Why the Toronto Maple Leafs should shift Auston Matthews to Wing

With the acquisition of John Tavares, shifting Auston Matthews to wing could result in the Toronto Maple Leafs having of one of the greatest NHL duos in the modern era.

Since draft day Auston Matthews was poised to be the Leafs number one centreman. As of late, that is the position that he has filled. However, this offseason the Leafs have made some major trades that greatly enhance their centre depth, most notably acquiring John Tavares.

With a core as strong as the one they have now, perhaps the team should try some experimental shifts in order to give them a competitive advantage this year. One of those shifts could be moving their prized first line centre to wing.

This would be a drastic change and there are a lot of factors that go into making this decision; however, it should be something the Leafs are willing to try.

Why Auston Matthews would be a Successful Winger

The most significant reason why shifting Matthews to wing could enhance the team is simply because of his style of play. Auston Matthews is a skilled goal scorer, last season he netted 34 goals in 62 games and in his rookie year scored 40 goals in 82 games. Many projections have him hitting the 50 goal mark (or more) this next season and it is evident that his goal scoring ability is one of the most significant parts of his playing ability. Comparisons have been made to other legendary goal scorers like Alexander Ovechkin, a player who has shown great success in his position as a winger.

Each position in hockey contributes a particular skill in order to produce effective plays. In terms of the offence, generally the centreman’s duty consists of playmaking and producing assists and the wingers duty consists of finishing plays. This is not always the case as there are many great playmaking wingers and goal scoring centremen; however, it is a general rule of thumb to follow. The most successful centres have this assist generating ability and the most successful wingers have a great goal scoring ability. For the last two seasons Auston Matthews had 29 assists per season, lower than his goal total in each of those seasons.

Zone positioning is also another factor that goes into what position a player plays. In general centres are usually the deepest offensive player in each zone. As their name states, they also tend to occupy the centre area of the ice. When watching Matthews play his net presence is evident, he tends to occupy shooting lanes near the net more so than being deep in the zone or behind the net. He also tends to carry pucks along the boards whenever he has possession. Overall, he generally tends to execute plays more than create plays.

What an Auston Matthews – John Tavares line could do for the Leafs

It is not that Auston Matthews isn’t a good centre, it’s about how the Leafs could benefit if they put him in a winger position. With the acquisition of John Tavares, an Auston Matthews – John Tavares line could be game changing. One of the most iconic duos in recent times have been Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom. Nicklas Backstrom has assisted on nearly half of Ovechkin’s goals since his rookie season in 2007-2008. Alex Ovechkin is undoubtedly the greatest goal scorer of this era, and he was able to attain that title with the help of assist-minded Nicklas Backstrom. Backstrom has 590 career assists and 209 goals. Ovechkin has 607 goals and 515 assists in his career thus far. These ratios attest to each of these players’ strengths and how these strengths (goal scoring vs. assist making) are compatible.

John Tavares is a proven centreman who has established expertise in the position over his years in the league. He is effective at assisting on big goals and has great puck possession that allows him to make space and create plays. Auston Matthews, as aforementioned, is a great goal scorer. Putting these two on the same line could result in an Ovechkin – Backstrom situation and perhaps the greatest NHL duo in the 2000s thus far.

The Toronto Maple Leafs have the bandwidth to try this because their centre depth can withhold some shifting around. Kadri is beyond good enough to be a second line centre, Par Lindholm (perhaps) would fill the fourth line centre position, and with a shift of Matthews to wing, Nylander could give a solid attempt at being a third line centreman (his style of play dictates that his position as a winger would be temporary anyways, as he is more suited towards centre).

The Toronto Maple Leafs truly have the power to perhaps make history; however, it is highly unlikely that they will do so. In the long run putting Auston Matthews on wing will lower his value as a player. More than that, there would be an adverse reaction by fans to such a change occurring. This suggested change, however, is not a permanent shift but rather should be viewed as a temporary experiment.

If putting Auston Matthews on wing with John Tavares as a centre does not produce the results it theoretically has the ability to, then they can shift back to their normal lines after a few games. However, if it does produce the results it has to capability to, then the Leafs will have a historic duo in their hands and that is worth any potential player value depreciation in the long run.