Maple Leafs Make Surprising Change to Forward Lines with Max Domi and William Nylander
The Maple Leafs have made a surprising change to their top-six forward group involving Max Domi and William Nylander ahead of expected roster cuts.
Ahead of training camp, Leafs' head coach Craig Berube declared that William Nylander would begin the pre-season at center, with Max Domi playing on the wing. Nylander made it through the first two weeks of camp as a center before being injured on a freak play on Thursday against the Montreal Canadiens.
With the Leafs expected to announce a number of cuts from training camp at some point the next few days, the team had just one practice group take to the ice Monday morning. In that group, one major change was noticed; Domi taking reps at center with Nylander on the wing while they skated with Bobby McMann, who made his return from a couple of days off with some bumps and bruises.
Given that the Leafs wanted Nylander playing center for longer than a couple of games, the move comes as a surprise to many and, originally, some were concerned that this may mark the end of the Nylander at center experiment. According to The Hockey News' David Alter, the experiment, while on life support, may not be completely over as Nylander did take a few reps down the middle as well.
As the Leafs continue to deal with some injuries up front, both Max Pacioretty and Steven Lorentz slotted in to the left wing on the third and fourth lines, respectively.
Easton Cowan and Nikita Grebenkin were also featured in the lone practice group, with Cowan taking reps in the top-six and Grebenkin taking reps on the bottom-six lines. Whether either of them will be on the opening night roster remains to be seen and the injuries the Leafs are dealing with may play a large part in their immediate future with the club.
