2022-23 Toronto Opening Night Lineup

October 12, 2022 by Hieronymous MacMillan

It's the eve of opening night for this years Toronto Maple Leafs.  Training camps are over, the preseason is finished, the league started gameplay 5 days ago and here we are. So who made the Leafs opening night anyway?

Forwards

Putting the puck in the net, a much needed requirement for success in hockey, proved to be difficult for Toronto last season. Toronto's opening night roster last season was a collection of players that had never played a single game of RHL hockey together after management blew up the roster, so it would be easy to point some of the blame on team chemistry. 
This season sees half of last years offensive group return. Goal scoring leader and team captain Steven Stamkos is back along with Brayden Schenn, two playes who were able to notch 20+ goals in the previous campaign (Stamkos had 32 while Schenn hit 28). The other two players to socre 20+, Jordan Staal and Christian Dvorak, were moved out via trade along with TJ Oshie, Jesper Fast, Jason Spezza, and Tyler Pitlick. 
Josh Norris and Alex Tuch were brought in to bolster the top six, while Dillon Dube and Noah Gregor are looking to take the next step in their development in the middle six. Riley Nash and Sam Lafferty join Tyler Ennis to make a formidable, if not unspectacular, fourth line while Drake Caggiula will serve as the 13th forward. 

Defense

Similar to the forwards, the defensive group sees a 50% turnover. Returning are Drew Doughty, Gustav Forsling, and Dmitry Orlov. Doughty appears to have bounced back after a few sub-par seasons and should help on the offensive side of things which can't hurt. Forsling took a step forward last year and starts this season on the first pairing with Doughty. 
Orlov struggled after being picked up midway through last season. He'll start the year with a new partner in the solid Trevor van Reimsdyk. Veteran Calvin de Haan will pair up with Swiss defensive stalwart Jonas Siegenthaler. 
Not returning are Jamie Drysdale (traded for Josh Norris), Dylan DeMelo and Niklas Hjalmarsson. 

Goalies 

Last years team MVP, Mackenize Blackwood, proved to be one of the few silver linings for the team. However, he will not be the team's starting goaltender to start the year. 
The Leafs brought in Alex Nedeljkovic and Kaapo Kahkonen to make for competition among the goalies. Nedeljkovic and Kahkonen are both 26, while Blackwood is 25 so they're hoping that at least one of their young netminders can join the leagues elite in the blue paint. 
For now, Nedeljkovic's play during preseason looks to see him earn the majority of the starts for the meantime. 

Minors

GMLT has been at the helm for two drafts now and we're still to see the fruits of his labour. It's only a matter of a time. What this means is that the farm team is still filled with FA pickups and trade acquisitions. Among names to keep an eye on are Mitchell Chaffee, Cole Koepke, Nick Perbix, Artemi Kniazev and as previously mentioned Kahkonen. 
Management also seems to be high on Bobby McMann and made room for him to start the year on the farm, so they'll be keeping close tabs on him as well. 

News & Notes.....

- The Leafs announced that they have ended their partnership with the Newfoundland Growlers and will instead use the Savannah Ghost Pirates as their new ECHL affiliation. Toronto players to suit up their this season will be: Eduards Tralmaks [F], Bobby Trivigno [F], Ben Tardif [F], Taylor Ward [F], Fedor Gordeev [D], Yan Kuznetsov [D], Max Martin [D], Keith Petruzzelli [G], and Tommy Nappier [G]

- Toronto also announced that it will predominantly be wearing their throwback St. Pats jerseys for the majority of this season. Here's hoping that a green leaf is close enough to a four-leaf clover. We all know the Leafs could use a bit of luck.