Tip of the Tower Podcast: How the Toronto Maple Leafs have gotten by without Auston Matthews
The Tip of the Tower podcast returns after a brief break talking about how the Toronto Maple Leafs have been successful without Auston Matthews with James van Riemsdyk and Mitch Marner returning to form.
A lot has happened since the last episode of the Tip of the Tower podcast with Auston Matthews still out of the lineup with an injury. However, the Toronto Maple Leafs have gotten by thanks in large part to James van Riemsdyk, Mitch Marner and Frederik Andersen
Joining David Morassutti once again is Tip of the Tower staff writers Austin Owens (@_AustinOwens) and Richard Lee-Sam as they break down the latest about the Leafs recent play of late.
(0:00-28:00) :The podcast starts off with a brief discussion around the brawl between the Detroit Red Wings and the Calgary Flames reliving the brawl between the Leafs and the Buffalo Sabres. There has been a lot of discussion about Matthews being out of the lineup and how the resurgence of van Riemsdyk, Marner and Andersen.
They recap the games without Matthews including a solid start from Curtis McElhinney and Leo Komarov being the difference against the Boston Bruins as well as the hit laid by Matt Martin.
(28:00-36:00): Is there a reason to be concerned about the Matthews injury and why they are right not taking a chance to play him considering the role he plays on the team and with it being early in the season.
What is going on with William Nylander considering he was struggling before the Matthews injury but he is due for a breakout, Playing with Nazem Kadri and Komarov has impacted his play a bit but it also reinforces the decision to play him on the wing rather than at center.
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(36:00-42:00) The Leafs finally had to call up Nikita Soshnikov because of a clause in his contract and what he brings different to the lineup.
They move on to the penalty kill and why there should be praise to Nikita Zaitsev, Ron Hainsey, Connor Brown, Zach Hyman and Komarov for their work on it. There are not many options on the Toronto Marlies to help with this which is why a trade could be in the works some time down the road.
(42:00-55:00)
Speaking about trades, the Leafs have some trade partners that make sense which could help the Leafs solve their issue on defence and potentially upfront. Some of those teams include the Anaheim Ducks, and the Carolina Hurricanes looking at why they are the right fit to help the Leafs.
They also look at Timothy Lijegren and Travis Dermott who have the potential to be the Leafs next defensive pairing of the future and why there should be no rush to bring them up.
(55:00-1:25:00)
With Rasmus Dahlin tearing up SHL, and maybe this forces the Arizona Coyotes to make some moves, the issue with draft hype from the World Juniors and why the Leafs should potentially look at Christian Dvorak considering his connection with Marner.
They also talk about the impact of the draft and how teams in the Atlantic have thrived and failed because of it like the Leafs and the Tampa Bay Lightning. They also give David some advice before his trip to Montreal to watch the Leafs.
Look for previous episodes here. Also find the show on iTunes as well and on other podcast streams.
Next: Five logical trade partners to help improve the Leafs
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