Matthews Casts a Long Shadow
The Leafs sans Auston Matthews doesn’t mean the Leafs are devoid of talent. There are plenty of talented players who could step up to fill the void. We’ve already seen Mitch Marner do that. William Nylander has unassumingly taken over the role as the team’s top goal scorer.
Tavares has looked re-energised while the secondary cast of characters has pulled their weight to some degree or another. It seems that without Matthews’ shadow looming, other players feel empowered to do their own thing.
That situation allows players like Marner to truly carry the team. As I’ve written before, it seems Marner really does relish the opportunity to be “the guy” in Toronto. For all of the criticism about Marner vanishing during last year’s playoffs, he’s silenced critics thus far. Marner is currently making a run at the scoroing title, though he does sit ten points back as of this writing.
I want to see him get there. I also want to see William Nylander win the Rocket Richard. He’s got 23 tallies on the season and tied with Kirill Kaprizov of the Minnesota Wild for second. Both players are one behind the Edmonton Oilers Leon Draisaitl for the league lead.
Oh, Tavares is tied for 10th with 18, by the way.
But there is one thing I’d like to point out. The Leafs will most likely need to add another center by the trade deadline. Without Matthews for the remainder of the season, the Leafs could add someone like the New York Islanders Brock Nelson. Nelson can play wing and center. So, if and when Matthews returns, Nelson can slide into the wing.
Ultimately, it seems the Leafs are going to pull off what the Tampa Bay Lightning did with Nikita Kucherov or what the Vegas Golden Knights managed with Mark Stone. The Leafs could put their captain on LTIR for the remainder of the season, use the cap space to get another top-six center, and then activate Matthews in time for the playoffs.
It’s not pretty, but it should get the job done.