With Bertuzzi gone, an ex-Leaf reveals who should flank Auston Matthews
Former Leaf and co-host of 'First Up' Carlo Colaiacovo broke down the reasoning behind what should be the Toronto Maple Leafs' new top line now that Todd Bertuzzi has departed for Chicago.
Most of last season saw rookie Matthew Knies hold down the left flank on the Leafs' top line next to Auston Matthews until it became clear that he wasn't quite ready for that large a role in his first full NHL season.
Knies' struggles and some poor injury luck for the Leafs up front eventually saw Bertuzzi and Max Domi join Matthews on the top line for much of the latter part of the season and the trio had immense amounts of success.
From February to April, Domi had 23 points in 33 games while Bertuzzi had 23 points in 34 games. With Bertuzzi now in Chicago, Knies could very well find his way back onto the top line after another year of development, but TSN's Carlo Colaiacovo believes the Leafs should keep Domi on the top line and also reunite Mitch Marner with Matthews.
"If you split those two up, what are you going to do? Play Marner with Nylander and Tavares? You're not playing Marner in a third line role to start the season. I think the peacock move here would be to look at a first line that has Domi, Matthews and Marner on it, because both of them have had success playing with Auston Matthews.
Domi actually earned a future with the team because of the success he had with Matthews... clearly this group is going to be defined by four forwards. You can't play three of the four forwards on the same line or you're decimating the depth, which is the strength of this team, so the peacock move would be to play Domi with Matthews and Marner because of the success they have all had together."
There are probably plenty of Leaf fans that believe Knies deserves another look on the top line after his very impressive playoff performance. However, that came playing fewer minutes and against the Boston Bruins' bottom-nine forwards most of the time. Reuniting Marner and Matthews to at least begin the season, along with Domi, is the most logical thing that Craig Berube and his coaching staff can do. It would allow them to give Knies more time to grow into his role and perhaps slot him in on the second line.
The biggest concern for the Leafs heading into training camp isn't the top line or who is on it, but rather what the Leafs are going to do with their bottom-six after failing to secure a third-line center so far during free agency. With just a couple of months until training camp, there is still time for the Leafs to address that need, but if they don't, we could see the likes of Pontus Holmberg, Ryan Tverberg, Alex Steeves and possibly Fraser Minten thrust into a role they are not yet ready for.
| POLL | ||
JUILLET 17 | 322 ANSWERS With Bertuzzi gone, an ex-Leaf reveals who should flank Auston Matthews Who should Auston Matthews start the season with? | ||
| Knies/Marner | 64 | 19.9 % |
| Domi/Marner | 130 | 40.4 % |
| Domi/Nylander | 58 | 18 % |
| Knies/Domi | 70 | 21.7 % |
| List of polls | ||
