Leafs practice notes: McMann, Nylander join Matthews on 1st line, Carlo paired with McCabe

Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube may be tired of experimenting with his first line, but it appears to be a necessity in the early stages of the season and he put the combinations in a blender at Thursday’s practice.

Bobby McMann and William Nylander joined Auston Matthews on Toronto’s top line, via line rushes posted by The Athletic’s Jonas Siegel. McMann and Nylander inject the top line with some high-end speed and playmaking ability.

“I think early on in the season, I thought, you know, they were getting their opportunities and looking pretty good,” Berube said of the Maple Leafs’ first line following a 5-2 loss to the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday. “Now, it’s like, it’s obviously not good enough. I don’t feel like they have any sustained pressure in the offensive zone at all. It’s one and done, then they’re out.”

Matthew Knies, John Tavares and Matias Maccelli formed the second line. Easton Cowan was reinserted into the lineup as the third-line right wing, joining Dakota Joshua and Nicolas Roy. Steven Lorentz, Max Domi and Calle Jarnkrok formed the fourth line. Domi was placed on the first line against New Jersey Devils, but Knies-Matthews-Domi struggled to generate any meaningful offense.

Jake McCabe was paired with Brandon Carlo on Toronto’s top defence grouping. Chris Tanev was placed on injured reserve retroactive to October 21 earlier Thursday morning, which forced Berube to reshuffle his defence pairings. Philippe Myers joined Simon Benoit, while Morgan Rielly will likely be grouped with Oliver Ekman-Larsson for Friday’s game against the Buffalo Sabres.

Toronto also reshuffled its power play units, after starting the year converting on 2-of-16 opportunities with the man advantage. Ekman-Larsson took over Rielly’s role, although that could be because Rielly didn’t attend Friday’s session. Matthews, Tavares, Nylander and Knies remained on the top unit.