Sheldon Keefe announces major roster shakeup ahead of matchup with Habs
The Toronto Maple Leafs head into tonight's game against the Montreal Canadiens looking to rebound from Thursday's loss to the Boston Bruins. With Mitch Marner out with a lower-body injury, and a couple of deadline additions making their debuts, head coach Sheldon Keefe has made some major changes to his lineup.
Up front, Tyler Bertuzzi joins Auston Matthews and William Nylander on the first line while John Tavares finds himself back on the second line, this time with Max Domi and Calle Jarnkrok on his wings. After leaving Thursday's game in the first period, Matthew Knies returns to the lineup on the third line with David Kampf and Bobby McMann while newly acquired Connor Dewar centers the fourth line with Pontus Holmberg and Ryan Reaves in his Leafs debut in what could prove to be an excellent energy line.
On the blueline, Joel Edmundson will make his Leafs debut, as expected. Keefe had Edmundson paired with Timothy Liljegren on the third pair to open his tenure as a Leaf. Meanwhile, T.J Brodie and Jake McCabe skated together, leaving Morgan Rielly paired with Ilya Lyubushkin in what has been arguably the Leafs' best pair over the last week. That means that fan favourite Simon Benoit will be a healthy scratch for tonight's game in front of his family and friends in Montreal.
These lines are far from what we may see in Game 1 of the playoffs, but with a pair of newcomers coming in in Edmundson and Dewar, this is a great starting point to get their feet wet with the Leafs. More changes are expected over the next few weeks as Keefe looks to optimize his lineup.
| POLL | ||
9 MARS | 556 ANSWERS Sheldon Keefe announces major roster shakeup ahead of matchup with Habs Do you think Keefe should give Bertuzzi - Matthews - Nylander a longer run together? | ||
| Yes | 270 | 48.6 % |
| No | 286 | 51.4 % |
| List of polls | ||
