Domi practiced alongside Knies and Matthews on Monday, the first time they've been together as a line since training camp.
Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube is altering the lineup again.
During the second-half of Toronto's 4-3 overtime loss on Saturday night to the Seattle Kraken, Berube put the forward lines in a blender. At one point, he moved Dakota Joshua to the second line with John Tavares and William Nylander, which meant Matias Maccelli was sent to the fourth line.
That was all before he chucked Nylander onto the top line with Matthew Knies and Auston Matthews, causing Easton Cowan to shift down to the fourth line alongside Steven Lorentz and Nicolas Roy.
At practice on Monday, though, the lines were completely different again.
Maccelli remained with Tavares and Nylander despite playing in different spots throughout Saturday's game. He started the regular season with Knies and Matthews.
Bobby McMann found himself on the third line with Joshua and Roy, which is a trio that many wondered about entering the season. Nick Robertson, Calle Jarnkrok, and Lorentz made up Toronto's fourth line.
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Joshua logged a game-low 9:15 of ice time against the New York Rangers on Thursday.
Meanwhile, Domi, who was slated to start training camp alongside Knies and Matthews, returned to the top line after spending the early part of the regular season centering the Maple Leafs' third line.
Domi has one goal through the first six games of the season. In regards to the rest of the line, Matthews has four goals and two assists in six games, while Knies has two goals and four assists in just as many games.
Maple Leafs' projected lines vs. Devils
Matthew Knies - Auston Matthews - Max Domi
Matias Maccelli - John Tavares - William Nylander
Dakota Joshua - Nicolas Roy - Bobby McMann
Nick Robertson - Steven Lorentz - Calle Jarnkrok
The reason as to why Domi was back down the middle in the first place was because of Scott Laughton's injury in the latter-half of training camp. So why make the switch now when Laughton's not fully healed yet?
"That was a plan we had trying Max there, and he's played in the past with those guys," Berube said on Monday afternoon. "So I just wanted to get to that, just see how it looks, and see where we go from there.
"That's the real reason."
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Cowan made his NHL debut on Oct. 13 and tallied his first NHL point one day later.
Domi played 55:34 with Knies and Matthews at five-on-five over the last two seasons. They've out-shot and out-chanced the opposition during their five-on-five minutes, per NaturalStatTrick. The trio also had a 65.53 expected goals-for percentage, though they were even with goals for and against, with three a piece.
That's good news if you're the Maple Leafs, and a clear sign that there's chemistry between the three players. The big question is, can the chemistry come right back after one practice, before a game against former Toronto head coach Sheldon Keefe's New Jersey Devils?
"I mean, we'll find out tomorrow," Matthews chuckled.
"But like I've said before, he's an easy gut to play with. He sees the ice extremely well. We've played together in the past, so I think it's good to have that chemistry and that experience together. And so hopefully when we play together in the game tomorrow that we can just kind of hit the ground running."
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