The Toronto Maple Leafs’ top line is going to look a lot different moving forward.
For nine years, it was Auston Matthews down the middle, Mitch Marner on the right, and constant change on the left. Last season, Matthew Knies solidified himself in that spot, but now it’s the right side that could be a revolving door of players.
Marner’s departure via sign-and-trade to Vegas, where he signed an eight-year, $96 million contract with the Golden Knights, broke up the core four. While that might be for the better after continuous playoff failures, the Maple Leafs didn’t do much to fill his shoes.
Matias Maccelli was their only real offseason addition with top-six potential, though, according to TSN hockey insider Darren Dreger, it’s most likely that Toronto begins the year with the familiarity of Max Domi alongside Matthews and Knies on line one. Here was what he had to say on “First Up” this morning.
“I think it’ll more likely be Max Domi, but they have time for Maccelli. They want him, coming into a new organization, to start feeling he fits. And there’s no better place to fit than on the top line or at least in the top six. But he’s got to earn it too… “There’s a lot of time, and there’s a lot of opportunity for Matias Maccelli,” Dreger said.
“But, we’ve also seen the history of Max Domi and Auston Matthews, and there have been times in the last couple of years where it’s worked, and you can see that chemistry. So if Max Domi can find a home in the top six or, better yet, on the right side with Auston Matthews and Matthew Knies, then his game should take off, and that’ll mean good things for the Maple Leafs,” Dreger added.
.@DarrenDreger on what the Leafs are looking for from Nick Robertson, Domi and Maccelli battling for first line minutes & the latest news on extension talks around the NHL#LeafsForeverhttps://t.co/bTgZmdHjal
— First Up (@FirstUp1050) September 22, 2025
The 30-year-old, Domi, tallied 33 points (eight goals, 25 assists) in 74 games played in 2024-25 and will be entering the second season of the four-year, $15 million extension he signed with the Maple Leafs in 2024.
Domi’s chemistry with Matthews
As Dreger referred to, Max Domi and Auston Matthews have shown some pretty strong chemistry when playing together in the past.
The veteran forward spent a good amount of time on a line with Matthews and Tyler Bertuzzi during the 2023-24 campaign as Marner dealt with an injury, which showed in his numbers, producing 47 points (nine goals, 38 assists) on the year.
It also translated into the postseason, where Domi and Matthews clicked several times throughout the early stages of their seven-game series loss to Boston.
Given that Domi’s biggest strength is his passing and playmaking ability, it makes plenty of sense to give him another look alongside the best goal scorer in the world to start 2025-26.
