Keefe shuffles his line combinations following injury to Matthews
After the shocking news that Auston Matthews would be out for a minimum of three weeks due to a knee sprain, which he suffered against the Rangers Wednesday, Sheldon Keefe was forced to shuffle his forward lines on Friday. Ahead of tonight's game against the Senators, Keefe surprised a few people when line drills began by promoting rookie sensation Pontus Holmberg to the top-six.
John Tavares moved up to center Mitch Marner and Michael Bunting, while Holmberg found himself between Calle Jarnkrok and William Nylander at the morning skate. Usually, when Keefe shuffles the top-six, it's Alexander Kerfoot who gets moved up, but it would appear as though the play of Holmberg has pushed him past Kerfoot on the depth chart. Bobby McMann will skate alongside David Kampf and Pierre Engvall while Kerfoot will now center the fourth line with Zach Aston-Reese and Joey Anderson.
On the back end, Keefe has shuffled the pairings so that Morgan Rielly is now paired with Justin Holl meaning Mark Giordano is now paired with Timothy Liljegren and Connor Timmins draws back in on the third pair with Rasmus Sandin.
| POLL | ||
JANVIER 27 | 244 ANSWERS Keefe shuffles his line combinations following injury to Matthews Will Pontus Holmberg get a long look in the top six with Matthews injured? | ||
| Yes | 186 | 76.2 % |
| No | 58 | 23.8 % |
| List of polls | ||
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