Here are 5 things to watch for:

I’ll admit to being a little surprised by this one, as I thought Engvall has shown enough in his three games to look like the better option for the third line, but when I rattled it around in my head a bit more, I think I’ve come to agree with the decision made by putting Petan up with Spezza and Kapanen.

The Leafs need to see if they can find a fit for Petan and with the return of Marner a decision will need to be made on him once again. He’s proven to be dominated at the AHL level, but really can’t find his place in the NHL. Spezza and Kapanen are probably the last combination of players that haven’t been tried, aside from putting him with Matthews and Nylander. If this doesn’t click, we probably shouldn’t feel too bad about moving on from Petan.

As for Engvall, it’s probably best that he settles into a level of familiarity with the 4th line group, because if he keeps on holding his own, he might not be the player sent back to the Marlies when Marner and Moore return.

If there is one thing I’ve learned from watching the Islanders over the past decade, it’s that there really doesn’t seem to be much point to giving Tavares your best wingers. You’re better off giving him good wingers, and letting him make them great.

That’s why I’m all for the Hyman-Tavares-Mikheyev line, which gives Tavares competent players that he is only going to make better. It’s hard to imagine that there won’t be a reunion with Mitch Marner at some point, but I have to say, I am curious about what would happen if the Leafs attempted to role what would be pretty close to 3 first lines by strapping Marner in alongside Kerfoot when they return.

As for now, let’s just hope that Hyman-Tavares-Mikheyev line can get someone going besides Hyman, as Tavares isn’t up to his usual point per game pace yet, and Mikheyev has slowed down as the season has moved on as well.

If there are two players that can be pointed to as being better under Babcock than Keefe, it’s the Leafs “top” pairing of Morgan Rielly and Cody Ceci.

For arguments sake, we’ll say that Morgan Rielly is talented and can be salvaged, and might be struggling because he has a boat anchor attached to him.

Ceci’s numbers under Keefe are:

Additionally, his xGF% has dropped to a sub 50% level, and he’s 10 games removed from having a positive goal differential, although he’s gone the past three games without being on the ice for a goal against.

Considering that Dubas has recently praised Ceci’s numbers (they’ve been on a steady decline since that comment) it’s hard to imagine that Rielly and Ceci won’t continue as the top pairing, but in these times of change, something seems like it will have to give eventually.

As someone who firmly believes in having offensive talents contribute to the penalty kill, this is one of my favourite developments under Keefe. This is still a relatively new thing for the Leafs, although it was a regular thing on the Marlies, so I hope we’ll get some favourable results and see more of it. You don’t need to be penalized twice by being down one player, but then again by choosing to take your skilled players off the ice for two minutes.