The conventional wisdom when the Toronto Maple Leafs signed Joe Thornton was that the big veteran center would play a limited role in the bottom six and the occasional power play, but head coach Sheldon Keefe surprisingly revealed in his first media availability that the 41-year-old would be lining up with Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner when on-ice sessions began at training camp on Monday.
“(Joe) looks good. He spent quite a bit of time the last couple weeks at the Ford (Performance) Centre skating. He looks sharp, he just looks like Jumbo out there.” Matthews said on Sunday. “He’s been a great addition, brings great energy to the rink every day, and I think everybody is just super excited to have him on the team.”
It is uncertain whether this is a long term strategy for Toronto, since Thornton would be playing out of position and be seeing a much larger chunk of ice time than expected, but it is intriguing even as a temporary play to add the league’s active all-time assist leader (7th career with 1089 assists) to a combo with last year’s Rocket Richard runner-up and a premier playmaker in Marner.
“I talked to Sheldon and he said that was the line we were starting with.” Marner said. “I’m excited, I’ve watched Jumbo for a long time and what he does with the puck, how he controls it in the (offensive) zone, it’s very impressive. It’s going to be fun playing with a very talented playmaker and for me it’s just trying to find holes in the middle of the ice to find open spots to be more of a shooter and a threat.”
While none of the combos are etched in stone, the Leafs have only 10 days before the beginning of the season, which means they have little time for experimentation and hope to generate some familiarity with what little time they have.
Leafs groups. Of note: Lehtonen wears 46, Simmonds 24, Barabanov 92, Bogosian 22, Vesey 26, Brodie 78, Thornton 97. No Leaf has worn 64, 78 or 97 before (in regualar season) pic.twitter.com/RHHls211jJ
Another surprise was newcomer Jimmy Vesey being placed on the line with team captain John Tavares and William Nylander, and Zach Hyman being shifted to right wing on a unit with Ilya Mikheyev and Alex Kerfoot.
Vesey being put with Tavares and Nylander is likely to take advantage of the former Hobey Baker winner’s size and scoring ability on the wing. The 27-year-old scored only nine times with Buffalo last season, but averaged 17 goals in three seasons with the NY Rangers playing on the second line. The Mikheyev – Kerfoot – Hyman would give Keefe an excellent matchup checking line that can annoy and pester the opposition’s top scoring unit.
The fourth line consists of Alexander Barabanov, center Jason Spezza and winger Wayne Simmonds. It is likely that the Leafs will give the KHL import ample opportunity to start the year to see how he is able to adapt to the North American game before opting to play Pierre Engvall or rookie Nick Robertson.
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