With Dakota Joshua in the Fold, the Leafs Have the Ideal Third Line Staring Them Right in the Face

The Toronto Maple Leafs underwent a big makeover this summer that was off-set by the loss of Mitch Marner. In his stead, they decided to address depth, and in doing so brought over players like Dakota Joshua, Matias Maccelli, and Nic Roy.

There's been a lot of talk about how the Leafs will go about replacing Marner on the top line, who will slide over next to William Nylander and John Tavares on the second line, and how they're going to reconfigure their bottom-6 to be more competitive.

However, after the acquisition of Joshua, the Maple Leafs could very possibly have the most ideal third line staring them right in the face alongside Maccelli and Roy. Their playing styles complement one another and they've had success with their former teams playing alongside similar skill sets.

Maccelli mentioned the other day that he felt the most comfortable when he played alongside bruising forwards Nick Bjugstad and Lawson Crouse. The former has a similar repertoire to Roy in size and skill-set, while the latter combines his physicality and goal-scoring to be a competent power forward, just like Joshua.

It's no surprise that during Maccelli's career-year, Bjugstad chipped in with 45 points, and Crowse scored 23 goals and 42 points. Similarly, when Joshua performed best in 2023-24, he was on a line with Conor Garland and Teddy Blueger, who play matching style to Maccelli and Roy.

The trio played 360.5 minutes together, had an xGoals% of 58.4%, xGoals For Per 60 Minutes of 2.9, Goals% of 67.7%, and 3.49 Goals For Per 60 Minutes. It was the same story in 2024-25 when Joshua was playing with Garland and Pius Suter with the former notching 50 points and the latter hitting a career-high 46 points.

With all three players having come from different teams, there will assuredly be a learning curve if they're ever assembled on the same line. However, their track record has shown that their best brand of hockey comes out when they're playing with players that match their skill sets.

Maccelli, Roy, and Joshua would give the Leafs a third line rich with skill, size, and physicality. They can play gruelling minutes, while providing secondary scoring, and you can trust them in al situations.