Projected Lineups for Maple Leafs vs Capitals – 12/18/25

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The Toronto Maple Leafs take on the Washington Capitals at Capital One Arena. Here are the projected/expected lineups sourced from NHL.com staff writers, independent correspondents, and others.

MAPLE LEAFS (15-12-5) at CAPITALS (18-11-4)

7 p.m. ET; MNMT, SNO

Maple Leafs projected lineup

Mathew Knies — Auston Matthews — William Nylander
Nicolas Robertson — John Tavares — Easton Cowan
Dakota Joshua — Nicolas Roy — Bobby McMann
Steven Lorentz — Scott Laughton — Max Domi

Morgan Rielly — Oliver Ekman-Larsson
Jake McCabe — Troy Stecher
Simon Benoit — Henry Thrun

Dennis Hildeby
Joseph Woll

Scratched: Philippe Myers, Calle Jarnkrok, Matia Maccelli

Injured: Chris Tanev (upper body), Anthony Stolarz (upper body), Brandon Carlo (lower body), Dakota Mermis (lower body)

Status report

Cowan moves up to the second line. McMann moves down to the third line.

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Capitals projected lineup

Anthony Beauvillier — Dylan Strome — Alex Ovechkin
Aliaksei Protas — Justin Sourdif — Tom Wilson
Connor McMichael — Hendrix Lapierre — Ethen Frank
Sonny Milano — Nic Dowd — Brandon Duhaime

Martin Fehervary — John Carlson
Jakob Chychrun — Matt Roy
Rasmus Sandin — Trevor van Riemsdyk

Logan Thompson
Charlie Lindgren

Scratched: Dylan McIlrath, Declan Chisholm, Bogdan Trineyev

Injured: Ryan Leonard (shoulder, facial injuries), Pierre-Luc Dubois (lower body)

Status report

Leonard, a forward, participated in the morning skate wearing a non-contact jersey. It was Leonard’s first time skating with the team since he was injured against the Anaheim Ducks on Dec. 5. … Lapierre and Roy did not take part in the morning skate and will be game-time decisions. … Coach Spencer Carbery said several players are “feeling a little bit under the weather” and Washington might have to go with 11 forwards and seven defensemen.

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