Analyst Shares Surprising Revelation About Leafs' Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner
Photo credit: Raj Mehta - USA Today Sports
With Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner finally separated, an interesting stat is shared by Sportsnet's Justin Bourne that confirms the Leafs are better off that way.
Ahead of Thursday's contest against the Seattle Kraken, the Toronto Maple Leafs announced the return of goaltender Anthony Stolarz (LTIR) and Mitch Marner, who was unavailable during their 6-3 win over Calgary on Tuesday night.
The initial expectation was that Marner would return at the top of the lineup to reprise his role alongside Matthew Knies and Auston Matthews, but Craig Berube decided to split them up with Max Domi remaining on the first line and Marner playing on the second line with John Tavares and William Nylander instead.
Matthews and Marner have been joined at the hip since their debuts, so it could be seen as a little surprising that Berube would split them up. However, there's more than meets the eyes as Justin Bourne spells it out for fans on Sportsnet 590 The FAN:
"Both of them have a higher points per game without the other guy. Matthews without Marner is 1.57 points per game and with him is 1.22 and Marner without Matthews is 1.5 points per game and with him it's 1.25. So they're both better without one each other, that's cool.
Here's the interesting part that I think you'll like. Matthews when he's with Marner has 80 goals and 48 assists, without him he has 9 goals and 13 assists, which is more assists than goals, interesting. Marner with Matthews, 31 goals and 100 assists, and without Matthews he has 11 goals and 13 assists, almost a 1-1 ratio.
If you want to get the best out of these two guys, this is the thing we hear from people, Marner has to shoot the puck more, Matthews needs to be more of a distributor, separate the two of them and you do that. It's there for you."
Here's the interesting part that I think you'll like. Matthews when he's with Marner has 80 goals and 48 assists, without him he has 9 goals and 13 assists, which is more assists than goals, interesting. Marner with Matthews, 31 goals and 100 assists, and without Matthews he has 11 goals and 13 assists, almost a 1-1 ratio.
If you want to get the best out of these two guys, this is the thing we hear from people, Marner has to shoot the puck more, Matthews needs to be more of a distributor, separate the two of them and you do that. It's there for you."
While the sample sizes are completely different, there's been enough games where the two cornerstones have been separated to make an interesting argument. Marner becomes more of a shoot-first player, and Matthews tends to distribute the puck more, which is something the Maple Leafs might want to lean on more as we near the post-season.
Their points-per-game averages are higher when playing on different lines, which is always helpful for a more balanced attack, and they're winning games at a higher clip, so it's not like they're forcing something that's not there and inadvertently hurting the team either.
Both players become the focal point on their respective lines and become the driving forces, which helps both of their games individually as well.
At the very least, the dynamic duo will be reunited on the man advantage as the Leafs have gone back to a 5-forward unit amid a particularly hot stretch on the power play of late.
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