Maple Leafs May Have Just Leaked Their Projected Lineup for the Season Opener Next Month

After another lengthy, hockey-less summer for the Maple Leafs, the wait is over as the Leafs will take to the ice on Sunday against the Ottawa Senators in pre-season action.

The Leafs have already confirmed their roster for the contest, which will contain all of Nick Robertson, Easton Cowan and Ben Danford. They also may have inadvertently tipped their hand and revealed their potential opening night lineup.

On Sunday, despite not playing in Ottawa, the Leafs' contingent of players who will not dress against the Senators all skated together. The lineup contains a lot of who we might see on opening night.

There's no question that Alex Nylander does not have an inside track to an NHL roster spot. Therefore, his inclusion on this list appears to be as a placeholder, likely for Easton Cowan or Nick Robertson.

Calle Jarnkrok is also an option for that spot, but many suspect that the Swedish forward will be traded ahead of opening night.

We know that Craig Berube likes to set up his forward lines with pairs in mind. Matthew Knies and Auston Matthews were tethered together last season, as were William Nylander and John Tavares.

Scott Laughton settled in nicely as the 4C last season as the team approached the playoffs, and he played surprisingly well with Steven Lorentz, which will likely result in both players remaining together again this year.

Last season, Max Domi held down a 3rd line role for much of the year, and was called upon to ascend a little higher up in the lineup when needed.

It would appear as though Berube also likes newcomers Dakota Joshua and Nicolas Roy together. They have begun training camp on a line with rookie sensation Easton Cowan, though Cowan is playing in today's pre-season opener as mentioned, and thus, was not present for the skate with the main group.

If we look at this lineup, it becomes very clear rather quickly that this could resemble the opening night lineup against Montreal on October 8th. The big question is, will the coaching staff make any tweaks to the main pairs between now and then.

Max Domi was believed to be the original frontrunner for the top line RW spot next to Knies and Matthews, so we'll have to see if he is shifted up in the coming weeks as well.