What Will The Maple Leafs Lineup Look Like In 2026? w/ David Alter | SDP

1. Leaf Fan can huff hopium all day long. The fact is you have a washed goalie and are talent deficient. BEST case? WC2. Most of us (non-Leaf fans) don't really rate the Leafs as a threat. Or even a semi-threat. I know TOR fans want to hope for the best…but this team isn't very good. And everyone outside of Toronto knows this.

2. Leafs gonna shock this year just watch….not only making the playoffs, but I predict they nearly win the Atlantic. Call me crazy all ya's want

3. McKenna won’t even be the player Marner has become lol

4. McKenna Matthews Nylander
   Knies Tavares Roslovic
   Paul Sissons Cowan
   Joshua Blueger Duhaime

5. disagree with alter here, if we have too many centers now is a perfect time to move JT to the wing and let him take faceoffs, him centering nylander has been atrocious defensively historically.

6. I’m so tired of Nylander and Tavares being glued to each other. When they score 5-on-5 it’s because they’re individually great players, not because they’re feeding off one another. I’ve never seen two skill guys complement each other so poorly be so intertwined.

7. Rielly-Raddysh I really want to see for a bit like the preseason, it would likely be awful but it could cook if paired with a more defensively responsible line like Matthews

8. lets be honest here …. Leafs going to get a top 5 pick in 2027… they look terrible

9. Raddysh will be good for the PP, but the rest of this D core is relying on two guys who are 35+ years of age being able to keep up in a young, fast division, and a Reilly who needs a partner to cover up his mistakes.

   This blueline is barely top 5 in the division in the best of scenarios. It'll be rough if you add injuries to that. Even rougher if they can't get a good 30-35 games from someone other than Bob.

10. Alter aura of simultaneous intensity & coolness. great guest I hope you have him back.

11. TML should dump Joshua and sign Tolvanen. Then try McKenna- Matthews- Knies 1st line.
    Tolvanen – Tavares- Nylander 2nd line, 3rd line Cowan- Sissons – Roslovic.
    No matter what you do TML need a STRONG defensive physical winger to play with Tavares and Nylander hence adding Tolvanen.
    Then with Knies on 1st line you have a physical player on every line.
    On defense I would feel more comfortable running OEL- Raddysh 1st pair, McCabe – Tanev 2nd and Rielly – Stecher 3rd pair.

12. All 3 off you?

13. Steve finally coming to the realization that this team just doesn’t work on July 31st after all the glaze is killing me 😭

14. McKenna’s going to be a Yakapov level bust.

15. I don't mind Rielly being a Leaf on opening night, but he should no longer touch the top line until he shows he's worthy

16. McKenna Matthews Roslovic
    Nylander tavares cowan
    Knies Sissons Paul
    Joshua Blueger Duhaime
    Scratch: lorentz macewan

    McCabe Raddysh
    Rielly Tanev
    OEL Andrae
    Scratch: Villeneuve

17. Roslovic and Matthews are tight and played in the US program together. I like them together on the top line with Paul.

18. A Reilly Raddish pairing will be comparable to Makar Toews in Colorado. But gayer.

19. McKenna-Matthews-Roslovic
    Knies-JT-Nylander
    Cowan-Paul-Sissons
    Joshua-Blueger-Duhaime
    Rielly-Raddysh
    McCabe-Tanev
    OEL/Andrae-Stetcher/Danford

    Marlies a wagon, TLK has disgusting good hands passing and post-in snipes, Rielly will have 60 apples with half in a basket at Raddysh's feet this season if they play 3F2D on 1st PP. The Blueger rescue operation for Joshua with Duhaime to fight ppl was also smart, but we actually don't even need Bob to work out or Matthews shot to come off LTIR for this lineup to smash. McKenna, Roslovic, and Paul are gonna do a lot and Knies and Cowan are the type of studs to take another step, we're battling Florida for 1st in the Atlantic, and probably for cup final appearance – I will be back in 2027 to pretend I'm smart for noticing.

20. But has passing ever been a strength for Roslovic?

21. Do people forget Knies played injured most of the year? I thought that was a major reason he looked off with Matthews last year.

22. Nowhere near good enough, not even close…

23. McKenna-Matthews-Knies
    Cowan-Tavares-Nylander
    Paul-Sisson-Roslovic
    Joshua-Bluegar-Duhaime

24. Paul and Roslovic, 3rd liners with Matthews? Glad you're not coaching.

25. Jt to the wing

26. A lot on lines will depend on when Domi is back.

27. McKenna-Matthews-Knies
    Cowan-Tavares-Nylander
    Paul-Sissons-Roslovic
    Duhaime-Lorentz-Joshua
    Extras Blueger, MacEwen, Domi (once healthy moves up to RW3, shift Roslovic to 3C and then move Sissons down to 4C bumping Lorentz out of the lineup)

    McCabe-Raddysh
    Tanev-Rielly
    OEL-Andrae
    Extras Stecher, Myers (im fine with Stecher over Andrae as well)

    Bobrovsky
    Stolarz

28. When McKenna eventually winds up with Matthews, they will need either Knies, Domi or another guy will to ride a bit of shotgun for McKenna.

29. They should give Cowan some games at center on the 3rd line. Now is the time to see if he can hack it as a center or not. Also Lorentz is under rated by every Leafs fan for some reason. 4th line should be Joshua, Bluegar and Lorentz. I also think Andrae is going to surprise people in a good way this season and if he can continue to make his defensive game solid will probably end up playing on the 1st line with Raddysh at the end of the season. Chayka just did things without thinking much about the team as a whole, but Andrae might be the best pickup this off season other than McKenna.

30. Went back and researched last time 50 games in a row. Not Freddie? Go back to research, Freddie had 66, 66, 60, 52

31. Imagine if Boston gets the number 6 instead of the Leafs getting McKenna. I’m glad we actually have a product to get excited about. Last season was painful to watch.

32. As a Flyers fan. I hope TML finish last 😂

33. Use the PuckGM feature in Puckpedia to move the roster around and even make trades and signings!

34. You need a heavier guy on the line with Gavin. Matthews doesn't stand up for team mates. Knies maybe can do it but he doesn't do it much historically.

35. Mckenna never played in the OHL…

36. Paul lol he’s unplayable btw

37. McKenna Matthews Roslovic
    Knies Tavares Nylander
    Cowan Paul Sissons
    Lorentz Blueger Duhaime

    OEL Raddysh
    Reilly Tanev
    McCabe Villeneuve

38. I want this team to figure out how to give us a Knies/Paul/Cowan line. The best thing about this free agency and draft period is that we've come out of it with versatility.

    We could do:

    McKenna/Matthews/Roslovic
    Cowan/Tavares/Nylander
    Knies/Blueger/Joshua
    Paul/Sissons/Duhaime

    L3 AND L4 are interchangeable, essentially, but you also have the option of moving Knies up, Paul to 3C, swapping Cowan for Knies, etc.

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