Toronto Maple Leafs: It’s Time To Shake Up The Forward Lines

It’s going to be very difficult for the Toronto Maple Leafs to stay in the playoff chase, let alone make the playoffs, if their performance against Florida was an indication of how the rest of their season will play out.

There’s no question of how much talent the Toronto Maple Leafs have throughout their lineup. The problem is that there’s usually only one line going for the Leafs at one time.

The JVR-Bozak-Marner line has been carrying the Leafs as of late, and the team should feel really fortunate that this one line has stepped up.

Auston Matthews has gone cold for the first time in his NHL career (with zero points in the last six games), and if the Leafs plan on making the playoffs this season, they need him firing on all cylinders to get there.

Hockey is a game of ebbs and flows, so obviously Matthews won’t be stuck in this rut forever. However, it might be time he got some new linemates for the time being, just to see if he can snap his scoring drought. Zach Hyman hasn’t been on the scoresheet much this season, and he’s got four points in the last 22 games. Only William Nylander has been putting up points consistently (five points in the last seven games).

Even the Komarov-Kadri-Brown line has struggled to produce lately. The fourth line hasn’t been great either, but that’s not entirely surprising given the role they’ve been asked to fulfill night in and night out.

Keeping unproductive lines together because they might have had chemistry in the past is fine for maybe the first couple of games. Unfortunately, it’s clear to anyone who’s been watching lately that the forwards need a shake-up. Mike Babcock finally made a change the blueline so desperately needed, by splitting up Morgan Rielly and Nikita Zaitsev. It’s time that same change is applied to the forwards.

Possible New Lines?

As successful as the JVR-Bozak-Marner line has been, it probably won’t hurt to split them up for a couple of games. Essentially every other line needs a shuffle, so here are a few possible combinations.

Nylander-Matthews-Marner

Komarov-Kadri-Leivo

JVR-Bozak-Brown

Hyman-Boyle-Soshnikov

Just hear me out, all right?

First, take Josh Leivo out of the pressbox and staple Matt Martin there. I don’t care if he’s there to protect the rookies, because if that’s his role he hasn’t been doing it much this season.

Komarov-Kadri-Leivo have been successful as a line in the past. Leivo has nine points in his last ten games, so he’s due for a second chance. Putting Brown on the JVR-Bozak line is something the Leafs tried earlier in the season. He and Marner do play similar games in terms of the speed and skill they provide. It’s worth a look, at least for the time being.

Uniting The ‘Big Three’

The Toronto Maple Leafs will be putting their all their eggs in one basket if they put their ‘Big Three’ on one line. But the Toronto Maple Leafs are so desperate for offense, and they need to find a way to get Matthews going. Babcock did put Matthews and Marner together for brief periods during the shelling against Florida. Nylander would be playing his off-wing in this scenario, but it would be entertaining. Honestly, the Leafs have a better chance of getting Matthews out of his slump by playing him with the best players available, and those players are Nylander and Marner.

I’m not sure why Babcock insists that Hyman and Matthews have to come as a packaged deal, but that ship has sailed. It’s not working, and it hasn’t been working for a while now. Moving Hyman to the fourth line allows for the line to fulfill its role. They can become the hard-nosed, fore-checking line that Babcock so desperately wants, and Hyman provides a little more of an offensive upgrade to Martin, despite his current scoring struggles.

What the Leafs end up actually doing? Who knows! Something has to change. Otherwise, they’re not going to make the playoffs this spring.