2026-27 Toronto Maple Leafs General Discussion | Official: Sundin & Chayka to lead front office

[cw]

https://twitter.com/x/status/2107127072623579603

They must think they can resolve lines 2 & 4 without changes in personnel
(EDIT: I'm a little surprised by this ...)

 

[L K]

Early returns are that it's not working. I don't understand the love affair of Tavares and Nylander being paired together and having the 3rd winger be a guy who weighs less than a hockey stick doesn't seem like the logical trifecta. It doesn't help that Tavares has been poor in the draw in the early season relative to his usual standards.

 

[herman]

The Marchenko Bet & The Leafs’ Possession Play, Sundin's Push for Bobrovsky, Second-Line Struggles — Maple Leafs Notebook

In the past two seasons, the Maple Leafs barely possessed the puck. Last season, they finished last in 5v5 shot-attempt share. The year they won their division, they finished 29th but were buoyed by excellent goaltending. Over the same period, we can draw a pretty clear parallel between...

mapleleafshotstove.com

This please:

2. I still think the easiest move is to simply swap Nylander and Sissons. Cowan–Paul–Nylander would be the second line, and McKenna–Tavares–Sissons would be the third. You can legitimately argue that Cowan and Paul have both been among the Leafs’ six best forwards so far.

Cowan and Nylander have real chemistry and complement each other well. Cowan has a high motor that helps facilitate Nylander’s game, and he’s skilled enough to make plays with him. Paul has been skating well and fulfilling his role of going to the net and checking.

Sissons isn’t a particularly ideal linemate for McKenna and Tavares, but he would provide a right shot who can forecheck and do some physical and defensive heavy lifting, hopefully opening up space for McKenna. In a way, McKenna might also benefit from having the puck more away from Nylander, without feeling the need to work off an established star.

With the Leafs on the road, they need confidence to roll out their lines instead of simply playing the matchups.

 

[YYZ]

The coach should be an ipad loaded up with tmltoday.com behind the bench.

 

[cw]

Tavares is better at faceoffs and twice the scorer Paul is
Skating speeds between Tavares & Paul are similar.
I'd try to leave what is working alone. Lines 1 & 3 are working
Tavares and Nylander put up a pile of points together last season.
My focus would be to fix that 2nd line short term - to make sure they don't fall into a hole.

Groulx is a 6'2" 202lb left shooting forward (bigger than Cowan) who has played some center so he can help with draws - one of the faster skaters in the franchise (faster than Cowan last season - as many were) coming off a 28 goal AHL season and a good Calder Cup playoff where he scored as many goals as Cowan but played better defensively. He'd be playing like his NHL career depends on it because it does - in a top 6 role like he's played in the AHL & Jr.

McKenna could shift to more strength and conditioning work, engaging in puck battles, etc on the 4th line and maybe be the puck distributor on the #1 PP to help him get some points and confidence.

The only disruption is to the two lines that are not clicking. PK & goaltending have been ok.

They have a spare roster spot. They could audition someone from the Marlies - Wood, Lettieri, Brisson, etc to put some heat on the 4th liners to wake them up or try one of them on line 2.