Maple Leafs Make Lineup Changes Ahead of Season Opener – The Hockey Writers Toronto Maple Leafs Latest News, Analysis & More

The NHL preseason has come to a close and the puck drops on the regular season Tuesday. While it may seem far too early to read into lineup adjustments made by your team, we’re going to do just that with the changes the Toronto Maple Leafs made at practice on Monday morning.

There were four significant changes made the Maple Leafs’ lineup at practice on Monday that involved players that were previously on the outside looking in moving up into the lineup, while others took a step back or were not longer with the team at all.

Nicholas Robertson Joins Maple Leafs’ Regulars

The first significant move involved Nicholas Robertson, who signed a one-year extension with the Maple Leafs in the offseason and is looking for an opportunity to become a regular within the lineup. With consistency being the biggest issue for him over his short career with the team, his preseason play was – once again – on and off at times.

That said, he displayed the ability to add offence and with the team’s need for depth scoring, that could be enticing to Brad Treliving, Craig Berube and the rest of the staff.

At practice on Monday, Robertson joined a line with Max Domi and Dakota Joshua. It’s a line that would provide a lot of physicality and – with the addition of Robertson – could prove the team with some much needed bottom-six scoring.

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

Calle Järnkrok Getting the Call for Maple Leafs

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

Related: Maple Leafs’ Cowan & Robertson Make Final Cases to Make Roster

He played 19 games during the 2024-25 season with a goal and seven points before adding just one assist in 12 games for the team in the postseason. During the offseason, Järnkrok noted how disappointed he was in his year and that he wanted a chance to show that he still had the offence that the Maple Leafs were hoping for when he joined the team.

While it a fourth line role for the Maple Leafs, it would still get him ice-time with two significant players who can open up the ice for Järnkrok to get some opportunities. That, along with Roy’s underrated skill, could be of interest to the Maple Leafs’ staff.

Easton Cowan Being Left Out Again?

With both Robertson and Järnkrok jumping in as regulars at practice, that left Easton Cowan as the team’s 13th forward for the skate. Now, read into it as you will, but could this actually mean that Cowan is set to start the season in the AHL with the Toronto Marlies?

The Maple Leafs haven’t made any clear decisions on their young forward yet, but with the complimentary analysis from Berube during the preseason and the standout play of Cowan, one would think that he’d get a shot to start the year with the big club – especially with Scott Laughton out of the lineup week-to-week.

It might just be for the sake of practice, regardless, this move even before the season starts raises eyebrows for media and fans. Let the questions begin to flow.

David Kämpf Seems to be Gone

The last significant move was that David Kämpf, who seemed like the likely replacement for Laughton was not with the team. This comes after the team put him on waivers to make him eligible to send him to the AHL earlier last week.

With Laughton out and Kämpf seemingly gone, the likelihood is that Cowan should make the jump to the NHL. That is, unless Robertson along with Järnkrok earn spots out of camp.

Regardless of the result, one thing is for sure. Each roster move that the Maple Leafs make in the next 24 hours will be heavily questioned, possibly criticized, and, if it goes wrong, even further scrutinized.