Toronto Maple Leafs slot in Stecher to new-look defensive pairings
The Toronto Maple Leafs are juggling things around.
In the midst of a five-game losing streak and dealing with multiple injuries, the team has been forced into making a few changes to the lineup in order to ice a full roster.
The Leafs are already missing Auston Matthews, but got more bad news over the weekend with defenceman Brandon Carlo missing this past Saturday’s game against Chicago. On Monday, the Leafs officially placed Carlo on injured reserve, while calling up forward Luke Quillan in his place.
As per Sportsnet’s Luke Fox, the Leafs have opted to run new acquisition Troy Stecher on their third pairing in his first practice with the team.
Here’s what the team’s forward group looked like:
- Nick Robertson – John Tavares – William Nylander
- Matthew Knies – Max Domi – Easton Cowan
- Matias Maccelli – Jacob Quillan – Bobby McMann
- Dakota Joshua – Steven Lorentz – Calle Järnkrok
Meanwhile, here’s their three defensive pairs:
- Morgan Rielly – Oliver Ekman-Larsson
- Simon Benoit – Jake McCabe
- Dakota Mermis – Troy Stecher
When do the Leafs play next?
The Leafs take to the ice for a pair of home games this week, hosting the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday and the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday.
They’ll then travel to Montreal on Saturday night, in hopes of picking up just their second road win of the year in what’s been a trying season thus far.