Analyst reveals who will begin the season on the top line with Matthews and Marner; it's not who you might think
The Leafs have a lot to prove in 2023-24 after a disappointing round 2 loss to Florida in the playoffs. There are also a number of new faces coming in and some uncertainty surrounding how the line combinations might look on opening night.
With Tyler Bertuzzi and Max Domi coming in, as well as Matthew Knies and Nick Robertson preparing for what everyone hopes will be their first full NHL seasons, there's a lot of pieces to try to fit into the picture in the top six, especially on the left side. Most assume that Bertuzzi will get the first crack at that top line LW job. One former NHLer, however, doesn't believe that will be the case.
On Wednesday, TSN hockey analyst Dave Poulin joined the TSN 1050 First Up crew for a chat about how the Leafs' lines may look on opening night and revealed that he views Matthew Knies, not Bertuzzi, as the top option to fill that 1LW spot in the lineup to start the season.
"I think Matthew Knies has the 1st look [on the top line]. The rarity there, guys, is how well he plays along the wall. We saw flashes of it. We don't have a large body of work in the NHL [from Knies], but I have some pretty good contacts in the NCAA from my time there and I watched him play up through U18's and what stood out is how comfortable he is with his size along the wall.
A lot of guys can do things in open ice. A lot of guys can do things in the neutral zone in open ice... but along the boards, when you're battling somebody who's 6'4, 220, continually cross checking you and able to move in small spaces, that appears to be what separates him for me, and he likes it in there. Not only is he good at it, but he seems to really like it and if there's an area that's congested, he's coming out of it with the puck."
A lot of guys can do things in open ice. A lot of guys can do things in the neutral zone in open ice... but along the boards, when you're battling somebody who's 6'4, 220, continually cross checking you and able to move in small spaces, that appears to be what separates him for me, and he likes it in there. Not only is he good at it, but he seems to really like it and if there's an area that's congested, he's coming out of it with the puck."
Poulin mentioned that he feels like the Leafs should ease Bertuzzi in to start out, largely due to his lengthy injury history. In Poulin's mind, Knies will receive a lot of consideration to begin the season next to Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner and rightfully so, given his particular skill set and how good he looked next to the Leafs' two top stars during last year's playoffs in a limited look there.
Knies has just 3 regular season games of NHL experience under his belt and 7 playoff games. There's a lot we're going to learn about him this season, and one of the first things we'll learn is whether or not he can hang at the top of the lineup. If he struggles, then perhaps he'll be bumped down into the bottom six, at least until he gets his timing down. However, if Poulin is right, the Leafs will give him every chance to succeed before they consider moving him lower down in the lineup.
| POLL | ||
6 SEPTEMBRE | 354 ANSWERS Analyst reveals who will begin the season on the top line with Matthews and Marner; it's not who you might think Who would you start as the Leafs' top line LW if you were Sheldon Keefe? | ||
| Tyler Bertuzzi | 112 | 31.6 % |
| Matthew Knies | 171 | 48.3 % |
| Max Domi | 42 | 11.9 % |
| See results | 29 | 8.2 % |
| List of polls | ||
Latest 10 stories
