The Leafs added significant grit to the team this year, which I believe will be spread out amongst the their FW group:
-Bunting can play a Hyman Lite role with Matthews and Marner; Ritchie provides grit and scoring ability in offensive zone situations with Tavares and Nylander; Kampf's presence at 3C, along with Kase's on 3RW, allows Kerfoot to play LW rather than C (where he's struggled at times during his tenure with the Leafs); and Simmonds and Mikheyev can be used interchangeably, depending on how Keefe choses to use them in regards to special teams (PP - Simmonds, PK - Mikheyev).
-Each forward line consists of a shooter, passer, and net-front/grinder type.
-Line 1 can be used in all situations/starts, similar to what they did with Hyman last year, as Matthews and Marner will outperform most matchups regardless of who their LW is.
-Line 2 can be used in a somewhat sheltered role, similar to how Boston utilized Ritchie with Krejci and Smith last season; promoting much more favourable matchups against 2nd/3rd lines, specifically in the O-zone.
-Line 3 allows the sheltering of Line 2's minutes, implementing a more defensive role with Kampf at C, with Kerfoot available to take face-offs if need be. (Kase adds potential scoring ability, along with steady d-zone play).
-Line 4 will likely see many variations of combinations, with players like Roberston, Anderson, Engvall, Brooks, Gabriel, Semyonov fighting for spots with Spezza, Simmonds, and Mikheyev.
Defence seemingly remains the same, sub Dermott for Bogosian's minutes last season (plus PK starts).
-First pair roles out in all situations
-Second pair receive the brunt of the shut down assignments and defensive zone starts
-Third pair are sheltered by the other two's presumable d-zone starts, allowing Sandin and Dermott to start in o-zone and against weaker competition. (This will be good test to see if Dermott can handle full-time duties on right side in NHL).
Special Teams:
-Leafs can still load up PP1, but should emphasize the shooting of Nylander and Matthews on the flanks, while moving Marner to the goal-line, where he can thread passes through to the shooters or Tavares for net front opportunities.
-PP2 can see many different combinations of players, especially while adding guys like Ritchie, Kase, and Bunting who all seem to have a nose for the net.
-PK should see improvement with the implementation of Chynoweth, who produced great results with Carolina's PK. Combinations can vary with these units as well, depending who is in lineup that given night (ie. Mikheyev, Engvall, etc.).
Goalies:
-Campbell likely gets the nod out of the gate, though he and Mrazek will presumably split the net throughout the year, ensuring both are healthy and well-rested (Hutchinson acts as a 3rd option in case of injury)
Ultimately, while losing an important player like Hyman hurts, the Leafs have seemingly opted to disperse his former contributions throughout their lineup this coming season. Each individual player that they added in FA aren't nearly as effective as Hyman, but as a group the Leafs may actually have better success.
Agree with most of your thoughts, but I'd like to see them split up Marner/Matthews to start the season and give Nylander a long run at C on the 3rd line. Something like this:
Did a team couple of days ago with basically the exact same ideas as yours. I completely agree with the way you have set up the team here, but I think Dubas still is going to make a move to shed a salary like Mikheyev or Engvall. I think we probably start the season with Dermott and Sandin to see if they can be paired together and how Dermott handles being played on the right side and more defensive responsibility. If the Leafs have cap spaces they will likely try to accrue as much as possible for the deadline so that they can add that solid defensive defensemen type as insurance for the playoffs. I think the way the roster is constructed, Keefe has so many options if lines aren't firing. Some games he could completely load the first line and play JT/Willy-Matthews-Marner and have a second line with Ritchie-JT/Willy-Kase and see how that goes. Kase and Ritchie played a lot together in Anaheim which could be something that the Leafs can look at. Could even try Matthews with those two guys which really makes other teams think who they should prioritize. A line with Willy-JT-Marner or Ritchie-Matthews-Kase. In short, the Leafs have a lot of options now. Kämpf will be such an underrated addition to this team. A lot of people will understand this after a couple of months.
McDavid, Connor
$250,000)
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