Toronto Maple Leafs: Have Matt Martin Warm the Bench
Expectations are higher this season for the Toronto Maple Leafs. Significantly higher.
After the truly impressive contributions from Mathews and the other rookies last year, now is the time for the team to take the next step. One way to do that is simple- sit Matt Martin.
Why sit Matt Martin?
Let’s get this out of the way quickly- Martin looks like a swell guy who is well liked by his team mates. He’s not a defensively poor player or a boat anchor to the team. He starts most his shifts in the defensive zone.
The issue is while he doesn’t necessarily hurt the team, he seldom helps them either. Martin may only be playing on the fourth line, but nine points in 82 games last season just isn’t worth 2.5 million bucks on the salary cap.
What Martin brings…
Physicality. While intangibles like “leadership” or “heart” can’t be measured, physicality can, and Martin certainly brings that. Martin made 300 hits last season, and that’s on the low-end for him. He also fights quite a bit. Like it or not, while fighting is part of the game, someone who can fight has a place in it.
Doesn’t hurt that it pumps up his team mates and fans a bit, either. At the end of the day however…
He doesn’t bring much else…
It’s often said that players like Martin are there to “police the game” and protect their teammates. That’s fair to say, but it’s hard to protect the kids when you’re never on the ice with them and average under nine minutes of ice time per game. Matthews, Marner, and Nylander are all playing higher in the lineup.
Martin would be playing with them if he was better than a marginal 4th line player, but he isn’t, so he’s not protecting them all that much. The only deterrent he’s providing here is one of retaliation. Thanks to the instigator rule, starting a fight is only going to put the team on the penalty kill. That’s not helping.
You won’t find him on the power play or penalty kill, either.
He’s an offensive blackhole…
As stated above, Martin had only nine points last year. That’s low for him, but he generally doesn’t score much more than that. Offensively, you could easily replace that production with a player like Josh Leivo, who is also much cheaper. Fights are nice but the scoreboard is king.
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Also keep in mind of the future cap crunch the Leafs have to keep in mind when the big 3, Gardiner, and others need new deals. All that lovely cap space evaporates very quickly. Martin simply makes too much for what he brings.
A quick fix…
Martin doesn’t need to sit the whole year. Depending on the team the Toronto Maple Leafs are facing, his presence on the ice could be important. With the game getting more skilled based every year however, he’s really not needed on the ice each game.
There’s no reason to think dressing a more offensively talented forward won’t help the Leafs win more games over the course of the season. Goals count more than punches.
Next: Toronto Maple Leafs Could Achieve Rare Feat
It won’t hurt to have Martin take a seat down the stretch when each point in the standings is so critical.