Sheldon Keefe demotes William Nylander to the 3rd line
William Nylander currently sits at 95 points, just 5 points away from his first 100 point season. However, even that isn't enough to avoid being placed on the third line by his head coach. The Maple Leafs do have an embarrassment of talent at forward and now it appears head coach Sheldon Keefe is looking to spread that talent out.
With the Maple Leafs all but guaranteed to lock in a playoff spot, it appears that with the return of Mitch Marner, it will be Nylander who is the odd man out in the forward group. Today at practice Keefe debuted the following line combinations:
The Leafs are going for a spread attack in Mitch Marner's return to the lineup:
Bertuzzi � Matthews � Domi
McMann � Tavares � Marner
Knies � Holmberg � Nylander
Dewar � Kampf � Reaves
Bertuzzi � Matthews � Domi
McMann � Tavares � Marner
Knies � Holmberg � Nylander
Dewar � Kampf � Reaves
While this may seem like a demotion for Nylander, this lineup gives the Maple Leafs an opportunity to use their depth to feast on opposing team lineups. This move could be extremely successful for the Leafs if they can find a way to keep this group together. It will also be interesting to see if Keefe, who in the past has given up on groups early, is willing to give these lines time to mesh.
| POLL | ||
How far will the Toronto Maple Leafs go in this year's playoffs? | ||
| Eliminated in the first round | 146 | 49.8 % |
| Second round | 79 | 27 % |
| Eastern Conference Finals | 47 | 16 % |
| Stanley Cup Finals | 21 | 7.2 % |
| List of polls | ||
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