Maple Leafs Make Massive Changes to Forward Lines Involving Knies, Nylander, Domi

On Wednesday, following practice, Berube voiced his displeasure about his top line's lack of production. It also led to Berube hinting he may stop avoiding the obvious in uniting Auston Matthews and Nylander on the top line - despite his reluctance.

Returning to a full practice on Thursday, Berube wasted no time uniting Nylander and Matthews. To the surprise of many, though, it was not Matthew Knies on the other wing, but rather Bobby McMann.

With McMann elevated to the top line, Knies was dropped down alongside John Tavares and Matias Maccelli.

In addition to Knies being demoted, after a brief stint with Matthews, Domi also found himself relegated further down the lineup -- centering the fourth line with Steven Lorentz and Calle Jarnkrok.

After watching from the press box on Tuesday, the 20-year-old rookie will draw back into the Leafs' lineup on the third line with Dakota Joshua and Nicolas Roy.

With Cowan drawing back in, the yo-yoing of Nick Robertson continues as he will join Sammy Blais in the press box on Friday night.

Morgan Rielly was absent from practice, and with the injury to Chris Tanev, Berube was forced to shuffle his defensive pairings.

We will likely get an update on Rielly following practice, but with the absence of two of his top four blueliners, Berube paired Jake McCabe and Brandon Carlo together as the top pair. Recently recalled Dakota Mermis skated with Oliver Ekman-Larsson while Simon Benoit and Philippe Myers rounded out the third pair.

Pending Rielly's status for Friday's game, it will be interesting to see just how long Berube keeps his new lines together against the Buffalo Sabres. Regardless, the Leafs need to come out with a far better effort than their last two games.