When a team undergoes an overhaul in the offseason and starts off their season poorly, the blame will always make its way to the team’s offseason acquisitions at some point. Especially if you’re a team like the Toronto Maple Leafs, who are already under more pressure than most teams to begin with. Not that anybody was expecting Nicolas Roy, Dakota Joshua, and Matias Maccelli to seamlessly replace Mitch Marner’s regular season production, but when the team starts the season under .500 and carries that slump into December, there are going to be some alarm bells going off.
While Roy and Joshua emerged as potential linemates in preseason, they had a hard time finding the third piece to complete that line. Maccelli got some runway with them for a bit, but the line never really took off the way the team hoped in preseason. Pair that with Roy battling an injury that took him out of commission in November and Joshua’s poor play resulting in a couple of scratches here and there, and it was a recipe for disaster for all parties involved. While not a new acquisition, Bobby McMann was also battling a familiar inconsistency, going six games without a point in November. So, naturally, the solution was to pair all three of these struggling players together, right?
Well, yes. Turns out that was exactly what the doctor ordered.
Ahead of the Maple Leafs’ 7-2 blowout win over the Pittsburgh Penguins, a win that could serve as a turning point of sorts if the Leafs can string some positive efforts together, head coach Craig Berube dropped McMann to the third line in hopes that his speed could complement Joshua and Roy. With McMann being the smallest of those three players, standing at 6-foot-2 and 217 pounds, it’s a heavy line that can intimidate you with the combination of speed and physicality that so many coaches crave, and Berube was clearly onto something with that hunch, because it’s seemingly gotten all three players going.
Against the Penguins, all three players scored a goal, with McMann and Roy both picking up an assist in addition to their goal. Then, in a pivotal divisional matchup against a similarly-struggling Florida Panthers team, Joshua scored a goal and added an assist, while McMann picked up an additional two assists en route to a 4-1 win. Although Roy didn’t pick up a point that game, he logged some pivotal penalty kill minutes and provided a crucial screen on the team’s first goal of the game from Troy Stecher.
Joshua told reporters following the win over the Panthers that while it’s great that his line is clicking right now, finding a way to keep the momentum going is twice as important.
“We’re building on it,” Joshua said when asked about the momentum the line has created. “It’s nice to see them go in, and now the hard part is continuing to do it.”
When the Leafs brought in these players, the profile immediately fit what Berube was envisioning from his bottom six. A big, strong, defensively responsible line that’s capable of chipping in secondary offence and shutting down the opponent alike. Especially considering how much of a dump-and-chase team this iteration of the Leafs have been instructed to play, getting guys like Roy and Joshua on their game is pivotal to being able to fully embrace the identity they’re hoping to build for themselves.
The biggest reason for the line’s newfound success is that Joshua is no longer relied on to be the primary scoring threat on that line. Roy is a pass-first player, and Maccelli is even more so than Roy, so it makes sense that Joshua wasn’t getting bounces his way when he was constantly expected to be the first one in on the forecheck and on the boards. With McMann’s presence there, it gives the Leafs a bit of a dual-threat on that line, and considering McMann has that north-south speed that Berube likes so much, it allows them to have two options for board battles which allows one to chase the puck and the other to get to the net or open themselves up for a shot attempt. This is precisely what led to Joshua’s goal against Florida.
Dirty Dakota 😮💨@OREO | #LeafsForever pic.twitter.com/YjUcnodZew
— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) December 3, 2025
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The play starts in the defensive zone with a faceoff win and a flip of the puck out to centre by Troy Stecher. Joshua leads the forecheck, which the Panthers prepare for, and then all of a sudden you have McMann streaking in behind him to double the pressure. McMann eventually wins the footrace and finds Joshua in front of the net for the goal. If you squint your eyes on the goal, you could easily mistake Joshua’s #81 for John Tavares’ #91. It was that pretty of a goal, and the type that Berube evidently envisions Joshua scoring when he’s playing at his best.
Consistency has been an issue for the Leafs all season, so it’s too early to say that this line is going to continue to thrive the way they have been the past few games. We’ll need to see them win more than three games in a row. But, when the team is at their best, Roy and Joshua will be an instrumental part of that. And now that they’ve found a combination that opens up opportunities for both players, there’s some optimism that the worst days are behind all three players.
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