Weekly Takes - Monday, September 20 Edition

1. With NHL training camp opening up this week, here is the lineup I would ice -- as of now -- if I were the Maple Leafs on opening night.

FORWARDS

Michael Bunting - Auston Matthews - William Nylander

Nick Robertson - John Tavares - Mitch Marner

Nick Ritchie - Alexander Kerfoot - Ondrej Kase

llya Mikheyev - Jason Spezza - Wayne Simmonds

Scratched: David Kampf, Pierre Engvall, Adam Brooks, and Joey Anderson

DEFENCE

Morgan Rielly - Justin Holl

Jake Muzzin - T.J. Brodie

Rasmus Sandin - Travis Dermott

GOALTENDING

Jack Campbell

Petr Mrazek

2. What I like and do not like about the lineup, outside of the obvious...

LIKE…

• Everyone at centre and right wing is properly placed in the sense that they are not playing higher in the lineup than they should be.

• While the Leafs lack elite or high-end options at left wing, Bunting, Robertson, Ritchie, and Mikheyev are all useful complementary players, with Roberston having the potential to be more than that.

• The third line: The Leafs trotting out a third line of Mikheyev-Engvall-Simmonds in game seven last spring was inexcusable. This year, a third line of Ritchie-Kerfoot-Kase would be a perfect mix of physicality, ​​tenaciously, defensive ability, and skill.

• The forward depth: In all likelihood, the Leafs will only be able to keep 13 forwards, which greatly hurts the Engvall’s, Brooks’, and Anderson’s of the world. The Leafs will have an opportunity to recoup assets this training camp by trading some of their waiver-eligible bubble players ahead of the roster deadline.

• The goaltending tandem: While the Leafs do not have a star in the net, they have two 1B goalies. A Campbell-Mrazek tandem will give the Leafs a chance to win every time one of them is in net.

DISLIKE…

• The defensive depth: Counting Timothy Liljegren -- who should start in the AHL instead of being the Leafs’ seventh defencemen -- the Leafs are only seven defencemen deep to begin this training camp after failing to replace Zach Bogosian.

Replacing him has to be priority number one for the Leafs this training camp because 1) Every team in the league will need more than seven defencemen this season and 2) Bogosian gave the Leafs an element that their backend lacks outside of Muzzin.

3. At the end of the day, however, this will be the most meaningless regular season in franchise history for the Maple Leafs.

Outside of entering the playoffs healthy, nothing truly matters. Sure, it would be great, if you are the Leafs, to finish as high as you possibly can so that you can secure home ice advantage, but at the end of the day, they have to win in the playoffs, no matter who they face or where they play.

If not, Matthews will be the only person in the entire organization that does not have to worry about his future here.

No pressure, everyone.

4. It says something about the job Mark Shapiro and Ross Atkins have done when Hun Jin Ryu has been awful down the stretch for the Blue Jays, yet if they make the playoffs, they will still have one of the best playoff rotations in the league between Robbie Ray, Alex Manoah, Jose Berrios, and Steven Matz.

A Ryu resurgence would only be a bonus.

5. If you are the Steelers, you would have loved a turnover from your defence yesterday afternoon but relatively speaking, the defence did as well as it could have given the amount of injuries they were dealing with.

The issue for the Steelers yesterday was their offensive line was awful, leading to the Steelers having no deep threat in the passing game. This was their issue last season and it is going to be their issue again this season.

Mike Tomlin punting on 4th-and-1 when his team was down by two scores did not help the matter either.

6. If you are a Broncos fan, the 2-0 start to their season has to almost be tough to watch, no?

With all due respect to Teddy Bridgewater -- who has been fantastic -- they are a high-end starting quarterback away from being a true Super Bowl contender. It has to be tough watching a roster that good play this well, only to know they cannot hang with the very best in the NFL come playoff time.

7. Through the first two weeks of the season, the NFC West has lived up to its hype.

Any team in that division can take it this season. Every divisional game is going to be must-see TV.

8. There is no denying that Justin Fields is ready to be a starting quarterback in the NFL.

The issue is, the Bears are not ready for him to be one. Their offensive line is one of the worst in football.

They cannot let happen to him what the Bengals let happen to Joe Burrow last season.

9. My week three NFL picks…

• Texans (+7.5)

• Kansas City (-6.5)

• Bears (+7.5)

• Cardinals (-7.5)

• Football Team (+8.5)

• Titans (-5)

• Giants (-3.5)

• Saints (+3)

• Ravens (-7.5)

• Steelers (-4.5)

• Jets (+11)

• Dolphins (+5)

• Bucs (+1)

• Seahawks (-1)

• Packers (+4)

• Eagles (+4)

Survivor Team Pick: Broncos, with an honourable mention to the Panthers. (I picked the Rams and Packers through the first two weeks of the season)

(I went 10-5 in week two, with Packers-Lions still pending. On the season, I am 17-14)

10. My top four teams in CFB, after a weekend that saw Clemson end any chance of making it to the playoffs…

1. Alabama

2. Georgia

3. Oklahoma

4. Oregon

HM: Cincinnati

I do not view Iowa or Texas A&M as playoff contenders, despite their great defences.