Toronto Maple Leafs: Leo Komarov Should Sit for Leivo

The Toronto Maple Leafs should look to deal Leo Komarov to open up a spot for Josh Leivo.

Or at least, the Toronto Maple Leafs should at least sit Komarov in the press box for a few games.

I feel like a broken record at this point. In the past few weeks, you’ve heard me advocating for the Toronto Maple Leafs to move one of their expiring contracts to open up a permanent spot for Leivo.

After Komarov has been a disaster in the past few games, he jumps right into spotlight. Like many of you, I also witnessed Komarov’s failed one-timer last night. Kasperi Kapanen set up Komarov with a beautiful pass and classic Komarov ruined the opportunity.

If this wasn’t a consistent issue, I wouldn’t harp on it but it is. This season, Komarov has been awful. To date, he has 5 goals, 10 assists, 5.3 S% and a 44.5 Fenwick for percentage.

Leivo Needs The Playing Time

Personally, I don’t understand why Mike Babcock continues to play Komarov and sits Leivo. Leivo, hasn’t played in a game for the Toronto Maple Leafs since New Years Eve against the Vegas Golden Knights. Two weeks, Toronto Maple Leafs fans heard Nick Kypreos on Hockey Night in Canada address the elephant in the rumor. Kypreos mentioned that Leivo requested a trade from Toronto if he wasn’t a fixture in the lineup.

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Unfortunately, it’s evident that Babcock doesn’t like Leivo and would rather play Komarov. It’s highly unfair to say that Komarov is a better winger than Leivo, if Leivo isn’t given the opportunity to prove himself.

If you look at last season’s statistics, Leivo had 10 points in 13 games for the Toronto Maple Leafs. Personally, I won’t sit here and tell you that if he had played a full season then he’d have roughly 80 points. Although if you extrapolate his point total, he’d most likely have somewhere between 40-50 points. If Leivo had 40-50 points in 82 games, he would have more points than Komarov has had in one season.

I’m not saying that Leivo would have put the puck behind Petr Mrazek of the Detroit Red Wings, but he could have. Unfortunately, we’ll never know.

If Leivo put the puck past Mrazek, it would have put less pressure on Auston Matthews and the top line to attempt to secure a game winning goal.

Where Would Komarov Be a Fit?

The press box next to Paul Romanuk.

Ok, jokes aside.

Teams are always looking for physicality and veteran leadership at the trade deadline. The New York Islanders and the Vegas Golden Knights could be potential fits for Komarov.

There were rumors surrounding Matt Martin potentially returning to the Islanders. If the Islanders aren’t keen on taking Martin’s contract, Komarov’s might be more attractive as he’d just be a rental.

Next: Leafs Trade Deadline Philosphy and Strategy

On the other hand, the Golden Knights might benefit from Komarov’s services. The Golden Knights fourth line does have physicality, but they are missing physical players that bring veteran leadership. Since the Golden Knights are likely playoff bound, they’ll be looking to add some veteran rentals at the deadline to be a good presence in the locker room.

statistics from NHL.com and hockey-reference.com