Maple Leafs Unveil Dangerous New Line Upon Mitch Marner's Return

Mitch Marner being held out from practice on Monday was deemed to be for maintenance, but prior to Leafs coach Craig Berube's update, many were surprised by his absence.

On Tuesday, Marner missed his first game of the season as the Leafs beat the Calgary Flames, but Berube mentioned following the 6-3 victory that he was hopeful that Marner would be available for Thursday's meeting with Seattle.

TSN's Darren Dreger noted that the pending UFA was dealing with 'stiffness', which is what prevented him from skating.

After a day off on Wednesday, courtesy of a hat trick from William Nylander, the Leafs took to the ice for a full practice on Thursday with Marner re-joining his teammates.

The former 4th overall pick's return to the ice led many to believe that he would slot back in next to Auston Matthews and Matthew Knies on the Leafs' top line.

That was not the case, however, as Berube opted to keep Max Domi in his spot and loaded up his second line with Marner skating next to John Tavares and William Nylander.

The duo of Tavares and Nylander has tallied 6 goals and 1 assist in their last three games while Marner had a goal and assist in his last outing against the Edmonton Oilers.

With Marner joining the second line, Max Pacioretty was bumped to the fourth line with David Kampf and Steven Lorentz while Bobby McMann skated with Pontus Holmberg and Nicholas Robertson.

On the back end, the only change to the pairings sees Philippe Myers draw in for the injured Conor Timmins, with Simon Benoit on the third pair.

How long Marner remains on the second line depends on just how well the Leafs start the game, but given how well Domi played on Matthews' wing on Tuesday, it would be a surprise to see the two swapped early, if at all.