I actually want Keefe to experiment a bit with a line we heard about last year but never fully saw (Nylander-Matthews-Marner) line. Works with other teams so dont see the harm in giving it a try

So basically

Nylander-Matthews-Marner
Mikheyev-Tavares-Hyman
Robertson (in 7 games than another wing can move in)-Kerfoot-Vesey
Simmonds-Thorton-Spezza

Jumbo still gets his pp time and can be thrown out on odd shifts with Matthews or Tavares.

I can not stand to watch Thornton and marner sit back and Matthews is the person left to dig up pucks. Although he is good at it, it is a complete waste of his skill dryly to make him the “Hyman” of the line.

if marner doesn’t straighten his **** out he can go to the bottom 6. That stick slap on the ice rather than forechecking was the last straw. His inability to play unselfish hockey and move the puck to Matthews was the first. He is net gazing and losing the greatest part of his game. His vision.

Hyman Mikheyev and Simmonds have been great. They all get a bump.

Nope, no ****ing way. I want marner off of Matthews line and off of pp1 immediately. Anything less would be a failure by Keefe. Unless he takes that line aside to fix the issues that I have mentioned.

I'm not a huge fan of Spezza and Thornton together, but honestly it's the 4th line so who ****ing cares. I wanna see changes.

this. I'm all for Marner shooting a bit more but when he's looking off the best goal scorer in the league (yeah, I said it) to shoot it way over the net its embarrassing. Thornton lacking on the forecheck, I can somewhat understand. Matthews is all over the ice. Marner is sitting back and watching the Matthews show.

our super line would be Tavares - Matthews - Nylander as of now. Marner is very disengaged. He needs a statement game and he needs it soon.

Yup, Matthews is pissed and playing with that fire in his belly. Marner exact opposite side of the spectrum. He has 1 point and it was a nice pass to Tavares. Maybe he is jealous of Matthews. Put him on the Tavares line.

Brings me to my captain, Tavares has been playing possessed. No issues there. Reilly same deal. We have 2 A’s and a C trying to put this team n their back. They need everyone to shoulder that load.

I’m a bit pissed after that disgrace, maybe I wouldn’t be the best nhl coach but I woulda ripped that A right off marner’s sweater and taped one in Hyman.

Yup it is a bit errrr slow. Especially for a 4th line. I don’t mind going Thornton-kerfoot-Robertson but I wanted to emphasize how pleased I was with Simmonds. He played 1/3 as much as thrnton and was 100 x more noticible.

Also have to edit lines, forgot to put Campbell in.

Freddie’s comments were embarrassing.

If campbell ever played like that (he has never been that bad) he would buy every leafs fan a Johnny Bower bobble head and probably go home and cut himself.

yup. Marner, Brodie, and Andersen were the noticeably bad. But at least Brodie and Andersen looked like they were trying.

Brodie wasn’t bad. That is Brodie. He was noticeably good most of the night. Miscommunication which he covered up for and Freddie **** the bed on.

The play out front with Tkachuk... Brodie is not a bulldozer, he’s not going to grind Tkachuk into the ice. Good Brodie position and a fairly well timed shove. Yes he probably could have tied the stick up but watch it at game speed. It developed quick. The other inside outside he handled well. Gotta have Freddie stopping shots from damn near the outside hash marks. Can’t be ringing bar from there.

I'd rather them experiment with the lines now, than in the playoffs again. See what works now, give it a bit then go back to what works if you need to. It's only been 2 games and a lot of the guys have to get accustomed to new line mates which can take some time. Keefe has said he wants more of a checking unit to go against top lines so I can see why it takes a bit longer.

I wouldn't mind next game going with something like:

Tavares - Matthews - Marner
Vesey - Nylander - Hyman
Kerfoot - Thornton - Mikheyev
Barabanov - Spezza - Simmonds

Rielly - Brodie
Muzzin - Bogosian
Dermott - Holl


Bogosian only gets moved up because he clearly needs someone to protect his mistakes. Muzzin is the most reliable guy on the team for that. The Dermatologist pair reunites that played well for Keefe before in the AHL. & up front the big line comes at the Sens on the second half of a back to back with the full dominance they showed last season. The Nylander line can somewhat be the "checking" line, by that I mean the sure possession line against the other teams top line. Hyman and Vesey can get Nylander the puck and he'll do the rest. He's the best possession guy on the team. Kerfoot is just so much better as a winger. And him with Thornton gives a small offensive punch on a 3rd line with Mikheyev being able to do the dirty work and be the defensive guy. & the 4th line just goes out and bangs people around for the fun of it 🤷🏻‍♂️

Edit: Freddy needs to step the hell up too. I know he's typically a slow starter but this is horrendous.

Sorry, I like a lot of your ideas but this is horrible.

Bogo can’t hockey so let’s put him in the top 4 on the shutdown pair against top competition.

The loaded line was out tonight and marner made it look horrible. Not even a shot on net.

Hyman-Matthews-nylander
Mikheyev-Tavares-marner.

It has to be that.

You're being a bit too old school. You can't just expect 1 game and things to go your way. This is why they're trying it now.

The point of putting Bogosian in the top 4 is to protect him. They're not gonna scratch him cause they can't. They can't play him with Dermott cause that hasn't worked. So unless you want him on the top pair with Rielly, Muzzin might work. He helped Holl develop his game a lot. Could help Bogosian. Doesn't have to be the shutdown unit. That should be Rielly and Brodie anyways.

The top line has proven before to dominate. Give them time to rediscover that. Give Nylander a longer look at centre since he's the top possession guy.

Again, the season is young. You gotta try stuff out so you know what works when you get to playoffs and the lines you have then might need to be juggled.

The season is short and tight.

Marner has proven in 2 games that he will not retrieve pucks and has abandoned his playmaking skills. He has also put out a piss poor effort. But with Tavares has done well... but not with Matthews on the ice.

He has made a decision to be a shoot first guy... who can’t shoot... or even hit the net at a 25% rate. In the ice with Tavares he reverted and made a heads up play.

My honest opinion is that it’s daddy in his ear again. Maybe it’s not so much marner jealous of Matthews but his dad is.

11–6 Bogo out of the lineup if you don’t want him on waivers. Bogo/Muzzin is too slow. And puts far too much pressure on Muzzin. Holl has been excellent. Dermott has been excellent. Give them both partners to play with. To be honest I want Lilly up... but that won’t happen.

You put Bogo Muzzin together they are now bottom pair and Dermott Holl are the shutdown pair. Might as well put Muzzin on waivers if that is what you want to do to him.

Rielly-Brodie
Muzzin-Holl
Dermott-Lilly

Would work much better. At this point not many teams are going after Bogo, if they did they would most likely waive him and leafs would get him back waivers exempt.

Simmonds-Thorton-Spezza................4 minute a night line. Improves your chances of winning 50%

Exactly. Simmonds Spezza and Thornton can take another 2-4 min of pp time. Maybe an odd shift on offensive zone faceoffs with top 6 players.

Maybe I’m wrong and the top 6 as is needs some time. It is visually painful though.

gonna have to disagree there. Brodie had brutal positioning in front of the net. I don't expect him to shove Tkachuk but he had his stick pointing straight into the air doing nothing. He could at least try to tie him up. Yes its a fast play but there's no need for him to have his stick up in the air doing nothing. Also he had a brutal giveaway right in front of the net that lead to the Stephan goal.

And if we're putting out a loaded line in the last few minutes, unless Marner really steps it up tonight, it should be Tavares - Matthews - Nylander.

Lol. It's been 2 games when they haven't played any real games in like 4-5 months. It's like exhibition games out there, they're still feeling themselves out. It takes time.

Everyone's quick to chirp Marner, but where's all the hate for Matthews? All the money and he hasn't scored. Hasn't been winning face offs. Sure he has a lot of shots, but no goals. That's a 0% shooting rate, but it's the same thing you ripped Marner for but didn't on Matthews. You expect Marner to shoot 25%? The average shooting percentage is around 12.5%, so if you're expecting him to double that then maybe you just need to lower your expectations. That's an unreal percentage.

Bottom line, yes they haven't been good enough. & yes they need to pick things up quicker than normal with a shortened season. But you've also gotta remember that things like this they can usually get worked out in the preseason exhibition games before the season starts, something they didn't get this year. It makes a huge deal.

Has not scored directly because of marner and Thornton. Again... if you are going to make Matthews the Hyman of the top line and marner the sniper this season will not go well.

This is not a “slow start” I have been weary of this since I heard Marner’s comments in the offseason about being more of a shooter (this is 100% his dad)

He has been lazy and frustrating to watch but I could put that aside, I know that will change and he will most likely come out hard tonight.

If Keefe leaves Thornton and marner on that line and has not sat them down to squash this animosity which already cost the leafs 2 points and will cost us another 2 points tonight the season may be lost in the first week. The difference between 1st and 5th in this division will be less than 10 points. How many points will Keefe flush down the ****ter to start the season?

You can think of the leafs as 1-2-0 right now on their way to 1-4-0 compared to a regular schedule. There is no room this season to blow the first 5 games. Or any 5 game stretch for that matter.

It will be easy to see what our season will look like in this game tonight. Do they adjust quickly and fix issues or do they keep trying more of the same and expect different results. This is two bad games in a row. With an obvious issue on your top line.

As always I am confident that they will make the right decisions. The team will pull together and be put in a position to succeed. I believe Keefe will ensure this.

In summary... I want to see action/steps taken. That will shape our season, not just tonight, but throughout.

I know its early but I'd like to see the following lines

Simmonds Matthews Nylander
Hyman Tavares Marner
Barabanov Kerfoot Mikheyev
Vesey Thorton Speeza

Rielly Brodie
Muzzin Holl
Dermott Lehtonen

What you think?

Well Marner was the best player on the ice by far tonight. So that was a good bounce back 👍🏻

Yup, but it also prolongs this horrible top line. I don’t know how much more “Matthews battling in the corner for a puck” I can take. Marner and Thornton were better tonight. Marner was back to moving the puck around. Seemed like a better pass/shoot balance.

Not too bad. Simmonds is very good at digging pucks and taking the body.