Line Combos: Leafs Lines Going Into Next Season (2018-2019)

[zeke]

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

Dermott - Rielly
Gardiner - Hainsey
Borgman - Zaitsev
Carrick

Andersen
Sparks


+$15m of capspace to add pieces.

 

[diceman934]

But he takes hits to make plays all the time too. Yes he avoids contact on some plays but I've seen every player avoid a hit when they feel they don't have a chance to make it to the puck.
Guy Lafleur comes to mind as a tough as nails player that wasn't known for throwing hits and he slipped checks like an eel.

He avoids plays where he is going to get hit and to the point of not going to the contract area.

Lets leave hall of Fame hockey players out of this discussion as It fails to make your point as Lefleur got to pucks to make plays all the time. He never turned to center of ice to avoid checks like we see Willy do.

Every player does not do what Willy does why even bring that to the discussion when it simply is not true.

Notice I have never talked about throwing checks as the more serious issue is him avoiding going to a puck when he may take a big check not even if it may create a scoring chance or to get the puck out of our zone both key times in games.

 

[diceman934]

When you constantly write things like "I'm surprised he doesn't have something brown trailing him across the ice" instead of simply "he plays too tentative, too scared", it's kind of hard to buy that you are not emotional and irrational.

I am simply fed up with posters like yourself and others stating that this was a 7 game issue and keep saying that he is in the same level as Marner when that is not true at all.

He has a serious flaw in his game and you and others choose to ignore or minimize it.

As for irrational it seems to me that the irrational people in these discussions are the ones who ignore clear information. The whole hockey world saw him pull the chute and he played like a frieghten child..ignoring that seems to be irrational and a rational person admits it.

 

[Community]

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

Rielly - Dermott
Gardiner - Hainsey
UFA (Cole? Pateryn?) - Zaitsev

Andersen
Pickard/Sparks/McElhinney (trade whoever you dont go with)

I can definitely see us re-signing Bozak if Babcock doesnt want Nylander to start at C for a short term deal. Then Nylander probably ends up 1st line RW, Marner back with Kadri, and Brown to the 4th.

Its more likely for our defense it starts off with Dermott on 3rd pair with Rielly-Hainsey and Gardiner-Zaitsev, but I am hoping we have a change and limit Hainseys usage so he doesnt get worn out.

Edit: I can see very limited changes from the end of last year to the start of this year (minus JVR and Plekanec). As much as people disagree, there will be less changes than expected/hoped from some since we just set a points record with a young group, there is only 1 marquee dman UFA (whose gonna get overpayed), and not a lot of UFAs from the team. This year I can see a big push at the TDL if a top dman is available (OEL?).

 

[PuckMagi]

Johnsson - Matthews - Marner
Kadri - Tavares - Brown
Marleau - Nylander - Kapanen
Leivo - Lindholm - Hyman

Gardiner - Rielly
Hainsey - Zaitsev
Dermott - Holl

Andersen
Sparks

 

[Battle Lin]

caps have some nice size and physicality, like their tough gritty physical guys can actually play hockey and have some skills, not like leo and martin

we gotta add some of this, we kinda soft atm

i would seriously look at maroon, hes a big physical guy, can skate, and he has offense and hes young enough

 

[Nylander88]

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

- Matthews and Marner finally get to play together like they both want. And create magic.
- Kadri takes another step forward as a leader by being put with 2 young guns. No more Komarov or Marleau there to "tighten the screws" as Babcock claims they do for Kadri. Kadri is the leader of his line and has 2 fast/skilled wingers, who due to our terrific Marlies system, are both good players defensively as well. An all situations line.
- Nylander makes the move to center. As a result, Babs puts him with 2 of his more trusted wingers to help out defensively. Having an ex center in Marleau on Nylanders wing will surely be of help.
- 4th line??? Battle it out between Martin,Leivo, Grundstrom, Aaltonen, Lindholm, UFA signings? Etc. Seems like a hard line to make a prediction for.

 

[LeafingTheWay]

I think everyone here would LOVE to see
Johnsson - Matthews - Marner
Hyman - Nylander - Kapanen
Marleau - Kadri - Brown
Grundstrom/Engvall - Lindholm/Aaltonen - T.Moore*

Wildcard is the 4th line, no way he puts a bunch of rookies on that line. I wouldn't mind keeping Martin in on the 4th line, because I'd rather play those top-3 lines a shit-ton anyways.

Martin - Lindholm - Engvall*/T.Moore* (Big, physical, energetic 4th line that can play. A 'slightly' worse version of Nashville's Watson - Gaudreau - Sissons)

 

[kindalaidback]

I definitely see Nylander getting 40 points playing with Kapanen and Hyman.

 

[IBeL34f]

Based on what we actually have right now:

Johnsson - Matthews - Hyman
Marleau - Kadri - Marner
Marchment - Nylander - Kapanen
Grundstrom - Aaltonen - Brown
Gauthier/Lindholm/Greening

Rielly - Hainsey
Gardiner - Zaitsev
Dermott - Holl/Ozhiganov
Rosen/Borgman - Ozhiganov/Holl

Andersen
Sparks

What I'd like to see:

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

Rielly - Braun
Dermott - Zaitsev
Rosen/Borgman - Holl/Ozhiganov
Borgman/Rosen - Ozhiganov/Holl

Andersen
Sparks

 

[taurine330]

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

Dermott - Rielly
Gardiner - Hainsey
Borgman - Zaitsev
Carrick

Andersen
Sparks


+$15m of capspace to add pieces.

Replace Leivo with Aaltonen and we are golden.

 

[Zybalto]

Hyman - Matthews - Marner : Hyman still isnt an ideal 1st liner and could easily be pushed down the lineup by our youth soon but hes a pretty solid stopgap until that happens.....and it really is time to give our top two offensive stars what they want. Give it some time to develop.
Johnsson - Nylander - Kapanen : Johnssons MVP AHL playoffs are proving his great stint with the top club was no joke. Nylander should stick at C finally on a crazy fast line.
Marleau - Kadri - Brown : Good mix of speed, scoring and tenacity. With Marner gone, I dont expect the same numbers for the first two.
Grundstrom/Martin - Lindholm - Leivo: I agree with many that Grundstrom has earned a shot at the 4th line after his solid year with the Marlies. We didnt sign Lindholm to not give his a tryout and with Martin and Leivo still signed, Leivo will finally get his shot starting on the wing while Martin will rotate in for Grundstrom throughout the season.

We actually have some pretty good depth on the wing so I wouldn't be surprised to see other guys getting a shot or traded losing some of the guys up here for our most important position of need.........

Rielly - UFA/Trade : Getting a solid defender who wont burn out at the end of the season like Hainsey did is key. Unless we are going to blow our brains out for Carlson, a trade is very likely here.
Gardiner - Zaitsev : Underrated playoff performance by both of these guys which will be a plus for us as I predict Gardiner lost a bit of money because of that game 7. He signs with us cheaper than expected.
Dermott - Hainsey: The playoffs showed that Dermott still has a lot to learn after an amazing debut season for him. Perfect spot to slot the aging Hainsey in next to him to lower Hainsey's workload and still allow him to be an effective PK horse for us.

Polak/Carrick/Borgman/Rosen/Liljegren/Marincin
Gonna be a dogfight to be the 7th man in this group. We have great depth here so the needed trade for a top4 RHD may solve this problem for us as we can use a couple of the guys down here as trade chips.

Andersen
Sparks or McBackup based on who can get us the best return.

 

[Notsince67]

I see Marleau in a third line a lot. He is too good for that. Hyman doesn't have me sold as a first liner.
Babcock hates this but I like Marleau, Matthews, Marner on the first

 

[LMFAO]

About 99% of you have already forgot about Ozhiganov?

 

[Menzinger]

I definitely see Nylander getting 40 points playing with Kapanen and Hyman.

He scored at a near 50 point pace during his initial callup in 2016 and he was playing with less skilled linemates. Seems unlikely he’s regressed at the age of 22....

 

[rent free]

He scored at a near 50 point pace during his initial callup in 2016 and he was playing with less skilled linemates. Seems unlikely he’s regressed at the age of 22....

he would have to play C which is a position he isn't good at and he put a 50 point pace when he was at C this season...

 

[Brobust]

I've sometimes defended Zach Hyman on here and I still think he does some things really well. But this is inexcusable for a top 6 player. Hyman can't make a meaningful pass if his life depended on it.

 

[Menzinger]

he would have to play C which is a position he isn't good at and he put a 50 point pace when he was at C this season...

I think it’s more than a little premature to say he’s not good at it considering centre has been his prime position for the majority of his playing career

 

[rent free]

I think it’s more than a little premature to say he’s not good at it considering centre has been his prime position for the majority of his playing career

in the nhl level, he hasn't been good defensively and has been mediocre offensively at center

 

[Menzinger]

in the nhl level, he hasn't been good defensively and has been mediocre offensively at center

And we’re talking about an exceedingly small sample size at the role. About what, 40 games? And he looked fine defensively in some games, especially during thatfirst callup.

 

[Funk21]

Not sure if this is based on what we have in house or what offseason moves we would like to have.

Trade Gardiner to Jets with a 4th for Myers.
Both have one year remaining and it gives them some cap space and opportunity to lock Trouba long term.

Trade Martin, even if you have to eat 1 Million. Trade MCBackup.

Sign and trade with Isles for JT. 8 x 11 Or 7x12.

Hyman Matthews Nylander
Marleau JT Marner
Johnsson Kadri Kapanen
Grundström Gauthier ???????

Reilly Myers
Dermott Zaitsev
Hainsey Ozhiganov/Holl
Rosen/Borgman

Andersen
Pickard

Likely try to get a long term deal with Myers 6x6.5/7

 

[rent free]

And we’re talking about an exceedingly small sample size at the role. About what, 40 games? And he looked fine defensively in some games, especially during thatfirst callup.

that was 2 years ago. we're talking about now, and he isn't good defensively now, and i'm not sure he will be ever

 

[kindalaidback]

He scored at a near 50 point pace during his initial callup in 2016 and he was playing with less skilled linemates. Seems unlikely he’s regressed at the age of 22....

I wouldn't say P.A. is less skilled than Kapanen and Hyman. 40 points might be a little mean, I'll give you that.

And I know that you are not allowed to say this on this board, because everyone loves him, but Kapanen is basically Brown, just speedier. Leaf fans overrate him and his offensive skills. Hyman is... well, Hyman.

A few fans always talk about Willie putting up 70+ points this year-- how is he suppose to do that? On the third line, playing sheltered minutes? Playing alongside Hyman and Kapanen? Wait, don't forget about the PP. Yeah, you're right. But we don't even know the units yet. It's possible that'll he be on the #2 unit without Matthews but players like Johnsson, Kapanen, ?, Gardiner. I remember him being on a similar PP back in 2016 and it sucked.

Fans wanting to see Hyman - Nylander - Kapanen is like someone posting their lineup and you see Hyman - Kadri - Brown on one line; do people want Kadri to score 15 goals? No? So, why would anybody suggest such thing?

 

[Boutette]

About 99% of you have already forgot about Ozhiganov?

About the same who've forgotten about Leivo, and he's actually been on the team for the past 3 years.

 

[Boutette]

in the nhl level, he hasn't been good defensively and has been mediocre offensively at center

But still at least as good if not better than Bozak.