Toronto Maple Leafs: Trevor Moore Needs To Be Recalled

The Toronto Maple Leafs have a player in their system that is long overdue for an extended look on the big club.

As the 2018-19 season reaches the halfway mark, the Toronto Maple Leafs find themselves among the top teams in the NHL. Make no mistake about it, although they have experienced struggles lately, they remain in contention as an intimidating squad.

That is not to say that the team is not without their flaws, more specifically they allow too many shots against, and have a consistently changing 4th line. Since opening night, the combination featuring the likes of Par Lindholm, Frederik Gauthier, and Tyler Ennis among others have not been effective on a consistent basis.

Fortunately for the Leafs, there’s a player on the Marlies who has blossomed into a legitimate player whose presence could be a huge boost to not just the 4th line, but the forward unit as a whole. I’m talking, of course, about Trevor Moore who has been making his presence felt in a big way lately.

Moore is long overdue of getting an opportunity with the Toronto Maple Leafs and his recent play is proof of that.

Goal scoring prowess

Prior to the 2017-18 season, you would be forgiven if you barely heard of Moore and his on-ice abilities. He was an undrafted forward with a small size (5’10”, 175 pounds) and who’s entry-level contract fell under the radar initially in 2016.

Last year proved to be his breakout campaign in more ways than one. He finished the regular season with 12 goals, 21 assists, and 33 points (tied for his AHL career best) which helped the Marlies finish with the best record in the AHL.

For those unimpressed with his regular season totals, it’s worth mentioning that he was a high volume shooter but didn’t get so lucky on offence. He managed to fire 128 shots on net and “only” had a 9.8% efficiency as per AHL.com.

The 2018 Calder Cup Playoffs was where Moore really took off an quickly established himself as a clutch performer. His 6 goals, 11 assists, and 17 points in 20 games played were both 2nd best on the Marlies and 4th best in the AHL. It’s safe to say he was a big reason why the Marlies won the Calder Cup.

This season has seen continued success for Moore, but more so with his goal scoring. As of December 18, he has 15 goals, 6 assists, and 21 points in only 24 games. His goal totals are a team best and tied for 3rd in the entire AHL.

What makes his goal-scoring more impressive is that some of the goals he’s scored are legitimately impressive. He has also been an effective power-play option who currently has a team-leading 5 goals on the man advantage as per AHL.com.

Boost to the 4th line

While his offensive production is both solid and impressive, this isn’t to suggest that Moore will show up on the Leafs roster and suddenly become an offensive dynamo. What is certain is that he has all the skills to be an effective NHLer and would help improve the 4th line.

As mentioned earlier, the Leafs 4th line has not really been effective and more so since Josh Leivo was traded to the Vancouver Canucks. A recent combination including Connor Brown, Lindholm and Ennis has a Corsi-for% of 34.29, out-shot 3-10, and has been on the ice for more goals against than for as per Natural Stat Trick.

You could look through the various combination and find a common theme: the 4th line has hurt the Leafs more than helped. So why not bring up Moore into the fold and try something different.

So far this season, Moore was recalled by the Leafs twice and both times saw not make an appearance on the big club before being sent back down.  This clearly means the Leafs trust him enough to be the first forward to bring up if necessary and see him in their future plans.

But that’s not enough because he is more than deserving of a chance to show what he’s capable of. Having a player that can do plays like this and this makes for a valuable asset that would help improve the 4th line tenfold.

The next time the Leafs recall Moore, he needs to remain on the roster for much longer than a week and get some NHL action. His recent body of work shows he’s more than ready for that opportunity whenever that comes.

When he finally gets his chance, don’t be surprised when he excels with flying colours.

Thanks for reading!

All stats unless otherwise noted are from HockeyDB.com.