Toronto Maple Leafs

[Pengwin7]

^Ah - that would make a lot of sense. Prevent "waiver churning".
That said - maybe NJ knows they are in for missing playoffs in the East.
I mean, the division is brutal and Hischier is out.

Maybe though... it's a "long-play".
Also - maybe it's a "Seattle play".

Three teams are bound to lose a decent goalie to Seattle.
And who comes to the rescue... well it's the New Jersey Devils!!!

[Side thought: Senn likely to go to AHL... but the other two, Comrie/Dell, on Taxi Squad have got to be like "What the fugg is this all about?"]

[Dennis]

luke fox@lukefoxjukebox

Maple Leafs will go with the same 11/7 lineup against the Oilers, giving Mikko Lehtonen another look.

[lucafen4]

I actually think this might be the best look for the Leafs moving forward. They often have a D struggle mid-game. A 7th D alleviates that problem a bit.

Leaves Hyman as a real swiss-army-knife to use throughout the line up on really any of the 4 lines. Over 18min last game & 10 SOG flipping between 3rd & 1st lines spelling Thornton.

[Dennis]

On top of that Brodie looked weak on the 2nd power-play unit when he manned it. I only remember Lehtonen getting 30 seconds or so PP against the Jets but it was the best he looked all game.

[2014olympicgold]

Matthews, Marner, JT can all double shift on the 4th line and be fine. 11F/7D should be how they move forward for the majority of the season

[stevegamer]

From the box score Lehtonen got more PP time than Reilly, was that a purely situational thing with recent shifts & Reilly being tired?

[stevegamer]

Never mind. New Jersey claimed him. Damn.

Think of the gas money you saved!

[2014olympicgold]

From the box score Lehtonen got more PP time than Reilly, was that a purely situational thing with recent shifts & Reilly being tired?

I think it was scenario more than anything. Rielly was going up against McDavid a lot. Might have been a way to use the 7th D to rest Rielly for 5on5.

Thornton out long term. Took a weak hit in the 3rd, went right to the locker room. Kinda looked like the Dach injury. Prolly broken wrist.

[Axeman33]

I think it was scenario more than anything. Rielly was going up against McDavid a lot. Might have been a way to use the 7th D to rest Rielly for 5on5.

Thornton out long term. Took a weak hit in the 3rd, went right to the locker room. Kinda looked like the Dach injury. Prolly broken wrist.

It looked more like his ribs than his wrist. I agree, it was a fairly soft hit from Archibald, or at least it appeared that way. Then again, it's not like Geriatric Joe's bones aren't made of dust these days LOL!. J/K of course.

[2014olympicgold]

It looked more like his ribs than his wrist. I agree, it was a fairly soft hit from Archibald, or at least it appeared that way. Then again, it's not like Geriatric Joe's bones aren't made of dust these days LOL!. J/K of course.

Yeah could have crunched his ribs. We'll hear about it today. I watched an extended clip that included him getting off the bench and heading to the locker room. Yeah, I'd say that's ribs the way he is hunched over and used both hands getting over the boards.

I'm not too worried about Thornton missing time in all honesty. I'm curious if he's out long term, will he stick around the team, or will the team send him away to avoid any risk of COVID with a player who's not playing.

[2014olympicgold]

Keefe said no update on Thornton right now, just he's not playing tmo.

[kovalchuk17]

I wonder if Hyman gets back on the top line with this development.

I also wonder if they move Tavares or Nylander up to PP1 as a result

[2014olympicgold]

I wonder if Hyman gets back on the top line with this development.

I also wonder if they move Tavares or Nylander up to PP1 as a result

Hyman I think is on the JT/Nylander line, but can easily change mid game with Keefe.

I would think Nylander moves on PP1, Mikheyev moves onto PP2 is my guess.

[Dennis]

Kristen Shilton@kristen_shilton

Keefe says Engvall, Barabanov and Brooks will slot in tonight for #Leafs. No hints on how the lines with shake out though, other than to say that William Nylander will NOT be moving to centre.

Keefe says #Leafs will go 12-6 tonight after two games of 11-7. Decided that before the Matthews injury came to light.

[lucafen4]

Hyman I think is on the JT/Nylander line, but can easily change mid game with Keefe.

I would think Nylander moves on PP1, Mikheyev moves onto PP2 is my guess.

Hyman's primary line has been Kerfoot & Mikheyev. he's been moving around the line up and has spelled both Thornton & Vesey at wing on both those lines.

Personally, I love Keefe tossing Hyman around the line up like this. he seems even more engaged in the games than normal.

I'd like to see Mikheyev moved into the top six - for Vesey more than Jumbo. Least Jumbo still has that vision and hockey brain to go with AM & MM. Vesey just doesn't have the mental chops to stick with JT & WN. Mikheyev looks lethal every time he's on the ice.