Craig Berube Creates Exciting, Young Third Line, Reveals Leafs' Projected Lineup Against Utah

After a fairly light practice schedule in recent days, the Leafs returned to practice on Saturday to brush up their skills ahead of a Sunday game against Utah.

Yesterday, the team announced that they had signed Alex Nylander to a one-year NHL contract worth $775K. On Saturday, he joined the Leafs on the ice for his first official practice as a Maple Leaf.

While fans were hoping that Berube would unite William Nylander with his brother on a line, the Leafs' head coach opted to go in a different direction, as Alex Nylander dawned a blue practice jersey and William wore his usual white jersey, signifying that the plan is to have them play separate from one another.

That being said, Berube is being smart and reunited Alex with Marlies linemates Nikita Grebenkin and Fraser Minten at practice. The trio has skated together since Minten's return from a high-ankle sprain, which means there's some pre-existing chemistry there for the line to tap into.

Berube is also giving Nicholas Robertson an opportunity in the top-six amid all of the injuries to the forward group as Robertson skated on a line with Pontus Holmberg and William Nylander.

The fourth line remained intact with Connor Dewar taking over down the middle for Steven Lorentz, while the top line of Bobby McMann, John Tavares and Mitch Marner remained together as well.

On the back end, Oliver Ekman-Larsson returned to practice after missing Friday's skate with an illness and slotted back in alongside Morgan Rielly. It would appear that Simon Benoit will remain in the lineup as he skated again with Conor Timmins, meaning that Jani Hakanpaa will likely be a scratch for the second consecutive game.