Maple Leafs make lineup changes ahead of season opener – Hockey Writer – Toronto Maple Leaf

The NHL preseason has ended and the hockey dropped in Tuesday’s regular season. While it seems too early to read the lineup tweaks your team makes, we will do that with the changes that Toronto Maple Leaf practiced on Monday morning.

There were four major changes to the Maple Leafs roster on Monday, involving players who used to look at the roster outside while others took a step back or were no longer with the team at all.

Nicholas Robertson joins Maple Leaf’s regular

Nicholas Robertson’s first major move involved signing a one-year extension with the Maple Leafs during the offseason and looking for opportunities to be a regular on the roster. Consistency was his biggest issue in his short career with the team, and his pre-season performances sometimes kicked out again.

That said, he showed a ability to increase offense and the team’s need for depth scoring, which may have attracted Brad Treliving, Craig Berube and other employees.

Robertson joined a line with Max Domi and Dakota Joshua on Monday. It’s a row that can provide a lot of body, and plus Robertson, it can prove that the team needs some much-needed bottom sixes.

But what does this change mean for the rest of the lineup?

CalleJärnkrok receives a call from Maple Leaf

The second change to Monday’s practice was that Calle Järnkrok joined two clear starters for the 2025-26 Maple Leafs along with Nicolas Roy and Steven Lorentz. Järnkork missed most of last season due to injury, but returned to the playoffs in time.

Related: Maple Leafs’ Cowan & Robertson Make Final Case to Create a Roster

In the 2024-25 season, he scored 19 games, goals and 7 points, and then added 1 assist to the team’s 12 games in the playoffs. During the offseason, Järnkrok pointed out how disappointed he felt during the year and he hoped to have a chance to prove that he still had the offense that the Leafs hoped to do when they joined the team.

While this is the fourth-tier role for the Maple Leafs, it can still allow him to hockey with two important players who can open the hockey for Järnkrok for some chances. This, along with Roy’s underrated skills, Maple Leaf staff may be interested.

Easton Cowan was excluded again?

Both Robertson and Järnkrok added regulars to practice, which made Easton Cowan the 13th forward on the team. Now, read it as you wish, but that actually means Cowan will start the season in the AHL with Toronto’s Marlies?

The Maple Leafs have not made any clear decisions about the young forward yet, but in a free analysis of Berube in the preseason and Cowan’s outstanding performance, one would think he would start the year with big clubs, especially Scott Laughton, especially in the weekly roster.

Anyway, it may be just for practice, and the move has attracted the attention of the media and fans even before the season begins. Let the problem start to flow.

David Kämpf seems to have disappeared

The final big move is that David Kämpf seems likely to replace Laugon. This is after the team waived his waiver, making him eligible to send him to the AHL earlier last week.

With Laugon’s out, Kämpf seems to have disappeared, and it’s very likely that Cowan should jump to the NHL. That is, unless Robertson and Järnkrok make money at the camp.

Regardless of the result, it is certain. Every lineup Maple Leaf takes over the next 24 hours will be seriously questioned and may be criticized and even further scrutiny if it goes wrong.