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The Toronto Maple Leafs Should Trade for Bobby Ryan

By Stephen Nixon

CALGARY, AB - JANUARY 24: Wayne Simmonds #24 (C) of the Toronto Maple Leafs celebrates with teammates Mitch Marner #16 and Auston Matthews #34 after scoring against the Calgary Flames during an NHL game at Scotiabank Saddledome on January 24, 2021 in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. (Photo by Derek Leung/Getty Images)
CALGARY, AB - JANUARY 24: Wayne Simmonds #24 (C) of the Toronto Maple Leafs celebrates with teammates Mitch Marner #16 and Auston Matthews #34 after scoring against the Calgary Flames during an NHL game at Scotiabank Saddledome on January 24, 2021 in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. (Photo by Derek Leung/Getty Images) /
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Toronto Maple Leafs
OTTAWA, ON – JANUARY 15: John Tavares #91 of the Toronto Maple Leafs  (Photo by Matt Zambonin/Freestyle Photography/Getty Images) /

#2. Give Tavares and Nylander More Responsibility

I love that Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner are leading the Toronto Maple Leafs in ice-time this season, but it’s eating into the minutes of William Nylander and John Tavares.

Tavares and Nylander both have seven points on the season, which is tied-second in team scoring, despite playing six-to-eight minutes less than Marner and Matthews per night. I know that the top-duo plays on the penalty-kill and are used more on the first power-play, but I’d love to see the minutes of Tavares and Nylander increase.

I don’t think they need to play 22 minutes per night or anything like that, but it would be nice to see Tavares and Nylander get a bigger role every few games. The idea of playing Marner and Matthews 23-24 minutes nightly is too much at this point. Even in a shortened 56-game season, those extra minutes could hurt the Leafs in the long run.

The Tavares-Nylander duo is a top-line in the NHL but they have the luxury of playing behind Marner and Matthews. As a result, they can handle a bigger workload and responsibility.

When the playoffs hit, I have no issues with playing the Matthews-Marner duo 25 minutes per night, but during the regular season, there needs to be more balance. I don’t see a world where playing Nylander and Tavares more is going to hurt the team’s chances at winning so there needs to be a balance moving forward to help this team in the long-run.

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