Auston Matthews has a new favourite winger in Toronto, pushing coaches to continue with his new linemate
Auston Matthews hasn't had the same type of high-octane offensive output this year that we've become accustomed to, especially following a 60-goal, 106-point campaign in 2021-22. However, over the last 5 games, he's really kicked things up a notch, scoring 3 goals and tallying 8 points overall.
Matthews has seen a bit of a revolving door of wingers this year, seeing playing time with Michael Bunting, Mitch Marner, William Nylander, Alexander Kerfoot, and even Nick Robertson for a couple of games. The results have been mixed, with some of his best production coming with either Marner or Nylander on the right and Bunting on the left. However, last night, the Leafs rolled a top line consisting of Kerfoot-Matthews-Jarnkrok, which combined for 5 points on the night.
Playing Calle Jarnkrok with Kerfoot and Matthews allowed the Leafs to try to spread out the offense. The second line consisted of Bunting, Tavares and Marner, while the third line was made up of rookie winger Bobby McMann, Sam Lafferty and William Nylander.
Star players often enjoy playing with other star players, simply based on how they can feed off of one another and work together to create highly-skilled offensive plays. So how did Auston Matthews take to playing alongside Jarnkrok? Surprisingly well, actually.
Matthews revealed to head coach Sheldon Keefe that it is his preference to continue playing with Jarnkrok moving forward. It's really anyone's guess as to what the proper combination is, but for Matthews to come out and identify Jarnkrok as the guy he wanted to play with above all of the other players on the roster, that speaks volumes about how solid Jarnkrok's game is.
Among the things Matthews likes most about playing with Jarnkrok is how he's not afraid to fire the puck. Matthews, very arguably the best shooter in Toronto, had some high praise for Jarnkrok's release following last night's win. He had a pretty good look at that release last night, as Jarnkrok scored 2 goals playing on his wing.
It will be interesting to see how Sheldon Keefe plans to utilize Jarnkrok moving forward. The veteran winger has set a new career-high in goals with 17 this season. He's also just one back of his career high in assists, with 18 on the season. In addition, his 35 points this year have tied his career-best back in 2017-18. I'm sure Keefe and company will consider keeping Matthews and Jarnkrok tethered together if this type of production continues.
| POLL | ||
19 MARS | 615 ANSWERS Auston Matthews has a new favourite winger in Toronto, pushing coaches to continue with his new linemate If Keefe keeps Matthews and Jarnkrok together, who should play with them full time? | ||
| Nylander | 149 | 24.2 % |
| Bunting | 107 | 17.4 % |
| Marner | 277 | 45 % |
| Kerfoot | 82 | 13.3 % |
| List of polls | ||
