Charlie McAvoy
If there was one defenseman who struggled late in the series, it was Charlie McAvoy. He had some bad turnovers in the defensive end and there were times when Mason Lohrei was the better of the pairing late in the series.
In Game 2, he made a curious decision in the third period that led to an Auston Matthews game-winning goal on a breakaway in a 3-2 win. Then in Game 6, William Nylander took advantage of McAvoy puck chasing late in the third period to score what turned out to be the game-winning goal, on a breakaway, in a 2-1 win. If there is one thing that head coach Jim Montgomery needs to consider, it's taking McAvoy off of the power play and go with someone else. He has had a pass-too-much tendacy lately and that can't happen.
Linus Ullmark
It's almost guaranteed that Linus Ullmark is going to see some time in this series and in fact, I would even start the 2023-24 Vezina Trophy winner. He had a lot of success early in the series last spring against Florida before suffering an injury which hampered his mobility late in the series. This season had won three games against the Panthers while sporting a .947 SV%.
Ullmark has had a lot of success against the Panthers and it really should be a no-brainer to go to him in Game 1 and maybe even Game 2 to give Jeremy Swayman a breather and then if needed, he'll be well-rested by the time the series gets to Game 3 Friday night at the TD Garden. Don't be surprised to see the return of a goaltending rotation this series after Swayman frustrated the Maple Leafs in the first round.