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Toronto Maple Leafs: 4 storylines to watch during training camp

By David Morassutti

Frederik Andersen #31 of the Toronto Maple Leafs celebrates with teammates after the Maple Leafs defeat the Boston Bruins. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
Frederik Andersen #31 of the Toronto Maple Leafs celebrates with teammates after the Maple Leafs defeat the Boston Bruins. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images) /
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Toronto Maple Leafs
Auston Matthews #34 of the Toronto Maple Leafs reacts with teammate William Nylander #29 after scoring a goal in the first period against the Montreal Canadiens during the NHL game at the Bell Centre. (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images) /

Auston Matthews and William Nylander’s reunion

Matthews made it clear he prefers to play with Nylander and having both ready to dominate should make Leafs fans excited.

We mentioned before that it would make sense for Johnsson to play with Tavares and Kapanen but don’t be surprised if he gets to stay with Matthews like he did for most of last season. One indication that this might be possible is that Johnsson, Matthews and Nylander have been playing on a line together during informal scrimmages.

If Matthews and Nylander can show that they haven’t missed after seeing limited time with each other last season, it will make the rest of the lineup decisions a lot easier. Of course, many expect Nylander to rebound from last season considering he will be in a more offensive role rather than trying to carry players like Connor Brown and Patrick Marleau who were struggled considerably on the offensive side of the ball.

You also hope both players get a new sense of motivation losing again to the Bruins considering they didn’t get the chance to play together and give the Leafs the best chance to move on. Maybe that’s overthinking things but players generally don’t like to change what has worked for them.

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