Leafs roster decisions once again causing confusion among the media; here are the line combinations from today's practice
Earlier this morning, the Leafs reassigned defenseman Mac Hollowell to the AHL's Toronto Marlies. The expectation was that newly acquired Connor Timmins would draw into Hollowell's spot on the third pairing with Victor Mete.
Today at practice however, Hollowell was paired with Mete while Timmins was once again the seventh defenseman. It would appear as though Hollowell's demotion was more of a paper transaction than anything else and Timmins will have to wait until at least next week to make his Leafs debut - which is totally fair to Hollowell as he has played very well since being recalled.
This is the third time over the last week that Keefe and company were thought to be leaning towards Timmins making his debut only to pivot and continue to roll out the same defensive pairings. Though, I suppose when you're winning, it's never a bad idea to keep going with what you know works.
In terms of the forward groups, as previously reported, Nick Robertson will have an excellent opportunity ahead of him as he draws into the top six, alongside John Tavares and Mitch Marner.
Somewhat surprisingly, Denis Malgin remains an extra and Wayne Simmonds will draw back into the lineup instead - a move that Sheldon Keefe said was due to wanting some additional experience in his bottom six. Tampa is a bigger, tougher team as well, so having some additional snarl in the lineup is never a bad idea.
Mark Giordano and Justin Hill remained together as the Leafs top pair while Timothy Liljegren and Rasmus Sandin remained as the Leafs second pairing. The Leafs will be heading to Tampa this afternoon for a Saturday night showdown in the sunshine state.
| POLL | ||
2 DECEMBRE | 390 ANSWERS Leafs roster decisions once again causing confusion among the media; here are the line combinations from today's practice Are the Leafs right to continue to roll out Hollowell over allowing Timmins to get into the lineup? | ||
| Yes | 261 | 66.9 % |
| No | 45 | 11.5 % |
| Either decision would be fine, tbh | 84 | 21.5 % |
| List of polls | ||
