Next years potential line-up

[Go4soda]

I was at the Marlies game on Saturday, and I must say that Miro Aaltonen stood out big time. I get it that they were playing the worst team in the league Laval , but dont be shocked if he isn't up with the Leafs next year. Him and Grundstrom had a lot of chemistry on Saturday. Also worth noting how dominant Rosen and Borgman looked at a live AHL game. Got to think those two will both push next season to be with the big club.

I have a feeling Bozak may be back. JVR and Komarov will most likely be gone. But I dont think it would be as easy to find a 45 point 3C as some people may think. I feel like giving Bozak wingers like Brown and Kapanen/Johnsson would take a lot of pressure off him. While we lose JVR and his net presence, Bozak is suddenly flanked by two very quick, very responsible wingers. It would change the whole line dynamic. While we may sacrifice some offense, our third line would be better defensively as well. I see the lineup as this next year.

Hyman-Matthews-Nylander
Marleau-Kadri-Marner
Johnsson-Bozak-Brown
Kapanen-Aaltonen-Leivo

Rielly-Hainsey
Gardiner-Dermott
Borgman-Zaitsev

There may be some moves made for the blue line. I'm unsure what the Leafs will do, via trades or free agency signings.

I can see Bozak returning too for some reason. He’s a weird player... when he was our 1c playing with kessel and jvr he still only would manage 45-50 pts.

 

[nobody]

Long term outlook. Everyone on that roster is signed to a long contract. As guys like Grundstrom/ Korsh/ Lilly come up to UFA, we would be ideally preparing to lose guys like Brown, Hyman, Borg etc.

 

[nobody]

I think Leivo will cause **** if he is a healthy scratch all season again. That would be a distraction. It would be better to move on from him if they can't find a spot for him.

I'd be okay with that.

 

[Duke16]

Brown is quickly becoming a guy I would move unless he is content with 4th line duties. Kapanen and Johnsson currently look better with room to grow and I expect Korshkov and Grundstrom to follow suit. Brown has done nothing wrong, I just think we have better options.

 

[nuck]

Sign John Tavares $9.1 million x 7

Leafs - Flames
William Nylander (C)
for
Matthew Tkachuk (W)

Leafs - Canucks
1st 2018, Connor Brown
for
Chris Tanev

Leafs - Blues
Nazem Kadri, Nikita Zaitsev, 2nd
for
Colton Parayko, Patrik Berglund

Leafs -
Jake Gardiner
for
Max Domi, 2nd

Tkachuk - - Matthews - - Kapanen
Marleau - - - Tavares - - - - Marner
Domi - - - - Berglund - - - - Hyman
Grundstrom - Gauthier - Johnsson
Leivo/Martin/

Rielly - - - Parayko
Dermott - - - Tanev
Borgman - Hainsey
Carrick/Holl/Rosen/Liljegren

FredEx
McBackup/Pickard/Sparks

PP1 (1:30/2)

Matthews - Tavares - Hyman
Rielly - Marner

PP2 (0:30/2)

Domi - Marleau - Johnsson
Dermott - Kapanen

PK1 (1:20/2)

Berglund - Kapanen
Hainsey - Tanev

PK2 (0:40/2)

Hyman - Johnsson
Rielly - Parayko

C - Matthews
A - Tavares
A - Rielly

Matthews Line:
Grinding, Cycle Line that Can Maintain the Forecheck while playing top Competition similar to the Bergeron Line

Tavares Line:
Pure Offence, no slouch defensively either though

Berglund Line
Shut Down Line, Plays with an edge, good on the cycle, can play anyone

Marlies Line:
Big, Fast, Skilled 4th Line that can chip in offensively, would have to be sheltered, play <under 10 mins/night, Johnny gets extra shifts higher in the line up depending on situation

​

I can't imagine what it would cost to get Parayko. Kadri + 1st, Lily, + is where it probably starts. He is a Blues core player and they have no reason to move him based on age and performance. You need to trade for guys like this before they break out.

 

[moon111]

He scored 40 goals with Hyman as his winger.

Hyman can produce more assists then Plekanec.

 

[nuck]

Brown is quickly becoming a guy I would move unless he is content with 4th line duties. Kapanen and Johnsson currently look better with room to grow and I expect Korshkov and Grundstrom to follow suit. Brown has done nothing wrong, I just think we have better options.

Sophomore jinx maybe. None of the Leafs rookies exploded for their best case scenario this year. I am not near as worried about him as I am about Zaitsev because Brown really does have that extra level of compete (and is younger). Not saying he can't fail to bounce back next season but they need to play the long game with their young guys. Selling low is not successful very often. Using a time machine you move him last summer but is his potential return better than his potential improvement? Imagine what the Hawks would have dealt 24 year old Pat Sharp for.

 

[leaffaninvancouver]

I can see Bozak returning too for some reason. He’s a weird player... when he was our 1c playing with kessel and jvr he still only would manage 45-50 pts.

I still think out of the three Bozak is the most likely to return but he'll likely have to leave money on the table to do it. It wouldn't be pay cut but he almost certainly could get more elsewhere if he wanted.

 

[Boutette]

Sophomore jinx maybe. None of the Leafs rookies exploded for their best case scenario this year. I am not near as worried about him as I am about Zaitsev because Brown really does have that extra level of compete (and is younger). Not saying he can't fail to bounce back next season but they need to play the long game with their young guys. Selling low is not successful very often. Using a time machine you move him last summer but is his potential return better than his potential improvement? Imagine what the Hawks would have dealt 24 year old Pat Sharp for.

I wouldn't say Brown was jinxed. He ended up a 4th liner for the first half of the season on a line with Martin and Moore due to the pick up of Marleau squeezing him out of a higher spot. Then he was placed on a line with the wonder twins and expected to do all the defense for them and only got allowed in on their scoring at the end of the season. More, he was placed in two positions where it would be hard for anyone to overperform offensively. Did Marner overperform this year with Bozak and JvR? Or whenever he's been slapped down onto the 4th line? Neither Johnsson or Kapanen have overproduced this year when compared with Brown in similar situations, and although they do play much fancier games, that hasn't translated into results as yet. While Grunstrom and Korshkov have potential, they are a couple year away. The only way Brown gets slammed back down to the 4th line next year is if the team decides to overpay for a UFA winger or two.

Zaitsev was taken off the Powerplay and given a harder defensive role and then broke his foot which derailed his year. He'll have a 4 months to strengthen back up so should return a better player in September.

 

[nobody]

I want to see the all London line.

 

[Ulysses31]

Two words: Vander Kane

Hyman Matthews Leivo
Kane Kadri Marner
Marleau Nylander Kapenen
AJ Alt Brown

 

[Community]

Either we re-sign Bozak and aaltonen is ready for a call-up, or i would like to see Nylander given sheltered opportunity as our 2nd line C.


Hyman - Matthews - Marner
Kapanen - Nylander - Johnsson
Marleau - Kadri - Brown
Grundstrom - Aaltonen - ???

If Bozak does come back I am pretty sure Nylander stays on Matthews wing, Marner goes back to the Kadri line, and Johnsson or Kapanen are back on the 4th line.

Rielly - Dermott
Gardiner - Zaitsev
??? - Hainsey (low evs mins so he doesnt burn out from pk usage)

 

[HamiltonNHL]

Willie needs to compete like Marner

Do players learn compete ?

Most of the time, you either are or aren't.

Marner is ...
Nylander ...

 

[Americanadian]

If no UFA signings:

Hyman-Matthews-Brown
Marleau-Kadri-Marner
Johnsson-Nylander-Kapanen
Grundström-Aaltonen-Leivo

Rielly-Hainsey
Gardiner-Zaitsev
Dermott-Carrick

With changes:

Hyman-Matthews-Nylander
Johnsson-Tavares-Marner
Marleau-Kadri-Brown
Grundström-Glendening?-Kapanen

Rielly-Braun
Gardiner-Zaitsev
Dermott-Pateryn

Martin+Bracco+SJ 2nd for Braun+Martin

 

[leaffaninvancouver]

If no UFA signings:

Hyman-Matthews-Brown
Marleau-Kadri-Marner
Johnsson-Nylander-Kapanen
Grundström-Aaltonen-Leivo

Rielly-Hainsey
Gardiner-Zaitsev
Dermott-Carrick

With changes:

Hyman-Matthews-Nylander
Johnsson-Tavares-Marner
Marleau-Kadri-Brown
Grundström-Glendening?-Kapanen

Rielly-Braun
Gardiner-Zaitsev
Dermott-Pateryn

Martin+Bracco+SJ 2nd for Braun+Martin

Where did Hainsey go?

 

[Americanadian]

Where did Hainsey go?

Admittedly I forgot him but he could slide in alongside Dermott or as the 7th D.

 

[drewjenks]

Hyman-Matthews-Nylander
Marleau-Kadri-Marner
Grundstrom-_____ -Brown
Johnsson-Bozak-Kapanen

I think a quality 3rd line Center is a priority next year..and of course upgrading 2 spots on Defense.

Perron - Matthews - Nylander
Marleau - Tavares - Marner
Hyman - Kadri - Brown
Johnsson - Beagle - Kapanen​

 

[jaric1862]

Hyman-Matthews-Nylander
Marleau-Kadri-Marner
Johnsson-Aaltonen-Kapanen
Grundstrom-Ryan-Brown
Gauthier- Leivo

Rielly-Carlson
Gardiner-Zaitsev
Dermott-Hainsey
Carrick

Andersen-Pickard/Sparks

 

[SprDaVE]

Hyman - Matthews - Nylander
Marleau - Tavares - Marner
Johnsson - Kadri - Kapanen
Grundstrom - Aaltonen - Brown
Gauthier

Rielly - Tanev
Gardiner - Zaitsev
Dermott - Hainsey
Borgman - Holl

Andersen
Sparks/Pickard

 

[BigWilly]

Zach Hyman	Auston Matthews	Kasperi Kapanen
Patrick Marleau	Nazem Kadri	Mitch Marner
Andreas Johnsson	William Nylander	Connor Brown
Carl Grundstrom	Miro Aaltonen	Yegor Korshkov

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

Morgan Rielly	Travis Dermott
Jake Gardiner	Nikita Zaitsev
Ron Hainsey	Roman Polak

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

There's going to be UFA signings that push guys like Korshkov out of the line up in all likelihood.

 

[Duke16]

I could see Trevor Moore pushing for a bottom 6 spot. High energy player with a good skillset. He is a lot better that has stat line indicates and is a pretty good 2-way player.

 

[Faltorvo]

Sophomore jinx maybe. None of the Leafs rookies exploded for their best case scenario this year. I am not near as worried about him as I am about Zaitsev because Brown really does have that extra level of compete (and is younger). Not saying he can't fail to bounce back next season but they need to play the long game with their young guys. Selling low is not successful very often. Using a time machine you move him last summer but is his potential return better than his potential improvement? Imagine what the Hawks would have dealt 24 year old Pat Sharp for.

I'm not worried about Zaitsev one little bit

It's his sophomore season , he broke his ankle and suffered a very nasty week long flu bug.
He is given a very heavy work load , one could argue top pairing weight.
What we have and what we are paying for is a reliable 2nd pair RHS D and i believe without a doubt that we have that.

 

[Faltorvo]

Here is my hope


Hyman-Mattews-Nylander

Leivo/Johnsson/Grundstrom-Tavares-Marner

Marleau-Kadri-Kapanen

Johnsson/Grundstrom-Aaltonen/Gauthier-Brown

spares?---any of the names up top that don't catch a line

Rielly--Hainsey

Gardner--Zaitzev

Dermott--Borgman/Carrick

Andersen/McElhinney

Looks good to me.

 

[scoutsystem]

Hyman-Matthews-Marner
Grundstrom-Nylander-Johnsson
Marleau-Kadri-Kapanen
Leivo-Aaltonen-Brown

Unless Tavares signs, in which case:

Hyman-Matthews-Nylander
Kapanen-Tavares-Marner
Marleau-Kadri-Johnsson
Grundstrom-Aaltonen-Brown

D:

Reilly-Dermott
Gardiner-Hainsey
Borgman-Zatisev
Carrick

 

[Hockey Crazy]

We really need to get some RHD in. We should have gone out and traded for Colin Miller or Sami Vatanen before they had a chance to shine and became bi players for their teams. I’m hoping that dubas will be able to find a similar player who just needs a chance.

Hainsey should be a PKing #6