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

[RoadWarrior]

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

X-Goat, Martin, FA’s

Pushing from below - depth: Tima, Moore
Pushing from below - for big roles in ‘19-20: Grundstrom, Bracco, Marchment, Engvall, Korshkov

Johnsson is way ahead of Leivo.

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

Extras - Grundstrom, Bracco, Jooris, Engvall, Marchment, Gauthier, T. Moore

Reilly, Zaitsev
Gardiner, Hainsey
Dermott, Carrick

Extras - Liljegren, Holl, Durzi, Rosen

Andersen
Sparks

Extras - Pickard

 

[Boutette]

Trade Gards and Brown for Tanev. Then:

Hyman - Tavares - Nylander
Johnsson - Matthews - Marner
Marleau - Kadri - Kapanen
<4th line TBD>

Rielly - Tanev
Dermott - Hainsey
Borgman - Zaitsev
Carrick

Andersen
McBackup (or Sparks/Pickard)

Two dominant scoring lines, and a great 2-way 3rd line. 3 balanced D pairs that we can really count on to play solid, low-mistake hockey. Good goaltending. Seems like a winning formula to me!

Except you've traded Gards and Brown for our next permanent resident on Robidas Island. That is not a winning formula.

 

[Garbs]

I can't tell if this is a dream thread, or people actually believe Babcock has Kapanen above Brown on the depth chart. (He doesn't)

 

[thewave]

Trade Gards and Brown for Tanev. Then:

Hyman - Tavares - Nylander
Johnsson - Matthews - Marner
Marleau - Kadri - Kapanen
<4th line TBD>

I think you nailed the top 9.

 

[weems]

Brown looks really good on the 4th line.

 

[lovemyleafs]

Marleau - Tavares - Marner
Hyman - Matthews - Nylander
Johnsson - Kadri - Kapanen

Top 9.

 

[GongShowWilly]

Marleau - Tavares - Marner
Hyman - Matthews - Nylander
Johnsson - Kadri - Kapanen

Top 9.

this … maybe swap Brown in there

 

[Mitchy]

Seems like Hyman will finally be off Matthews' wing.

 

[Magic Man]

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

Rielly - Hainsey
Gardiner - Zaitsev
Dermott - Carrick
ex. Holl

Andersen
McElhinney/Sparks

That forward group can't be matched in my opinion. The weakness is still at 4C, but they have a promising youngster in Lindholm to try. Martin could be traded and replaced via FA. They could still grab a dman to play over Justin Holl or the other #7 D options. They'll have to lose one of the bolded goalies too.

Some cheap depth options still out there..

D - Dan Hamhuis, Dylan Demelo, Brooks Orpik, Luca Sbisa, Calvin De Haan, Christian Folin
C - Nick Shore, Antoine Vermette, Mark Letestu, Brad Richardson
W - Daniel Winnik, Nail Yakupov, Anthony Duclair

 

[Boutette]

Seems like Hyman will finally be off Matthews' wing.

Then a Johsson-Kadri-Kapanen third line? Works for me.

 

[Mitchy]

Then a Johsson-Kadri-Kapanen third line? Works for me.

Yeah, I think that would be the third line. Great speed on the wings and that third line will be way better defensively than the Bozak line was.

 

[Boutette]

Yeah, I think that would be the third line. Great speed on the wings and that third line will be way better defensively than the Bozak line was.

And that means your 4th line is something like Grundstrom/Lievo-Lindholm-Brown, which is a decent 3rd line, IMHO on most of the teams in the league. The Leafs now have enough forward talent to essentially ice 3 first lines and 1 third line if you look at league medians. Nice. We've now got ourselves a 300+ goal team filled with mostly 2-way players. No on else really comes close. And we think other teams fans didn't like the Leafs before...

 

[Boutette]

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

Rielly - Hainsey
Gardiner - Zaitsev
Dermott - Carrick
ex. Holl

Andersen
McElhinney/Sparks

That forward group can't be matched in my opinion. The weakness is still at 4C, but they have a promising youngster in Lindholm to try. Martin could be traded and replaced via FA. They could still grab a dman to play over Justin Holl or the other #7 D options. They'll have to lose one of the bolded goalies too.

Some cheap depth options still out there..

D - Dan Hamhuis, Dylan Demelo, Brooks Orpik, Luca Sbisa, Calvin De Haan, Christian Folin
C - Nick Shore, Antoine Vermette, Mark Letestu, Brad Richardson
W - Daniel Winnik, Nail Yakupov, Anthony Duclair

Maybe a cheap #7 vet defenseman would be in order, but anywhere else I think the team is set.

 

[embracedbias]

Brown is ahead of Kapanen on the depth chart.

 

[Magic Man]

Brown is ahead of Kapanen on the depth chart.

I think Kapanen could do more with those minutes than Brown.

 

[SHANNYPLAN]

MARLEAU - MATTHEWS - NYLANDER
HYMAN - - - - TAVARES - - - - MARNER
JOHNSSON - - - KADRI - - - KAPANEN
LEIVO - - - - LINDHOLM - - - - BROWN

RIELLY - - - - - - ZAITSEV
GARDINER - - - HAINSEY
DERMOTT - - - CARRICK

Hopefully we can still upgrade our top pairing RHD, and have Z and Hainsey slide down, my reasoning for Leivo over Grundstrom as it would be more beneficial for him to play big minutes in the AHL than 4-5 mins per night

As for Defence:

I could see a potential deal go down for Tanev or Pesce

Tanev:

Chris Tanev
for
Connor Brown, Andrew Nielson & 1st

Pesce:

Brett Pesce
for
Connor Brown, Garrett Sparks, Calle Rosen & 2nd​

 

[FabledKnight]

Tavares Kadri Marner - Knights line
Hymen Marleau Brown - Gud pro line
Johnsson Nylander Kapanen - International shipping line
Engvall Matthews Grundstrom - the MEG line

Now the real lines

Marleau Matthews Nylander
Johnsson Tavares Marner
Hymen Kadri Brown
Martin Lindholm Kapanen
Leivo

Reilly Hainsey
Gardiner Zaitzev
Dermott Carrick
Rosen Holl

Andersson
Pickard

 

[Magic16Mitch]

Johnsson is way ahead of Leivo.

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

Extras - Grundstrom, Bracco, Jooris, Engvall, Marchment, Gauthier, T. Moore

Reilly, Zaitsev
Gardiner, Hainsey
Dermott, Carrick

Extras - Liljegren, Holl, Durzi, Rosen

Andersen
Sparks

Extras - Pickard

Where is Ozhiganov? I have a feeling they brought him from Russia because they believe there is a chance he can break into the lineup.

 

[The CyNick]

Seems like Hyman will finally be off Matthews' wing.

Did anyone actually hear Babcock say this? Just seems odd that he's thinking about moving Hyman from Matthews.

Assuming that's the top 6, then bottom 6 is likely:

Brown - Kadri - Kapanen
Moore/Grundstrom - Lindholm - Johnsson

I think one of Moore or Goat cracks the lineup and is used as a centre option if Lindolm isn't hacking it. Lievo remains as the extra forward because he can't kill penalties.

D is pretty obvious right now.

In net I think sparks is the backup this year as Dubas will look to turn him into a pick at some point.

 

[aingefan]

Johnsson is way ahead of Leivo.

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

Extras - Grundstrom, Bracco, Jooris, Engvall, Marchment, Gauthier, T. Moore

Reilly, Zaitsev
Gardiner, Hainsey
Dermott, Carrick

Extras - Liljegren, Holl, Durzi, Rosen

Andersen
Sparks

Extras - Pickard

Possibly AJ is ahead of Leivo, but he’s also a bit more experienced in a penalty killing role, and there’s an opportunity to maximize value out of players this way.
Boosting Leivo’s value while grooming AJ and Kap in lesser roles could provide better assets next offseason while keeping dollar values down a smidge.

 

[Jimmy Firecracker]

Seems like Hyman will finally be off Matthews' wing.

I wonder if Babcock told Tavares he'd be playing with Hyman before or after he signed today.

 

[leafs rule 11]

was explaining to my dad about chris johnston tweet and when i said tavares name I felt pure joy in that split second like omg i can say his name and its a reality! go leafs go!!

 

[SprDaVE]

I'll go with...

Marleau - Matthews - Nylander
Hyman - Tavares - Marner
Johnsson - Kadri - Brown
?? - Lindholm- Kapanen
Jooris/Gauthier

Rielly-??
Gardiner-Zaitsev
Dermott-Hainsey
Rosen - Carrick

Andersen
Sparks

I have a feeling Martin, Leivo, Borgman and Pickard will be dealt at some point this off-season and we will have a new RHD, which might change the defensive pairings a bit.

I see Jooris and Gauthier battling for a depth role and 13th forward spot. I see the Leafs adding a decent LW that will be take the 4th line spot. Maybe that's Grundstrom but I feel like they want him with the Marlies for the year.

 

[The Masters]

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

Rielly - Hainsey
Gardiner - Zaitsev
Dermott - Carrick
ex. Holl

Andersen
McElhinney/Sparks

That forward group can't be matched in my opinion. The weakness is still at 4C, but they have a promising youngster in Lindholm to try. Martin could be traded and replaced via FA. They could still grab a dman to play over Justin Holl or the other #7 D options. They'll have to lose one of the bolded goalies too.

Some cheap depth options still out there..

D - Dan Hamhuis, Dylan Demelo, Brooks Orpik, Luca Sbisa, Calvin De Haan, Christian Folin
C - Nick Shore, Antoine Vermette, Mark Letestu, Brad Richardson
W - Daniel Winnik, Nail Yakupov, Anthony Duclair

bang on. this is how it will look going into training camp as babs mentioned.

anyone think we make a move on the blue line? With the contracts of marner, matthews looming next season, now is the time to pounce on a d man imo.

 

[Drew311]

Ladies and Gentleman, I present to you the 2008 - 09 Toronto Maple Leafs....

Ponikarovsky - Stajan - Antropov
Hagman - Moore - Blake
Kulemin - Grabovski - Stempniak
May - Mitchell - Mayers

Kaberle - Schenn
Kubina - White
Frogren - Finger

Toskala
Joseph

Just for a bit of perspective.