Matthews publicly addresses the likelihood of him playing on the PK this season
When discussing - or sometimes arguing about - the top players in the NHL, your offensive talents can only take you so far. Nowadays, being offensively potent and defensively responsible earn players a reputation for being among the best overall players in the league more than just pure offense will.
Penalty killing in the modern game is not easy. A lot of superstars are now taking reps on the penalty kill and because of that we've seen an uptick in shorthanded goals. The Toronto Maple Leafs have found success with Mitch Marner on the penalty kill. Marner has 7 shorthanded goals in the last 2 seasons alone, but he also believes that Auston Matthews has what it takes to be a solid penalty killer. Matthews seems to agree.
"I think, defensively, I've come a long way, 5-on-5, in my game and I think there's a lot of attributes that I can add to the penalty kill," Matthews said on Saturday.
The Leafs deploy the strategy of having a skilled forward play alongside a more defensive-minded forward, like Marner with David Kampf:
"It's always going to be uncomfortable for the first couple (of reps), especially in this aspect of what's going on out there. It's a bit chaotic," Marner said of Matthews' on the PK. "He's a smart guy, is very good with his stick. I'm sure once he gets this first step done he'll know how to do it."
Keefe had alluded to the idea of having players on a rotation to start the season but understands that playing your top guys in all-situations will have it's pros and cons:
"When you have one of the best 5-on-5 players in the league playing a little bit less, that's not always the best thing. That's up for me to manage," Keefe said on Wednesday.
"What I'd like to see to see is our group develops as such where we use Auston on the penalty kill, but depending on what is happening in the game. That way have a number of others who can take those minutes as well."
So while Matthews is embracing a new-found role as a penalty killer, he will most likely be eased into it and it will be situationally-dependent - at least to start the season - as the Leafs have several prominent penalty killers ahead of Matthews in the depth chart.
"There's definitely a lot of opportunity and something I definitely want to embrace - another challenge for myself. Something I'm very open to and just kind of take it day by day," Matthews said.
If Matthews can become an excellent penalty killer as well as the dynamic offensive threat that we already know that he is, he could very well put himself in the Selke Trophy conversation this season, which would be awesome to see.
| POLL | ||
SEPTEMBRE 24 | 243 ANSWERS Matthews publicly addresses the likelihood of him playing on the PK this season Will Matthews be a regular penalty killer this season? | ||
| Yes, he'll play the PK throughout the year | 57 | 23.5 % |
| No, he'll only be a part time PK guy | 149 | 61.3 % |
| Don't care, just win | 37 | 15.2 % |
| List of polls | ||
