Toronto Maple Leafs: Wilson Has Starting Lines Set

In the post game interview after Saturday's loss to Buffalo, Toronto Maple leafs coach Ron Wilson revealed Toronto's forwards starting line up:

Versteeg - Bozak - Kessel
Kulemin - Gabrovski - MacCarthur
Sjostrom - ??? - Armstrong
Brown - ??? - Orr

Up for grabs are the 3rd and 4th line centres.  There are really only 3 candidates for these open centre positions; Mitchell, Hanson and Kadri.

Earlier in the pre-season Wilson expressed that although they wouldn't consider Kadri if he had to play on the third line, Wilson back tracked and stated that given the make-up of the team, there might not be a lot of difference in ice time for the 2nd and 3rd lines.  That leaves a little room left for Kadri to possible come in as the third line centre.  Certainly putting Kadri in the 3rd line will give Kadri some time to work on his defensive positioning, without a lot of pressure to score goals.

Although Hanson could easily step into the fourth line centre role with his size and physical play, the limited ice time wouldn't really benefit Hanson.  Having said that, given that Bozak and Kadri are not going anywhere for a few season, where does Hanson fit?  It may be that Hanson's role will always only be that of a 4th line centre for the Leafs. 

John Mitchell always seems to be on the cusp of being a 3rd line centre.  He sees the ice well, has hockey smarts, has offensive abilities....but none of these seem to come together on a consistent basis or all at the same time.  The only reason Mitchell would be centre this season is to give Kadri or Hanson more time in AHL to develop.

Sjostrom as the 3rd line left winger might surprise a few people, especially given the way Caputi has been playing and Mueller not too far behind.  The 3rd line left wing role is certainly going to be a highly contested spot all season.  However, Ron Wilson loves how Sjostrom plays the game and Wilson has stated since day one of the pre-season that Sjostrom would be the 3rd line left winger.