PLAN THE PARADE. IT’S OUR YEAR, LEAFS NATION!
Well, it’s about that time of year again. The time when all die-hard Leafs fans are just recovering from yet another painful first-round playoff exit. Time to recover and get their hopes up for the next season. They are allowing themselves to get their hopes up all over again and brag about how this is the year (like every year). Where everyone and their sister make predictions about everything, you could even begin to imagine about their favorite team, in this case, the Leafs. Everything from line combinations to who will be the team’s leading scorer to where they will finish in the standings to … well … I think you get where I’m going with this. So, since everyone else is doing it, I figured what the heck; I may as well make some predictions of my own, right? In this case, I will be focusing on the Leafs roster and what I THINK the lineup will look like compared to what I WANT the lineup to look like. I’m not just talking about the four forward lines and three defense pairings. I mean everything five-on-five line combos, power-play units, and everything in between.
What I THINK the lineup will look like:
5 on 5 Forward Lines
Bunting – Matthews – Marner
Kerfoot – Tavares – Nylander
Engvall – Kampf – Jarnkrok
Aston-Reese – Gaudette – Aube-Kubel
5 on 5 Defensive Pairings
Rielly – Brodie
Giordano – Liljegren
Muzzin – Holl
Goalies
Murray
Samsonov
PP Unit One
🥅
Nylander
Marner Tavares Matthews
Rielly
PP Unit Two
🥅
Bunting
NAK Engvall Kerfoot
Giordano
*NAK = Nic Aube-Kubel
5 on 3 PP Unit
🥅
Nylander
Marner Tavares Matthews
Rielly
PK Unit One
Kerfoot – Marner
Muzzin – Holl
PK Unit Two
Kampf – Engvall
Rielly – Brodie
PK Unit Three (if/when needed)
Jarnkrok – ZAR
Giordano – Liljegren
*ZAR = Zach Aston-Reese
5 on 3 PK Unit One
Kampf
Muzzin – Holl
5 on 3 PK Unit Two
**Tavares
Rielly – Brodie
** = Since Tavares is one of the best face-off guys in the entire league, use it to your advantage. Have Tavares take face-offs, then immediately change up with Marner after clearing the puck.
5 on 3 PK Unit Three (if/when needed)
Jarnkrok
Giordano – Liljegren
Now, here’s what I WANT the lineup to look like:
Bunting – Matthews – Marner
Robertson – Tavares – Nylander
Kerfoot – Jarnkrok – Engvall
Aston-Reese – Kampf – Aube-Kubel
Rielly – Liljegren
Muzzin – Brodie
Giordano – Sandin
Murray
Samsonov
The only minor tweak to special teams, power-play, and penalty kill lines would be on the second power-play unit.
PP Unit Two
🥅
Bunting
Kerfoot Engvall Robertson
Giordano
Is this the deepest lineup of the Dubas era? No, I don’t think so. Which I think could end up being an advantage for this team. Everyone’s expectations are, most likely, a little bit lower than in the previous couple of seasons. I say expectations may be a little lower this year because of goaltending. It is the biggest question mark heading into this season. Other than that, this is a very talented roster. Let’s hope Murray and Samsonov prove everyone wrong! In saying that, expectations will always be somewhat high, with Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner leading the charge. They are two very talented individuals with two incredibly different skill sets.
How do I see the Atlantic Division standings shaking out? That’s a great question. It is, in my opinion, the deepest and most talented division in the entire league. Here’s how I think the final standings for the division will look:
- Tampa Bay
- Toronto
- Florida
- Ottawa
- Detroit
- Boston
- Montreal
- Buffalo
Both Ottawa and Detroit are very intriguing teams for me. They made some great additions this off-season, and both teams have a great young core. I expect both teams to take significant strides, pun intended, this season.
If you disagree with my predictions, by all means, post your thoughts in the comments. I can’t wait to see how wrong I am. That’s the fun of doing things like this. I can’t wait to hear the fantastic individuals from the Leafs Late Night podcast make all their predictions during their next episode! I don’t know about everyone else, but I, for one, cannot wait to have hockey back. It truly is the passion that unites us all!
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Great job again buddy. Keep up the great work
Great job again Keep up the great work
I like the predictions! Looking forward to discussing on our next episode of Leafs Late Night! Thanks for the shoutout 😊