Photo credit: NHL
MAR 16, 2023 (3:27 PM)

Keefe shuffles defensive pairings at Wednesday's practice; a surprise demotion among them
BY RYAN SMITHERAM
With only three lines of forwards available for practice, Sheldon Keefe focused on shuffling up his blueline instead. Morgan Rielly and T.J. Brodie remained together, as did Mark Giordano and Timothy Liljegren. The only change Keefe made to the pairings was a pretty substantial one. Schenn paired up with Jake McCabe while Justin Holl found himself on the fourth pairing with Erik Gustafson.
Whether Holl or Gustafson is the seventh defenseman tomorrow night remains to be seen, as is who will come out of the lineup on Saturday as Keefe confirmed following practice that he would go with the 11 forward, seven defenseman lineup once again tomorrow versus Carolina. He also noted that he would revert to a more traditional 12 and 6 lineup Saturday in Ottawa which now raises speculation that Holl could find himself in the press box for that game, since he was skating on the fourth pairing in today's practice.
LEADERS 2022-2023 | ||||||||
GP | G | A | PTS | |||||
1- CONNOR MCDAVID | 72 | 60 | 78 | 138 | ||||
2- LEON DRAISAITL | 70 | 44 | 66 | 110 | ||||
3- NIKITA KUCHEROV | 73 | 28 | 74 | 102 | ||||
4- MATTHEW TKACHUK | 69 | 35 | 62 | 97 | ||||
5- DAVID PASTRNAK | 71 | 49 | 46 | 95 | ||||
6- NATHAN MACKINNON | 60 | 31 | 62 | 93 | ||||
7- MITCH MARNER | 71 | 28 | 64 | 92 | ||||
8- JASON ROBERTSON | 72 | 41 | 50 | 91 | ||||
9- ELIAS PETTERSSON | 69 | 33 | 57 | 90 | ||||
10- TAGE THOMPSON | 70 | 43 | 45 | 88 | ||||
2022-2023 LEADERS |