The biggest news in Leafs Nation today is the starting of Kessel in the Toronto line up. At yesterday's practice, Wilson was using the following lines:
Jason Blake - Matt Stajan- Phil Kessel
Alexei Ponikarovsky - Mikhail Grabovski - Nikolai Kulemin
Niklas Hagman - John Mitchell - Lee Stempniak
Colton Orr - Rickard Wallin - Wayne Primeau
Tomas Kaberle - Francois Beauchemin
Mike Komisarek - Ian White
Luke Schenn - Garnet Exelby
Finally, Wilson has split up Kaberle and Komisarek, putting the defensive sieve Komisarek (team worst -9) with offensive Ian White (+2). This finally takes Komisarek off the top line and inherently diminishes his minutes on the ice. That way, he's penalized for his bad play, takes a bit of expectations off of him and allows him to regroup as a defensive force.
The problem Wilson faces with the introduction of Kessel is finding a player that can not only keep up with his speed, but can also feed him the passes that Savard was able to feed him all last year. RIght now, he's given him Matt Stajan, who last year had 40 assists compared to Savard's 63. However, we have to consider the line that Stajan was on compared to Krejci - Savard - Kessel.
The major problem I have with Wilson's forward choices is that he has a couple players in the minors that have the capability to be that player for Kessel. Bozak has the speed, vision and passing that is necessary to get Kessel going. In only one game played this year in the big leagues, Bozak got one assist. Stalberg on the other hand, needs to regain the confidence that he had coming out of the pre-season before Anton Volchenkov's bone-crunching hit in Toronto's first game against Ottawa. The question is, who should Bozak replace in the line-up? That's a no-brainer. If Orr and Primeau are needed for toughness, then Kulemin should be benched for a while after a mediocre start to the season.
This would be my line-up
1)Blake - Bozak - Kessel
2) Hagman - Stajan - Stempniak
3) Ponikorovsky - Mitchell - Wallin
4) Orr - Grabovski - Primeau
1) Bozak and Blake can match the speed of Kessel. Bozak has been covered above, but Blake can follow up on Kessel's rebounds, being an ex-40 goal scorer
2) Stajan put with two ex-25+scorers that can shoot the puck gives Stajan some offensive options to pass to. We as Leafs fans must remember that Stajan does not have the adequate skill to be a number 1 center man and gives him his correct placement as a number 2. Bozak, for lack of a better fit, can compete with the speed of a number 1 line.
3) This line-up gives Mitchell an offensive minded finisher as a linemate with Poni and still has Wallin as a defensive player. Its a line 3 that gives Wilson confidence to send them out in both offensive and defensive scenarios (Ponikarovsky being +5) so lines 1 and 2 can recover from fatigue.
4) This gives Grabovski some protection as a weaker player himself, and gives him more time with the puck. If the worry is about Grabovski's ice-time, he can be placed on the powerplay to have more of an offensive chance.
The Leafs are playing a weaker team tonight and as long as Stamkos, with 11G and 5A in 12GP can be covered by Exelby, Schenn and Komisarek, the Lightning offense can be overcome. If all goes right, the Leafs can come out on top and get that 2nd win that has eluded us for 3 post-regulation loses.
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