The Leafs will dress their top line — more accurately, one of their two top lines — in Kasperi Kapanen – John Tavares – Mitch Marner for the first preseason matchup today against the Senators. It’s a prime opportunity for Kapanen, who took advantage of a similar situation to start the season last Fall when he moved up onto Auston Matthews’ wing during William Nylander’s contractual holdout.
The challenge is a little different this time, though, as Kapanen will play his off-wing on the left side of the line. His hands don’t always keep up with his feet even when he skates on his strong side, so he’ll need to adjust to making and receiving passes on his backhand, in addition to adjusting both on the defensive-zone half-wall and when driving the net off the wing at the offensive end.