Even if puck drop is still 83 long days away, it’s never too early to start forecasting what the opening night roster could look like.
With July 1 now firmly in the rearview mirror, there’s no question that a lot of the offseason heavy lifting is now complete for Brad Treliving and company. That said, there’s certainly some wiggle room – cap wise – to do a few things. In fact, for a few weeks now, it’s believed that the Leafs have been scouring the trade market for some help up front. Any way you slice it, they have some fat to trim.
At this point, nothing’s imminent. Furthermore, never say never, but it wouldn’t be surprising in the slightest to see the Leafs enter training camp in September with the roster they currently have in place. In essence, they would like to add more, but there’s no guarantee of anything.
Needless to say, a lot can change, but for the sake of this exercise, let’s examine what the October 9th roster in Montreal could look like if everything stays the same.
FORWARDS
Matthew Knies – Auston Matthews – Mitch Marner
Nick Robertson – John Tavares – William Nylander
Easton Cowan – Max Domi – Calle Jarnkrok
Bobby McMann – David Kampf – Ryan Reaves
OUT: Fraser Minten – Pontus Holmberg – Connor Dewar
Clearly, the Leafs have some decisions to make up front. Assuming Robertson isn’t dealt, and he has a good camp, he needs to be given a lengthy look on one of the top two lines. Furthermore, of the two kids, I think Cowan is more likely to make it over Minten. At the very least, he should get a few games to start the year. Ultimately, there could be a monster internal battle between Robertson, Cowan, Minten, Holmberg, and Dewar that plays out. Also, don’t be surprised to see Craig Berube spread the wealth through his four lines. He wasn’t afraid to mix and match in St. Louis.
DEFENCE
Morgan Rielly – Chris Tanev
Simon Benoit – Jake McCabe
Oliver Ekman-Larsson – Timothy Liljegren
OUT: Connor Timmins – Jani Hakanpaa?
The blue line is much more self-explanatory. For starters, it would be wise to give the Rielly/Tanev pairing ample time to gel. Personally, I think the former could be primed to pop off once again now that he has the latter by his side. Considering how they looked this past season, it would make sense not to touch the Benoit-McCabe pairing —at least to start. By process of elimination, that would leave Ekman-Larsson and Liljegren, which is scary to even look at on paper. On top of that, there’s the whole uncertainty surrounding Hakanpaa to keep in mind, too. Timmins is expendable.
GOALTENDING
Joseph Woll – Anthony Stolarz
Barring something unforeseen, Woll should get the call in the season opener.
