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Woll confirmed starter vs. Golden Knights, Grebenkin, Minten make debuts, Holmberg at centre
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Photo credit: Dan Hamilton-Imagn Images
TLN Staff
Nov 20, 2024, 12:40 ESTUpdated: Nov 20, 2024, 12:36 EST
It’s been a whirlwind few days for the Toronto Maple Leafs, who are facing a wave of injuries heading into Wednesday’s game against the Vegas Golden Knights.
Nikita Grebenkin and Fraser Minten are expected to make their season debuts on Wednesday — it will also mark Grebenkin’s NHL debut, as he was called up for Max Domi, who was placed on injured reserve retroactive to November 16 on Wednesday. David Kampf was moved from injured reserve to long-term injured reserve in order to create space for Grebenkin.
Joseph Woll is the confirmed starter for the Maple Leafs. Woll has posted a 3-2 record in five starts with a .902 save percentage and a 2.40 goals against average. Adin Hill is the projected starter for the Golden Knights, while ex-Leafs goalie Ilya Samsonov is the backup.
Toronto’s first power play unit wasn’t impacted by the recent injury news, although Matthews will miss his seventh consecutive game after travelling to Germany to see a specialist. Matthew Knies, John Tavares, William Nylander, Mitch Marner and Morgan Rielly took reps on the first unit, while Grebenkin, Bobby McMann, Nick Robertson, Conor Timmins and Oliver Ekman-Larsson composed the second group. Minten also could be deployed on the penalty kill alongside Connor Dewar.
Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube confirmed Wednesday morning that Pontus Holmberg would be moved to centre. Holmberg has played both centre and wing this season, posting two assists in 17 games.
Simon Benoit will return to the lineup, after missing two games as a healthy scratch. Benoit will replace Jani Hakanpaa, who struggled during Saturday’s game against the Edmonton Oilers with four turnovers, and should resume in his normal spot alongside Timmins on the team’s third defence pair. It’s likely that Rielly will be reunited with Ekman-Larsson, while the shutdown pair of Jake McCabe-Chris Tanev remains intact.
There have been several changes to the lineup, so this is a projection:

Maple Leafs’ projected lineup

Bobby McMann-John Tavares-Mitch Marner 
Matthew Knies-Pontus Holmberg-William Nylander
Nick Robertson-Fraser Minten-Nikita Grebenkin
Connor Dewar-Steven Lorentz-Alex Steeves 
Oliver Ekman-Larsson-Morgan Rielly
Jake McCabe-Chris Tanev
Simon Benoit-Conor Timmins 
Joseph Woll (confirmed starter)
Anthony Stolarz 

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