Photo credit: John E. Sokolowski – USA TODAY Sports
The Toronto Maple Leafs line up against the Montreal Canadiens to kick off the season and it looks like we have an idea of who is taking the ice Wednesday night.
With the regular season only a few hours away from kicking off for the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Montreal Canadiens, a lot of hype and speculation has come about regarding who is going to take the ice for the Maple Leafs once the season starts. Toronto has several options at their disposal, however it looks like we have an idea based off the roster and the game plan that head coach Craig Berube wants to instill.
According to a post on X, based on the roster and with the injuries dealt, the Toronto Maple Leafs will take the ice with a lineup looking like this:
We see the standard top line with Matthews, Marner, and Knies, and the second line sees John Tavares centering William Nylander and Max Domi. Newcomer Max Pacioretty will sit on the wing with Nick Robertson while Pontus Holmberg takes the center spot; it will be interesting to see Robertson and Pacioretty see if they can ride the momentum and chemistry they found together in the preseason. Coming in on the gritty fourth line is fellow newcomer Steven Lorentz, who skates alongside Ryan Reaves and David Kampf.
The defensive side of things is standard, seeing Morgan Rielly and Chris Tanev lining up, and on pair two you have Jake McCabe with Oliver Ekman-Larsson. Your third pairing for the Maple Leafs is Simon Benoit and Conor Timmins, meaning Timothy Liljegren is the healthy scratch for tonight.
Anthony Stolarz gets the call between the pipes tonight as Joseph Woll is dealing with a lower-body injury. Backing him up will be Swedish rookie netminder Dennis Hildeby, who shined in the preseason and also gives head coach Craig Berube a solid option if Woll is out longer than a game.
The Toronto Maple Leafs will set out to start the season with a new identity and be the first real look at the new additions to the team; and once the Maple Leafs become healthy again, they’ll be even deadlier on the ice.
