It's a new season for the Toronto Maple Leafs, and with a new season comes new players, new lines, new goalies, new everything. So, what exactly has changed over the past year? Well, one easy way to find out is by comparing opening night line ups.
So, let's travel back in time to October 13th, 2022 and see how the Leafs lined up.
Forwards
Michael Bunting - Auston Matthews - Mitch Marner
William Nylander - John Tavares - Denis Malgin
Pierre Engvall - Alex Kerfoot - Calle Järnkrok
Zach Aston-Reese - David Kämpf - Nicolas Aubé-Kubel
Defenders
Morgan Rielly - TJ Brodie
Jake Muzzin - Justin Holl
Mark Giordano - Rasmus Sandin
Goalies
Matt Murray
Ilya Samsonov
There are ten players no longer on the Leafs, out of 20 players listed. Half of the team has turned over. Who's gone?
Michael Bunting - Carolina Hurricanes
Michael Bunting was a fan favourite with many Maple Leafs fans, but quickly turned into an enemy of the referees during his time in Toronto. One of Kyle Dubas' many Soo Greyhounds turned Maple Leafs, Bunting left the Leafs this off-season because the Hurricanes offered him $4.5M per year for 3 years, something that the Leafs didn't want to match.
Denis Malgin - Zurich SC
An on-again, off-again, Maple Leaf, there were hopes for Malgin when he was acquired from the Florida Panthers for Mason Marchment in 2020, but the pandemic ended that. Malgin went home to Switzerland to play out Covid, and returned last season. He was traded to the Colorado Avalanche after 23 games for AHLer Dryden Hunt.
Pierre Engvall - New York Islanders
Engvall was a 2014 7th round draft pick, who had fans divided on his usefullness. That argument was ended after nine years...wow that was so much longer than I thought...when he was traded to the New York Islanders for a 2024 3rd round pick. He then signed a seven year deal with the Islanders.
Alex Kerfoot - Arizona Coyotes
Another player fans were going back and forth on, Kerfoot came over in the Nazem Kadri to Colorado trade and that was probably held against him for a while. After four average seasons in Toronto, he is now signed with the Arizona Coyotes.
Zach Aston-Reese - Detroit Red Wings
An intriguing bottom six player many fans wanted on the Leafs. Never much of a points guy, he brought the Leafs 14 points (10G, 4A) on a near league minimum contract. He signed with the Detroit Red Wings over the weekend.
Nicolas Aubé-Kubel - Washington Capitals
Another bottom-sixer with a hyphen, he only made it six games with the Leafs before being claimed off waivers by Washington on November 6th last year.
Jake Muzzin - LTIR
Technically still a Leaf, Muzzin only played four games last season and has been sidelined ever since. He is currently working as a pro scout with the Maple Leafs while on LTIR.
Justin Holl - Detroit Red Wings
One of Keefe's and Dubas's favourite projects, he was held up as an example of the path through the ECHL to the NHL but many people felt he was given too much time on the ice. Since 2017 he played 285 NHL games for the Leafs, but now he is Red Wings fans' problem.
Rasmus Sandin - Washington Capitals
Questionably traded away late last season, Sandin was held back by a clogged blueline and even with Muzzin leaving he wasn't getting what he needed. While the player returned from the Capitals was a bust - Erik Gustafsson only got in nine games in the rest of the season and two playoff games - the first round pick was something the Leafs were missing after they traded theirs to the St. Louis Blues for Ryan O'Rielly. That pick became training camp darling Easton Cowan.
Matt Murray - LTIR
Oh Matt Murray. A trade most people didn't like when it happened and had many questioning whether we should allow Kyle Dubas to bring in Soo Greyhounds anymore, he was injured most of last season, and is now most likely done for this one.
So, what do they look like now? As tweeted by Mark Masters after yesterdays practice:
Forwards
Tyler Bertuzzi - Auston Matthews - Mitch Marner
The first line replaces Michael Bunting with Tyler Bertuzzi who joins the Leafs after splitting the season with Detroit and Boston last year. The "unmade bed" as TSN referred to him, has people expecting a new level of grittiness for the first line, as well as skill that should be able to keep up with Marner and Matthews.
Max Domi - John Tavares - William Nylander
The William Nylander at Centre experiment didn't last long, so Tavares and Nylander are back together, and now have Max Domi on their wing - a huge upgrade over Denis Malgin. It won't be the most defensive line for the team, but hopefully they all click offensively.
Matthews Knies - Fraser Minten - Calle Järnkrok
We've gone from a veteran filled third line to one with Järnkrok playing babysitter to a couple rookies. There wasn't much doubt about Knies playing on the Leafs this season, but Fraser Minten was a big surprise in camp and forced the Leafs to keep him up instead of sending him back to Kamloops of the WHL. Minten and Knies just became an inseparable pair in camp and here they are. Hopefully they can keep it up and give the bottom six some much needed offensive power.
Noah Gregor - David Kämpf - Ryan Reaves
Another line with two new players, David Kämpf bids farewell to the hyphens, and welcomes a younger Noah Gregor and long time veteran Ryan Reaves. Gregor was invited to camp on a professional tryout agreement, and signed the day before the Leafs season began (yesterday!). Ryan Reaves is here to "change the attitude" of the team. People praised his off-ice leadership and ability to bring the room together, and is a fourth liner who can play hockey and deal with the rough stuff on the ice.
Defenders
Morgan Rielly - TJ Brodie
No changes to the top pair.
Jake McCabe - John Klingberg
Second pair is all new, with Jake McCabe the Leafs vet of the two, joining the team around the deadline last season. John Klingberg is all new to the feeling of millions of eyes on your at all times and hasn't tasted that sweet taste of Leafs defeat yet. He started camp injured, but so far should be there opening night.
Mark Giordano - Timothy Liljegren
Liljegren was a spare defender at the start of last season and now gets to start on the third pair with Giordano, replacing departed Rasmus Sandin.
Goalies
Ilya Samsonov
Joseph Woll
Woll is someone familiar to Leafs fans, he isn't new to our hearts but is new to being a regular on the Leafs line up.
The Maple Leafs have ten new faces on the opening night roster. Overhauling the players surrounding the stars after a disappointing end to the past several season can only be done so much. This could possibly be the final season of "we can and we will" - keeping Marner, Matthews, and Nylander on the same team - unless a trophy comes to the Scotiabank Arena in the spring.
