Maple Leafs Unveil Full Lines Following Roster Cuts and There Were a Few Surprises

After placing four players on waivers on Sunday afternoon, the Maple Leafs were back on the ice on Monday for a practice with what should be their main group for opening night on October 8th.

While the Leafs had a lot of different lineup iterations throughout training camp, the new lineup does contain a few groups that we have not yet seen during the pre-season.

The top trio of Auston Matthews, Matthew Knies and Matias Maccelli did spend some time together to begin training camp, as did the trio of Bobby McMann, John Tavares and William Nylander, but the bottom six saw a bit of a shuffle on Monday following the team's pre-season finale on Saturday.

Perhaps the biggest surprise is the fact that Nick Robertson went from skating on the team's 5th line, among other scratches, to earning a look on the 3rd line with Max Domi and Dakota Joshua.

Robertson was a standout during most of training camp, leading the team in shots on goal and holding a share of the lead for pre-season goals. Leafs coach Craig Berube also gave Robertson a strong review following camp, and established that he is a big part of the team, which could dissuade the team from moving him.

Perhaps the biggest surprise is that rookie sensation Easton Cowan appeared to be on the bubble at practice on Monday, taking rotating reps with Calle Jarnkrok next to Nicolas Roy and Steven Lorentz.

There were no surprises on the blueline as the Leafs will keep Morgan Rielly with Brandon Carlo, Jake McCabe with Chris Tanev, and Oliver Ekman-Larsson with Simon Benoit.

The goaltending situation is interesting, because it was not James Reimer on the ice with the regulars on Monday, but Dennis Hildeby backing up Anthony Stolarz. Hildeby was a pleasant surprise in the pre-season, leading all Leafs goaltenders in save percentage with a .920 SV%.

There is still time for things to change between now and October 8th, but barring any major shifts in mentality from the coaching staff, or a trade to bring in a top-6 forward, this is likely what we'll see on opening night.

The big question at this point is, what does this mean for Easton Cowan, who was originally expected to make the roster? Time will tell.