'I'm Used To Looking A Bit Lower Down The Lineup For My Name': Why Steven Lorentz Is Being Promoted To Maple Leafs' Top Line

When Steven Lorentz glanced at the lineup chart on Monday morning ahead of Toronto Maple Leafs practice, he was a little surprised.

Instead of his name being down on the fourth line beside David Kampf and Connor Dewar, it was at the top of the page, alongside Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner, on the top line.

"I was just saying, I'm used to looking a bit lower down in the lineup for my name," Lorentz said after practice on Monday.

"But, I'm not going to lie, I was a little bit nervous at first. Anytime you're playing with guys of that calibre, I'm fortunate, but you got a little bit bigger expectations."

Toronto mixed up their line combinations in hopes it could provide a spark during what can be a lul point in the season. The Maple Leafs have lost two straight and have been outscored 9-3 in that span.

"Just throwing the lines around a little bit," Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube said on Monday.

"I like (Lorentz's) size. I like the way he plays the game, his pace, getting on pucks in the offensive zone, forechecking, getting to the net, things like that. He's a simple player, but, I'm just looking for somebody to get in there with Matthews and Marner and create some loose puck battles and make sure he's at the net all the time, and they can do their thing."

Lorentz has primarily played on Toronto's fourth line this season, where he's scored four goals and five assists in 44 games. Although the 28-year-old is playing with two more skilled players in Matthews and Marner, he says his role will remain the same.

"I realize that I'm not up there to play that skilled game that those guys are so good at. I'm there to do what I've been doing all year: just use my size and my speed to try to create space," Lorentz said.

Related: ‘Can’t Imagine Too Much Trouble For Toronto And Steven Lorentz’: Should The Maple Leafs Extend The Hometown Forward Now That He’s Eligible?

The forward said he spoke with Matthews and Marner individually following the team's practice on Monday. He wanted the two players to be patient with him as he leapfrogs from the bottom of the lineup to the top.

"I just said be a little patient with me and they said: 'Absolutely. Don't try to do anything out of your comfort zone. Just go back, get pucks back, and we'll do the rest, just go to the net,'" Lorentz said.

"If I do what I'm good at, they'll do what they're good at, and hopefully we can find some chemistry."

Being taken off the top line was Matthew Knies, who's scored eight points — five of which are goals — in his last five games. He moved down to Toronto's second line with John Tavares and William Nylander.

(The trio of Knies, Matthews, and Marner has combined for 24 points in the last five games, though were a combined minus-17 in their loss to the Carolina Hurricanes on Jan. 9.)

Related: ‘That's The Way The Game Goes’: Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, Post Career-Worst Minus-6 In Maple Leafs Loss To Hurricanes

On Monday, Knies spoke about the move to the second line and was rather receptive towards it.

"I don't think we've played our best the last few games. Just trying to find something new, spark some energy," the 22-year-old forward said. "I'm excited to play with Johnny and Willy. They're incredible players too. You can never have a bad opportunity playing with some guys like that."

It's a long season, and as many around the team suggested on Monday, there's been an energy dip. Putting Knies with Tavares and Nylander, and moving Lorentz up to play with Matthews and Marner, could, as Knies said, provide that spark.

As Lorentz exited the ice on Monday, he chatted with Maple Leafs assistant coach Marc Savard. Lorentz said that the discussion helped and that Savard even offered up advice.

"Savvy's great. He's been around the league a long time and he was a skill guy, played with a lot of different players," said Lorentz.

"And he just told me, 'Some of the best times I was putting up points and we were doing well was with a goalscorer on one side and more of like a grinder-type guy on the other side, just to create space.' That's my objective for tomorrow, I guess, and I'm just going to take it a shift at a time."

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