Predicted Maple Leafs Lineup Tonight: Toronto's projected lines for game against Detroit Red Wings

The Toronto Maple Leafs host the Detroit Red Wings on Monday, October 13 at 2 p.m. ET. Toronto is coming off a 6-3 road loss to Detroit on Saturday.

Ahead of the Maple Leafs' third game of the season, here is what the lineup is projected to look like.

Maple Leafs projected lines

Forwards

Matthew Knies - Auston Matthews - Easton Cowan
Matias Maccelli - John Tavares - William Nylander
Nick Robertson - Max Domi - Bobby McMann
Dakota Joshua - Nic Roy - Calle Jarnkrok

The Maple Leafs are shuffling up their lines on Monday due to the injury to Steven Lorentz. The biggest news is that top prospect Easton Cowan will make his NHL debut and will play on the top line with Knies and Matthews.

"I feel confident,” Cowan said of making his debut, via TSN. “I feel like I’m ready for this. So, just gonna take it all in, enjoy it and have some fun.”

Maple Leafs coach Craig Berube, meanwhile, hopes Cowan can help spark the top line and add more offense to the lineup.

“He’s a guy that [is] good down low in the offensive zone,” the coach said. “I’d like to get that line some more possession down there, some more plays. He does that stuff. He’s a great hounder too. He gets on top of things and he’s strong on pucks, hangs onto pucks, and so that’s why I made that switch.”

Defense

Morgan Rielly - Brandon Carlo
Jake McCabe - Chris Tanev
Oliver Ekman-Larsson - Simon Benoit

The Maple Leafs' blue line has been the same through two games, and it will remain the same in Game 3. Toronto's top pairing has been solid this year, as Morgan Rielly looks like he has turned back the clock.

However, one issue for Toronto has been the play of the third-pairing, which has struggled to begin the season.

Goalies

Anthony Stolarz
Cayden Primeau

Anthony Stolarz will get his third-straight start on Monday. Stolarz is the true No. 1 goalie with Joseph Woll away from the team. Stolarz is 1-1 with a 3.05 GAA and a .906 SV% this season. He's 2-1 with a 1.66 GAA and a .940 SV% in his career against Detroit.

About the author

Cole is an NHL, NFL and College Sports reporter at Sportskeeda with over 7 years of experience writing for publications like CBC, USA Today, SMG, BJPENN, Sherdog and SB Nation.

An NHL fan his whole life, Cole played rep hockey in Canada from age 5 until 17 and grew up rooting for Martin St. Louis and the Tampa Bay Lightning. His all-time favorite players are Vincent Lecavalier and Steven Stamkos, while Jon Cooper is his favorite coach of all time.

Cole attended Sheridan College and received his journalism degree in 2019. After decades of watching and reporting, he considers his knowledge of sports as his primary strength. He ensures that the same story has been reported by at least two reputed reporters before creating it.

Cole enjoys playing golf and spending time with friends and family when not reporting breaking stories. His favorite sports moment is from the 2010 Olympics, when Sidney Crosby scored the golden goal in overtime to beat Team USA for the gold medal.

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