Toronto Maple Leafs: What to Do with Auston Matthews

Friday’s morning skate all but confirmed that Toronto Maple Leafs superstar Auston Matthews would miss his sixth consecutive game when the Pittsburgh Penguins visit Toronto on Saturday night.

The next steps of Matthews’ recovery from a shoulder injury are a topic of heated debate. On Wednesday, the signs began pointing in the right direction, as the injured centre returned to practice, albeit donning a red “non-contact” jersey.

Now, his teammates will take on Sidney Crosby & Co. without him.

If Matthews is still nursing an injury, him missing time to heal makes perfect sense. Although, what do the Leafs do when he insists he’s healthy enough to return?

Well, there are two avenues they could potentially explore. Let’s break them down.

Rest Him

The Leafs are currently in unchartered territory. March has only just begun, and the team finds themselves all but guaranteed of a playoff birth, with a 12 point cushion on the Florida Panthers, the next closest team.

Conventional wisdom would suggest that, considering the position the Leafs are, they should rest their franchise player, ensuring he is at 100% health for when the playoffs begin.

And there’s certainly an argument to be made there.

Resting Matthews for an extra game or two would allow depth players the likes of Josh Leivo or even Matt Martin to actually get some games under their belts.

For Leivo, this would be even more beneficial, as he’s seen tangible game action just twice in all of 2018.

With such lengthy layoffs, there’s simply no way either Leivo or Martin are game-ready, no matter the amount of skill work they’ve done on the side. The only way to get ready for game action is to experience game action. And this becomes exponentially more vital once the playoffs roll around, and the games tighten up to a further degree.

So, resting Matthews would accomplish two primary goals.

Not only would it ensure Toronto’s best player is in tip-top shape for a Cup run, but it would also allow under-utilized depth pieces to gain sorely needed playing experience.

Win-win, right? Well…

Play Him

Remember that cushy lead the Leafs have in the standings? Well, it’s starting to lose its plushness by the day.

As is seemingly tradition, every team the Leafs root for to lose suddenly embark on lava-hot winning streaks once March rolls around. This year, the Florida Panthers have assumed the dreaded role of “team who just won’t go away”.

In mid-February, Toronto’s lead on the Panthers rose as high as 21 points. Three weeks later, it’s nearly been cut in half. While this certainly isn’t cause for panic, it shouldn’t be taken lightly either.

Included in the Leafs’ 11 remaining March games are meetings with the Penguins, Stars, Predators, Lightning and Jets. All are playoff-bound, and with a point gap rapidly closing, it may be in Toronto’s best interests to get their best player back as soon as possible.

It’s not a stretch to say that the Leafs haven’t been playing their best hockey as of late, and if that doesn’t change, I don’t exactly love their chances against any of the aforementioned teams.

Getting Matthews back would not only boost the team’s overall level of play but also allow a player like Tomas Plekanec to slide back into his usual role as a depth centre. A team with Plekanec on their fourth line is a heck of a lot scarier than one with him on the third.

Regardless, it’s certainly not a matter of if Matthews will return, but when. What would you do?

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