Toronto Maple Leafs: Beware the Sophomore Slump for Michael Bunting

Michael Bunting became a firm favourite among Toronto Maple Leafs fans last season after fitting seamlessly with Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner. Question is; can he do it again?

There’s nothing to outwardly suggest that the Toronto Maple Leafs should be worried. Michael Bunting’s playing style isn’t such that he should regress overnight nor should he suddenly be limited by opposing teams.

There may be some worries that a first full season leading to 63 NHL points (23 goals and 40 assists) and third place in Calder voting may be hard to improve upon, however, that would be forgetting his elite linemates.

Indeed, there’s also a chance to take a bigger role with both powerplay and penalty-killing players departing this summer. He certainly seems like he might be a fit with the Leafs shorthanded. This would increase his joe-time and surely increase his chances to score.

Toronto Maple Leafs Top Line Must Remain Unchanged

A lot of Bunting’s success must be attached to Marner and Matthews. Statistically, you see a difference when he’s apart from those two, plain and simple.

Per Natural Stat Trick, with Auston Matthews, Bunting’s Corsi For was 59.58% at 5-on-5; without, it dropped to 45.92%. Surprisingly, he was impacted by Mitch Marner differently. With him his 5-on-5 Corsi For was 60.43%; without it was 53.45%.

Clearly, there’s less of a drop-off without Marner, though Marner makes his Corsi score slightly higher with him. Matthews runs the line, but Mitch clearly keeps it moving and Bunting plays his part by ensuring he keeps up with them both.

As such, perhaps the takeaway here is that a sophomore slump is less likely, provided there is this continuity heading into next season; the trio are nearly inseparable based on their 5-on-5 stats as a first line seeing tough match-ups.

Remembering that the Toronto Maple Leafs didn’t immediately pair Bunting with those two (that was Nick Ritchie’s spot) and that he in fact worked his way onto the top line, this isn’t just any old player being gifted such talented linemates.

Michael Bunting is most clearly a player very much unafraid of hard work – something that stands him in great stead to maintain his line-up spot and indeed, flourish, if he sees additional opportunities or responsibilities thrown his way.

Perhaps even the idea that Bunting may slump is misguided. Prior to joining the Toronto Maple Leafs, it’s not as if he was playing junior hockey – he has 323 AHL games to his name. Hardly likely for a traditional sophomore slump really.

However, don’t fully discredit the idea. Whether Bunting was playing in the tire-fire that is the Arizona Coyotes organization or not, he somehow hadn’t managed to make it stick in the NHL until last year. Clearly something doesn’t quite match up.

It feels unlikely that Bunting is about to take a step backwards, but stranger things have happened. Let’s hope though that he continues to far out-perform the final year of his bargain contract though.

Doing that will of course lead to a big dilemma for the Toronto Maple Leafs in terms of paying him next summer, but for now let’s live in the moment.