Toronto Maple Leafs: Sacrificing Komarov
The Toronto Maple Leafs should sacrifice Leo Komarov to the fourth line for the sake of Marner and Brown.
The Toronto Maple Leafs should move Leo Komarov – and sacrifice his defense – to the fourth line, along with making Martin a healthy scratch, clearing the way for Kasperi Kapanen, Mitch Marner, and Connor Brown.
I can hear you asking, why should they do that? Well, first of all, The line shuffles Mike Babcock made for the back-to-back games against Chicago and Dallas proved to be quite successful, winning both games and perhaps playing the best hockey this season against Dallas.
Earlier I wrote about how Mike Babcock should re-think the Nazem Kadri Line, now I’ll discuss the Bozak line and where Leo Komarov fits in the Leafs lineup. So, without further ado, let’s get started.
Tyler Bozak
The Bozak line started the season familiar, winged by James van Riemsdyk and Mitch Marner, who had offensive successes together last season. Marner, however, struggled early in the season and while some were calling it the sophomore slump, it’s pretty clearly a case of a player having bad luck due to a low shooting percentage.
Additionally, Tyler Bozak has been disappointing. Whether or not he is moved at the deadline, this is almost certainly his last season in Toronto. The Toronto Maple Leafs second scoring line could have been a disaster this year, if not for van Riemsdyk. Scoring 19 goals so far this season, JVR is not only making a case for himself in his free agency year, he’s also still on pace to equal his career-high of 30 goals.
Bozak is too slow to keep up with Marner and he won’t likely be a 20 goal center. So, how can Babcock fully utilize this line? Simple, give Bozak two snipers on the side; JvR and Conner Brown. As long as Bozak keeps winning the offensive zone faceoffs, the Leafs have two weapons on the wings to score goals.
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Now, during the two times Babcock demoted Marner to the fourth line, Conner Brown filled the slot on the right-wing of Bozak’s line. But let’s be honest, neither Connor Brown and Mitch Marner should be on the fourth line. So, for me, that makes Leo Komarov the odd man out.
Leo Komarov
Now, I’m not saying Komarov deserves to play on the fourth line, but we have a luxury problem on the wing and I think that is the best solution to our “problem”.
So, why should Leo Komarov play on the fourth line? Well, first off, our fourth line has been horrendously bad for some time. Adding a very defensively responsible winger won’t make the line worse, it is actually a much-needed improvement.
Now, I don’t think he should play on the fourth line for the rest of the season, heavens no. If needed, Komarov can be put back on Kadri’s line, thus playing as the shutdown line.
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