Toronto Maple Leafs Tuesday Tidbits and Weekend Review

Depth Scoring Has Become a Leafs Strength

It wasn't that long ago that the Toronto Maple Leafs had no one outside of their top four forwards (Matthews, Marner, William Nylander, and John Tavares) that had hit the double-digit mark in goals scored.

Bertuzzi's production didn't match his underlying numbers. Max Domi was putting up plenty of even-strength assists, but contributing little to goals. Matthew Knies has suffered from first-year inconsistencies despite playing often with Matthews and Marner.

That has all changed during the last few weeks.

Bobby McMann has become a regular in the lineup after it appeared he was working his way off the roster. Now, he is an invaluable piece who has been playing with Tavares in recent games.

McMann and Pontus Holmberg each scored twice against the Oilers. McMann is now up to 13 goals and 22 points on the season in only 46 games. In mostly fourth-line minutes, Holmberg has chipped in with six goals and 15 points in 42 games. Equally important, both are reliable defensively.

Bertuzzi is also finding the net with more regularity. He is up to 15 goals on the year after being stuck at six only a few weeks ago.

Domi has continued with his astute passing and has formed some nice chemistry with Matthews during Marner's absence. The two of them were a big part of a recent victory over the Washington Capitals. Domi only has eight goals, but he recently scored two beautiful bar-down goals to help the Leafs to shootout victories.

Once Marner returns, Domi should be given a shot at manning the left-side on the Leafs top line. He has a history with Marner from their junior days with the London Knights, plus the early return from his play with Matthews warrants a further look.

Nick Robertson scored the Leafs only goal against the Hurricanes to reach ten goals.

This forward depth is what the Leafs envisioned at the start of the season. It took a long time to develop, but it bodes well for the Leafs that production is coming from places other than their top players.

That will take on even greater importance once the playoffs start and the checking gets even tighter on the Leafs stars.