Hear me out

While I’m not a fan of the leafs it would be interesting to see this:

Hyman - Matthews - Marner
Robertson - Tavares - Mikheyev
Kerfoot/ Nylander - Nylander/ Kerfoot - Simmonds
Vesey - Jumbo - Spezza

Preferable Nylander as 3C as he’s better than Kerfoot in general

I think that would be a unreal depth if it works out but the wingers on the 2nd line make it questionable due to potential error with a rookie and a while I like Mikheyev he’d have to step up big time in that role with this set up

If you're planning on rolling 4 lines I'd be down with that but if more minutes are going to go to the top 6 vs bottom 6 you're wasting talent and cap space by limiting Nylander's chances to contribute. Keefe seems to like giving his top lines top minutes so I don't think we'll see any of the "big 4" move down the linup

I think in terms of what’s better I do think heavily loading the top 6 is better/ more realistic because the leafs have added like a million depth players this offseason.

But if they can run Nylander at 3 and it works out the guy could dumby some teams third lines offensively since he’s a high end talent and possibly put up some big time points to make up for the reduced ice time. I do agree tho we likely won’t see what I suggested long term.

K

🤡🤡🤡