Auston Matthews to receive new assignment from Keefe in 2023-24

During his time at the podium, Keefe revealed that he would like to get Auston Matthews more involved in the penalty kill. Fresh off of signing a 4-year extension with the Leafs, playing on the penalty kill is not something that we have seen a lot from Matthews over his career, and when he has been on the PK, it has mostly at the end of penalties, as the Leafs anticipate returning to even strength.

While Keefe wants to get Matthews more involved in the penalty kill, he pointed out that it would be situational and doesn't want to put him in a situation that could cost him an even strength shift. Having Matthews on the penalty kill is a way to keep him involved in those penalty-filled games that sometimes see star players stapled to the bench for half a period at a time. As we've seen with Mitch Marner, who has turned into a very good penalty killer and a Selke Trophy finalist, having a player with the offensive talent of Marner or Matthews on the penalty kill can create a wealth of scoring chances while short-handed.

As Jon Steitzer pointed out in his article below, the advantage of having players like Marner and Matthews on the penalty kill is their ability to take advantage of teams that use the 1D/4F alignment when on the powerplay. Not only does Matthews' big frame give him an advantage going against whatever forward is playing defense, but the defenseman on the ice is usually more adept offensively and has some defensive liabilities that can be exploited.

I'm sure there are many Leaf fans out there that are also cringing at the thought Matthews playing on the penalty kill and risking an injury while shot blocking. It will be interesting to see how Keefe deploys Matthews on the PK and if he sees time there during any pre-season games.