Toronto Maple Leafs Should Stick With Current Youthful Lineup
The Toronto Maple Leafs should stick with what’s working with their current lineup
Before Wednesday, Jan. 31, the Toronto Maple Leafs were struggling a little bit. Though they were coming off consecutive wins over the Dallas Stars and Chicago Blackhawks, the former win was one of their two regulation win in the previous 13 games. Due to injuries and other factors, head coach Mike Babcock made several lineup changes, most notably replacing Matt Martin with Kasperi Kapanen and letting Travis Dermott and Justin Holl play on the blueline.
Despite dealing with games on back-to-back nights, the Maple Leafs won both games with their new lineup. Combined, they scored nine goals. Granted, this was against the New York Islanders and New York Rangers. But considering the Leafs had scored at least four goals in just three of their previous 14 games before the All-Star break, that’s pretty impressive.
Four Lines of Skill
More from Puck Prose
- Detroit Red Wings 2023 Rookie Camp Has Plenty of Ups and Downs
- This Columbus Blue Jackets rookie doesn’t want to be forgotten
- 2 trades the Boston Bruins must make to secure the Stanley Cup
- 3 reasons the Avalanche won’t win the Stanley Cup in 2024
- This is a big year for Alex Turcotte and the Los Angeles Kings
The Leafs have always had the potential to pull off the NHL’s Holy Grail. Have four lines of skill that are hard to match up against. Every line except the fourth line got at least a point against the Rangers.
And even though the fourth line of Leo Komarov, Dominic Moore, and Kasperi Kapanen didn’t score on Thursday, they held their own in terms of possession. Plus, Kapanen scored in Wednesday’s game against the Islanders while the rest of the fourth line remained in the green as far as even strength shot attempts.
Babcock is a guy who loves results. These results are going to make it very hard for him to make a change anytime soon. His fourth line is playing excellent defense (something he’s always preached) and are generating scoring chances.
If the Leafs have four lines capable of doing this, good luck stopping them. The Pittsburgh Penguins proved how hard it can be to stop three lines of skill. And though the Leafs don’t have Sidney Crosby, Phil Kessel, and Evgeni Malkin, the Maple Leafs’ take on the Penguins’ blueprint could be equally lethal.
Blue Line
Babcock has been reluctant to make changes defensively to the Maple Leafs. However, injuries to Morgan Rielly, Ron Hainsey, and Roman Polak have led to changes. Most notably, Dermott got called up after Rielly’s injury and Polak’s injury led to Holl’s call-up. The two combined for their first NHL goals against the Islanders.
Just the next night, Holl added his second NHL goal. While the rookies are merely playing third pairing minutes, they’re dominating. Holl and Dermott are, at worst, good skaters and fast. The Leafs will have to make some difficult decisions once Hainsey and Rielly come back, but barring an injury, Polak shouldn’t be in the Leafs lineup again.
Polak is slow and a liability on offense. Conversely, Holl and Dermott are more than holding their own, albeit in limited roles. But to be fair, Polak has similar deployment. And with Nikita Zaitsev back, the Leafs penalty kill should be fine.
Perhaps Toronto explores putting Hainsey with one of the rookies. But Dermott and Holl have more than earned a spot in the lineup, at least until the time being. Toronto should realize how many better options they have than Polak.
Next: Maple Leafs All-Time Dream Team
It’s just a two game sample size, but the Leafs have looked as good the past two nights as they’ve looked all season. They’re doing precisely what everyone expected them to do – blow teams away with skill and speed. The Toronto Maple Leafs team fans have seen the past two nights are the optimal version of themselves. Whatever the reason for the changes, they’ve been extremely positive.