Lines from Tuesday's practice indicate just one roster change for the Leafs
After a day off yesterday, the Toronto Maple Leafs returned to practice for the first time this week. With no game until Thursday against the Ottawa Senators, the Leafs will also practice tomorrow. Following an overtime loss to the Boston Bruins on Saturday, Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe made minimal changes to his lines at this morning's practice.
Keefe has kept his top three lines in tact, but made a change to the fourth line. Out comes Ryan Reaves in favour of Bobby McMann. McMann has shown well in his limited playing time and has added some additional speed to the fourth line. Through his four games with the Leafs this season, McMann has 2 assists and is averaging slightly over 8 minutes of ice time per game. Skating with Noah Gregor and David Kampf, that fourth line has been able to create offensive chances and wear down opponents in the offensive zone, and while McMann has yet to score, his ability to create space and retrieve pucks has not gone unnoticed.
Adding McMann to the fourth line means that Keefe will be able to better manage the minutes of Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, William Nylander, John Tavares and Calle Jarnkrok a bit more as he won't have to double shift them the way he does when Reaves is in the lineup.
On the blueline, the pairings remained unchanged from Saturday with Morgan Rielly and T.J. Brodie together on the top pair. Jake McCabe continued to skate with William Lagesson, who has played surprisingly well since being recalled, and Simon Benoit was paired with Conor Timmins on the third pairing as Timmins continues to try to find his groove following a long injury layoff.
Although the Leafs have struggled to close out games in regulation, Keefe seems to be satisfied with how the top three lines have been playing and producing, leaving them in tact. Contrary to what the media says Keefe should do, given how inconsistent his stars have been, Keefe is hoping that Matthews and Marner are on the heels of breaking out and producing more consistently by having them on separate lines.
| POLL | ||
DECEMBRE 5 | 795 ANSWERS Lines from Tuesday's practice indicate just one roster change for the Leafs How do you feel Sheldon Keefe has handled himself this season in terms of lineup decisions? | ||
| He has done an excellent job | 49 | 6.2 % |
| He's done the best he can | 266 | 33.5 % |
| He has not done nearly enough | 242 | 30.4 % |
| He has done a very poor job | 238 | 29.9 % |
| List of polls | ||
