Sheldon Keefe reveals the plan for Mitch Marner and Auston Matthews moving forward; could they be headed for a split?
If I was to tell you at this time last month that Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner would start the season with a combined 17 points in 10 games, I'd imagine you'd have suggested that they'd likely combine for much more. However, here we are, with the Leafs having played to a 4-4-2 record through 10 games, losing to several bottom-feeding teams and Marner and Matthews are indeed sitting at 9 and 8 points, respectively - which is below the point-per-game mark.
The level of concern from the fanbase seems to far outweigh the concerns of the team, who are all adamant that the wins are coming. For some teams, shaking off the offseason rust takes a couple of weeks and we did see this Leafs team start slow last season before finishing hot, so perhaps we should give them the benefit of the doubt.
For Matthews and Marner, last year started similarly as well, with Matthews really coming into his own and finding his groove in the month of November, while Marner didn't really begin to turn it on until January - and once he did, he finished the season as the most productive player in the NHL from January through April.
Splitting up Matthews and Marner has been a pretty common suggestion over the past few weeks among the fanbase. At least until both players get going. To this point, it's not something that Sheldon Keefe and the coaching staff have considered. On Wednesday, Keefe met with the media after practice, however, and revealed that it is now something that the Buds are considering.
Keefe isn't committed to doing so immediately. He stated that the plan is to allow them a little more runway to get going, but if they don't take off in short order, we could see a scenario in which Marner slides down to play with John Tavares. It's unclear as to whether or not Nylander will shift up to play with Matthews or slide down to the third line, as he's done at points during this season and last in an attempt to spread out the offense across three lines.
Honestly, with how poorly the Leafs have played through 10 games, I'd say give them 2 more games, 3 at maximum, to figure it out. If not, we know that John Tavares is buzzing this year and could be just what the doctor ordered to help get Marner going. Nylander, being one of the best puck-carriers on the team and in the league, could also use his vision and creativity to open up some space for Matthews and create some chances in some of the more high-danger areas.
Conversely, if the plan is to have Nylander drop to line 3, a line of Bunting-Matthews-Robertson could also have its advantages. We saw first-hand what those two are capable of together against the Dallas Stars, with Matthews feeding Robertson for the OT snipe in the Leafs' last home win.
| POLL | ||
NOVEMBRE 2 | 246 ANSWERS Sheldon Keefe reveals the plan for Mitch Marner and Auston Matthews moving forward; could they be headed for a split? Should the Leafs separate Matthews and Marner? | ||
| Yes - it will balance the lineup better | 92 | 37.4 % |
| No - they'll figure it out | 107 | 43.5 % |
| Don't care, just win | 47 | 19.1 % |
| List of polls | ||
