Well, I know this is not a very original article, but I actually did my homework on this one.

First off, a lot of this is actually based on comments by Leafs GM Cliff Fletcher and/or those by coach Ron Wilson. Also the Leafs had one of their first team practices of the year in which most players were present.

The first line is a bit of a surprising one. No shocker that Nik Antropov is there—or even that Poni is the LW on the "top line". What is very surprising is that Wilson wants to give Mikhail Grabovski every opportunity to start on that line as well. Given his inexperience, it seems surprising that Grabovski appears to be the team's opening-day No. 1 center.

Line 1:    Ponikarovsky   Grabovski    Antropov

Wilson has also stated recently that Steen and Stajan will be the teams second and third centers. It appears the Leafs are attempting to go with three balanced "scoring" lines.

Fletcher has said numerous times that Nikolai Kulemin would not only make the team out of camp, but will be likely be playing on one of the top two lines—and both he and Wilson have agreed that speedster Alex Steen would likely be the best fit as his centerman.

I would have thought that Blake would have started the year flanking Matt Stajan, whom he appeared to have a lot of chemestry with late last year.  However, it appears he will begin the year on the second line with rookie Kulemin and Steen.

Line 2:    Kulemin   Steen   Hagman

As mentioned before, Matt Stajan appears set to anchor the third line to begin the year, with two-way winger Niklas Hagman and sophomore Jiri Tlusty on the wing.

Line 3:    Blake   Stajan   Tlusty

The fourth line appears to be the only real battle for playing time up front.

It has already been confirmed numerous times that Mark Bell will definitely make the cut. Wilson had Bell in San Jose and is a big supporter. Jamal Mayers, whom the Leafs traded for this offseason will also most definitely be featured on this line. The center to start the year will likely be one of Dominic Moore or Boyd Devereaux.

Line 4: Bell   Moore/Devereaux   Mayers

The spares up front will consist of either Moore or Devereaux—depending on who gets the chance to start—tough guy Ryan Hollweg and one of Boyce, Earl, Newbury, Ondrus—or the most likely candidate, Jeremy Williams.

On the back end, the top four—again, according to Wilson—are Kaberle, Kubina, Finger and Frogren—who will be wearing McCabe's former No. 24.

That leaves defensemen Carlo Colaiacovo, Anton Stralman, Mike Van Ryan, and Ian White to battle for the final two spots.

It is very unlikely that Colaiacovo gets sat unless he is injured. When healthy, he still shows flashes of his first-round potential.

The primary reason Frogren was brought in was to mentor international partner Stralman. The two have worked very well together internationally, and the Leafs brass loved what they saw. Based on this reason, along with his high ceiling (in terms of potential), it appears that the sixth spot will be his to lose.

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