Key Changes For Maple Leafs Involve Knies, Nylander, Robertson and Tanev
Photo credit: Timothy T. Ludwig | Imagn Images
The Maple Leafs appear poised to make several key changes to the lineup involving Knies, Robertson, Nylander and Tanev, given the team's line rushes at practice.
After a dismal effort on Wednesday against the Columbus Blue Jackets, the Leafs returned to practice on Friday as they prepare to take on the Philadelphia Flyers tomorrow night.
Quartet of Injured Players Return Practice
It was a welcomed sight when practice began, as Chris Tanev, William Nylander and Calle Jarnkrok all took part, along with Scott Laughton, who has been out with a lower-body injury since the end of training camp.
Laughton joining for practice indicates that he will be returning shortly, which will lead to more line shuffling, but for Friday's practice, he skated as an extra.
Berube's Line Combinations Suggest Saturday Return for Nylander, Jarnkrok
After missing Wednesday's game to manage his lower-body injury, William Nylander joined Auston Matthews on the top line, who was also reunited with Matthew Knies.
As for Jarnkrok, he replaced Nick Robertson in the lineup skating with Max Domi and Sammy Blais, who projects to play in his second consecutive game, after being the lone bright spot in Wednesday's loss.
Tanev Gets New Partner
On the back end, Morgan Rielly and Brandon Carlo formed the top pair for Berube. The most surprising change saw Simon Benoit paired with Jake McCabe despite Tanev returning. The 35-year-old was paired with Oliver Ekman-Larsson on the Leafs third pair instead.
Given how good McCabe and Tanev have been since Berube united them last season, it's surprising that he would break up his most trusted and defensively responsible pairing.
It certainly piqued my curiosity, and it will be interesting to hear Berube's reasoning for the switch. I understand that the club is struggling defensively, but would that not be more of a reason to keep your best defensive pairing together and change the others around?
How long the new pairings and lines last on Saturday will be something to keep an eye on. At some point, though, you have to give the lines more than a period or a few shifts together for them to find some chemistry and familiarity.
Previously on Maple Leafs Daily
| POLL | ||
OCTOBRE 31 | 822 ANSWERS Key Changes For Maple Leafs Involve Knies, Nylander, Robertson and Tanev Were you surprised to see Tanev and OEL paired together? | ||
| Yes, that's an odd pair | 263 | 32 % |
| No, probably easing Tanev back in | 411 | 50 % |
| It won't last long anyways | 148 | 18 % |
| List of polls | ||
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