Ex Toronto Maple Leafs couch Sheldon Keefe broke up the Matthews/Marner combination at the end of his tenure to great results.
For 204 minutes to end the 2023-24 season, which is still about 20% of the season, Sheldon Keefe paired Auston Matthews with Max Domi at 5v5, while Mitch Marner skated on a line with John Tavares. This had the effect of stretching the Leafs lineup and giving them an extra star player, as Domi put up points at a Connor McDavid-like rate when skating with Matthews.
With a new coach, it's worth asking if the Leafs will stick with the Matthews/Domi combo or go back to the classic Marner/Matthews pairing that has been the Leafs standard for years.
Will Craig Berube revisit separating Matthews and Marner?
New Toronto Maple Leafs coach should keep Matthews and Marner split up
When the Leafs enter the new season, they shoudl have Marner and Mattews on different lines. With Marner, Tavares had a career-high 47 goals in 2018-19. The most he had scored was 38 in 2014-15 while with the New York Islanders, and he hasn’t been close since. It would make sense to put him back with Marner to see if he can continue to stave off the effects of time and age.
Since Keefe took over, Nylander mostly played with Tavares while Marner and Matthews have joined forces. This largely worked for both Marner and Matthews, but having your two best players on the same line, when both have the ability to make lesser players better, is not the optimal thing to do.
A good comparison in this situation is the Edmonton Oilers. The Oilers have purposely split up Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, putting them together when games are tight down the stretch, but mostly using them to stretch their lineup. Such an arrangement would give Berube tremendous flexibility, especially when matchups become key.
Matthews proved last year he can be a top centre without Marner flanking him, while Marner has made top goal scorers out of anyone who’s played with him. Thus, there’s no reason why the Leafs shouldn’t at least experiment with this approach, especially if Max Domi keeps racking up the points on Matthews wing.
He’s tough and could play the role that Zach Hyman or Michael Bunting used to play. Plus, he can drop the gloves if need be. Domi showed that he could hang with Matthews down the stretch last season and if he can continue to give the Leafs another star player performance then this is a no-brainer.
Meanwhile, we can reunite Tavares with Marner. That would leave a spot open for Matthew Knies to ride shotgun. I would have suggested Nick Robertson for this spot, but that ship seems to have sailed. Knies could have a breakout year with Marner, while Tavares could see an uptick in his numbers.
Overall, splitting up Matthews and Marner works. Then, when things get tough, the Toronto Maple Leafs could always resort to a “super” line with Matthews, Marner, and Nylander. That’s something Keefe never really tried beyond the power play.
It’s now up to Berube to think outside the box if he’s serious about getting results.