The Toronto Maple Leafs will dress a lineup pretty close to the real thing tonight versus Montreal (7 p.m. EST, Sportsnet One).
According to Chris Johnston, Auston Matthews, William Nylander, Mitch Marner, Milan Michalek, James van Riemsdyk, Nazem Kadri, Leo Komarov and Matt Martin will all feature among the forwards, with the lines divided up something like this:
Projected #leafs lines:
Komarov-Kadri-Michalek
JVR-Bozak-Marner
Hyman-Matthews-Nylander
Martin-Gauthier/Laich-Brown— Chris Johnston (@reporterchris) October 2, 2016
The forward pairs we spoke about in our training camp preview are all present here: Kadri – Komarov, JVR-Bozak, Matthews-Nylander, Martin-Laich.
If Gauthier plays in his third game in a row tonight, it could be a sign that Leafs brass is looking at him in the “maybe NHL-ready” category. Management’s development program for The Goat likely means a return to the Marlies to play higher in their lineup, but he’s looked capable of playing 4C for this team in preseason — arguably, he has outplayed Laich over the three games so far — and he should stick around deep into camp. It’s interesting that everyone else listed in Johnston’s lineup is an NHL regular or on the cusp of breaking through to the NHL full time.
The lead of tonight’s story, of course, belongs to Auston Matthews’ preseason debut and his first game in a Leaf sweater at the ACC. How the dynamic looks between Matthews and Nylander will be a fascinating watch, and so will Mitch Marner playing alongside a skilled veteran center and a legitimate top-line talent on his opposite wing.
Babcock starting Matthews at centre, Nylander at wing: "They both think they’re the best player so let’s find out who is" pic.twitter.com/4heFnogRSh
— Mark Masters (@markhmasters) October 2, 2016
On defence, Nikita Zaitsev, Morgan Rielly, Jake Gardiner are all in tonight. These may not be the pairings we see on October 12, but this looks like it could be the opening-night top seven if we drop Valiev:
Leafs D at morning skate
Marincin-Rielly
Gardiner-Carrick
Hunwick-Zaitsev
Valiev-Polak— Mark Masters (@markhmasters) October 2, 2016
Lots of intrigue in store for tonight. We’ll update closer to game time with the official lines.
Toronto Maple Leafs Projected Lines
| Left Wing |
Center |
Right Wing |
| Leo Komarkov | Nazem Kadri | Milan Michalek |
| James van Riemsdyk | Tyler Bozak | Mitch Marner |
| Zach Hyman | Auston Matthews | William Nylander |
| Matt Martin | Frederik Gauthier | Connor Brown |
| Left Defense |
Right Defense |
| Martin Marincin | Morgan Rielly |
| Jake Gardiner | Connor Carrick |
| Matt Hunwick | Nikita Zaitsev |
| Rinat Valiev | Roman Polak |
Montreal Canadiens Projected Lines
A thin Habs lineup tonight.
| Left Wing |
Center |
Right Wing |
| Artturi Lehkonen | David Desharnais | Nikita Scherbak |
| Sven Andrighetto | Michael McCarron | Daniel Carr |
| Stefan Matteau | Daniel Audette | Charles Hudon |
| Jacob de la Rose | Jeremy Gregoire | Chris Terry |
| Left Defense |
Right Defense |
| Nathan Beaulieu | Greg Pateryn |
| Mikhail Sergchev | Jeff Petry |
| Mark Barberio | Zach Redmond |
Mike Babcock Media Address
Mike Babcock addressed the media ahead of the preseason matchup against the Montreal Canadiens on Sunday, touching on the team’s youth, Mitch Marner, Auston Matthews, Morgan Rielly, Frederik Gauthier, and more.
Mike Babcock: “We’re obviously much more talented than we were last year” https://t.co/OGImkyD3wD pic.twitter.com/pH0unfVFa1
— Toronto Maple Leafs (@leafsbuzztap) October 2, 2016
