David Kampf – Calle Jarnkrok
- Sam Lafferty – Dylan Gambrell – Ryan Reaves
Extra: Nick Robertson
Toronto’s 12 forwards projected to make up the opening night lineup feature five new faces this year, with a clear intent based on the signings General Manager Brad Treliving made to play a more physical brand of hockey than in years past.
Only time will tell if the newcomers pan out, but it should at least be intriguing to watch the team over the course of 82 games next season.
Defensive pairings
- Morgan Rielly – T.J. Brodie
- Jake McCabe – John Klingberg
- Mark Giordano – Timothy Liljegren
Extras: Connor Timmins, Max Lajoie
Toronto’s defensive group is largely unchanged from last season, with John Klingberg being the main addition to the roster, with Justin Holl and Erik Gustafsson departing from last year’s team.
Goalies
- Ilya Samsonov
- Joseph Woll
It’s not quite apparent how Toronto plans to deal with the eternally injured Matt Murray, but it’s unlikely he’s on the team come October if Toronto can avoid it. While they opted not to buy out his contract in the first available window this offseason, long-term injured reserve could be an option if the team’s doctor deem Murray unfit to play for next year.
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