The Toronto Maple Leafs are going through a bit of a slump as they have recorded just one point in their last two games, however their overall recent performance has left even more to worry about.
Tuesday morning, Sheldon Keefe decided to shake up the lines of his Toronto Maple Leafs club by swapping Mitch Marner and William Nylander.
Prior to Keefe taking over as the bench boss for the club, you would see Nylander on Auston Matthews flank, while Marner would be driving the play with John Tavares, so this change should not be a big adjustment.
Marner who is often the player receiving two large swings in praise and criticism from fans and media is going through a drought where he has not scored in seven games and failed to record a point in five of those same games combining for just three points and a -6 rating.
Toronto Maple Leafs Make Major Changes to Line-Up
Mitch Marner Needs to Simplify His Game
The Toronto native has all world talent and has been arguably the best right winger in the league over the last few seasons, however, he goes through long stretches where he tends to play more similar to a basketball player on the And1 tour, rather than an elite level hockey player.
Marner has often found himself trying to make highlight reel no luck plays that have caused turnovers and scoring chances for the opposition. When the two-time First All Star team winger gets back to making the smarter plays he takes over games and this change in line mates could help rejuvenate his game.
Nylander has finally cooled off after his 17-game points streak to start the season and has now gone two games without a point. I believe the change is more to get Matthews and Marner going as it is to change the Swedish wingers game.
Like Marner, Matthews is going through a cold spell as the Arizona product has gone pointless in five of his last six games and found the back of the net just once over his last seven games. Thanks to a trio of hattricks to start he season, Matthews still sits one goal behind the league leading Nikita Kucherov and Brock Boesser who each have 15 goals.
These small line-up changes won’t change the fact that the Toronto Maple Leafs have arguably the worst defense in the league as they have just one legitimate top four defender (Morgan Rielly) and are filled with bottom pairing defenseman playing against tougher competition than they are capable of defending against.
Now with American Thanksgiving past us, GM Brad Treliving needs to do two things, sign Nylander’s extension and get a couple of defenseman.