Even after the departure of star right winger Mitch Marner, the Toronto Maple Leafs come into this season with great depth at many positions.

However, Marner does leave a major hole at right wing, and the way the Maple Leafs fill it is far from settled right now. 

Matias Maccelli practised alongside first-line center Auston Matthews and left winger Matthew Knies on Thursday at training camp. Leafs coach Craig Berube said he preferred to put Max Domi there, but he's day-to-day with an injury. That said, let's look at the top four candidates for the first-line right wing.

1. William Nylander

Far and away the second-best talent on the team behind Auston Matthews, Nylander had a career-best 45-goal season last year. But his assist total plummeted from 58 assists in 2023-24 to 39 in 2024-25. And he’s the second-highest-paid player on the team.

So expectations are high for Nylander. If he’s moved up to the first line, Nylander will be looked to as the type of playmaker he was two years ago. Nylander’s creativity with the puck can only be a good thing if he’s paired with Matthews, but Nylander has also had success with second-line center John Tavares when he's more of a goal-scorer. 

Either way, Nylander will be central to Toronto’s success. And if he is on the top line with Matthews, you can and should expect big things from him. He’s in his prime, and he could elevate the Leafs’ top line as another goal-scorer or playmaker this coming season.

2. Matias Maccelli

The Leafs picked up Maccelli in a low-risk, solid-reward trade this summer from the Utah Mammoth. Although even hardcore Toronto fans may not have seen much of Maccelli in his time with Utah or Arizona, those who did said it was a tale of two players – one, a terrific playmaker and point-producer, the other a complete non-factor and healthy scratch.

In 2022-23 and 2023-24 with the Coyotes, Maccelli posted 49 and 57 points, respectively. Last season in Utah, he had 18 points and an average ice time of 13:44 while playing only 55 games.

That stark change in fortune made Maccelli expendable for Utah, but for the Maple Leafs, it’s a potentially glorious gamble that could replace many of the assists Marner put up. If it does work out in the Leafs’ favor, the 24–year-old will still be under team control in his next contract. 

There’s a good deal of upside with this player, and if he catches lightning in a bottle and has some instant chemistry with Matthews on the top line, Maccelli will set himself up for a lucrative deal when he needs a contract next summer. The motivation for Maccelli is obvious, and now comes the question of whether he can elevate his game to lucrative levels.

'(Max) Domi Was A Guy I Was Going To Put There': Craig Berube Was Reluctant To Start Matias Maccelli On Top Line At Maple Leafs Camp In a perfect world, Toronto Maple Leafs head coach <a href="https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/toronto-maple-leafs/latest-news/how-max-domi-s-lower-body-injury-could-impact-maple-leafs-first-line-plans">Craig Berube would’ve had Max Domi begin</a> on a line with Auston Matthews and Matthew Knies at training camp.

3. Max Domi

In his two years with Toronto, Domi has had stretches where he was a bang-on playmaker and a solid linemate for Matthews. Still, there’s a reason Domi has bounced from line to line as a Leaf – he’s a jack-of-many trades for Toronto, and he can do a decent job at most of them. But the top line may be a bridge too far for him.

Domi is now 30, and while there’s no sense his skills are slipping, his assist total fell by one-third last year from 38 to 25. Thus, if Berube does give Domi more playing time with better players, Domi will need to have instant success or face calls to be replaced on the top line. 

If there’s one thing the Leafs have, it’s options. And so Domi must make the most of a potentially expanded opportunity in order to ensure he stays in a top-six role in Toronto.

4. Nick Robertson

We placed Robertson ahead of right winger Bobby McMann on this list because Robertson’s skill set lends itself to a top-line spot, whereas McMann is more of an in-the-trenches kind of player who isn’t going to spring Matthews on a cross-ice pass you’d have to see to believe. 

At least Robertson has the soft hands to benefit from Matthews’ ability as a play-creator, compared to McMann’s chaos-related strengths.

But let’s face it – if Berube has gone through Nylander, Maccelli and Domi as options on Matthews’ line, the Leafs are probably going to trade for another option rather than give the shot to Robertson. 

There hasn’t been a ton of sustained opportunity for Robertson in Toronto. But in theory, the Leafs could bump him up alongside Matthews and Knies and see if he finally shows he can hang with the big boys and assert himself as a regular NHLer on a top team.

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