When the NHL dispatched their annual All-Star Game this year in favour of the newly-implemented 4 Nations Face-off tournament, it gave the opportunity for the league to showcase their stars in an entirely new format.
In doing so, the Toronto Maple Leafs managed to secure three representatives to become a part of the unique best-on-best tournament with captain Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner and William Nylander all making the cut on three separate teams.
With star players expected to rise to the occasion when the biggest games are at stake, it was hoped that the Leafs big stars would finally shine under the brightest lights while suiting up for their respective countries.
Unfortunately, it had been anything but so far for Matthews, Marner and Nylander. While no one can say that they have played badly, certainly no member of the Leafs has taken over the tournament or emerged as one of the major stars of their team.
The 4 Nations Face-Off Has Inadvertently Brought Some Worry to Maple Leafs Fans
In total, Nylander registered just two assists, but nonetheless leads all Leafs players in points. Both Marner and Matthews have only one point to show for thus far, a goal for Marner and an assist for Matthews. And it’s not like they were given defensive grinding linemates to work with, as the bulk of them are actually established stars in the NHL as well. Especially for Marner, who began the tournament flanking the world’s best hockey player in Connor McDavid.
He was quietly effective with Cirelli and Hagel against Finland, but he certainly wasn't the game-breaker we were hoping he'd be.
To make matters worse, Matthews was even held out by Team USA in the game against Team Sweden on Monday due to a mysterious injury. Although he did indicate he should be good to go in the tournament final on Thursday against Team Canada, anytime the Leafs star captain misses a game for any reason, it becomes quite the panic for the entire Maple Leafs nation.
After all, Matthews had already missed significant chunks of time due to injury woes this season, so the absolute last thing that they need is for their best goal scorer to be ailing once again heading down the stretch.
But even if the injury turns out to be minor and doesn’t end up being such a big deal, the disappointing showing by the Leafs trio at the 4 Nations Face-Off could be even more worrisome. That is because in order for the Maple Leafs to have any success in the Stanley Cup playoffs, they will need their star players to be at their very best on the biggest stage.
It's not as if any of them have been bad, but the point here is that the Leafs have consistently failed in the playoffs with these players and nothing we have seen from them in this tournament suggests things are going to change.