Maple Leafs Completely Re-Arrange Their Forward Line Just Days Before the Season Opener

The Toronto Maple Leafs are about to embark on a huge regular-season campaign that could very well end in a Stanley Cup.

While that sounds ambitious, it's not without merit. The Leafs were just one game away from the Eastern Conference Finals last season, and had they played the Carolina Hurricanes, they could have easily gone to the Stanley Cup Finals.

Now, Mitch Marner is gone, but the team is deeper than ever, and some analysts believe this Leafs team has the grit necessary to do something special.

Unfortunately, going into the season opener against the Montreal Canadiens on Wednesday, the Leafs will be without Scott Laughton.

With the team experiencing a depletion in roster pieces, head coach Craig Berube tried out some new lines at practice that will get your attention.

For instance, Auston Matthews and Matthew Knies were paired up with Mattias Maccelli. The second line stayed the same, but Max Domi was demoted to the third line where he is playing with Dakota Joshua and David Kampf.

The fourth line now consists of Steven Lorentz, Bo Groulx, and Nicolas Roy. Groulx will likely be replaced by Easton Cowan or Nick Robertson.

Over the coming days, this lineup is likely to change, so Leafs fans should not get too attached to it.

Having said that, it is clear that the Leafs are experimenting ahead of what should be an interesting season.