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2025-26 Toronto Maple Leafs General Discussion

I'd love to see Laughton moved up to the checking line with Roy. Gives him a bigger role on the team. He's good defensively. He can be a bit of a pest at times which can work well against certain players. The other benefit is that it would allow him and Roy, both of who typically hover a little below 50% on faceoffs, to exclusively take draws on their strong sides which should boost those numbers over 50. I just don't really see who comes out of the top-9 forwards to make room for that. It feels like he's a backup if any of Domi, Joshua, McMann, or Maccelli struggle enough to lose their spots.
 
I'd love to see Laughton moved up to the checking line with Roy. Gives him a bigger role on the team. He's good defensively. He can be a bit of a pest at times which can work well against certain players. The other benefit is that it would allow him and Roy, both of who typically hover a little below 50% on faceoffs, to exclusively take draws on their strong sides which should boost those numbers over 50. I just don't really see who comes out of the top-9 forwards to make room for that. It feels like he's a backup if any of Domi, Joshua, McMann, or Maccelli struggle enough to lose their spots.
What a swing of events. From a team who's bottom 6 is viewed as being weak, to a team that can't find a spot for a player like (a hopefully rebounded) Scott Laughton.
 
I feel like this group of forwards seems likely when the regular season rolls around (I’m assuming Cowan is waivers-exempt and no matter how he plays, will get sent down and then brought up when injuries hit).

Knies - Matthews - Domi
McMann - Tavares - W. Nylander
Maccelli - Roy - Joshua
Lorentz - Laughton - Robertson

I hope Robertson sticks somewhere and/or the team finds its way to 3 scoring lines. Not much upside in the end of the core 4, though, if I’m being honest, there’s not much to be excited by here and I figure it’ll be a two-year process.

Still, I’d try

Knies - Matthews - Maccelli = seems to be worth trying
McMann - Tavares - W. Nylander = looked good for a stretch last season
Robertson - Roy - Domi = sheltered scoring line, maybe flip Roy and Laughton
Lorentz - Laughton - Joshua = checking line
 
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