Toronto Maple Leafs: Forward depth needs to step up during scoring slump
The Toronto Maple Leafs have found it tough to score over the past couple of games and part of the problem can be directed to the lack of scoring depth at even strength.
A team is going to go through scoring slumps and the Toronto Maple Leafs are no different despite having one of the top offences on paper.
Through nine games (as of Oct. 23), the Leafs are tied with the Washington Capitals for the league lead in goals with 34 goals. 28 of those goals have been scored by forwards and six by defencemen well just Morgan Rielly and Ron Hainsey.
Toronto has 25 goals at even strength (21 at five-on-five) and if you look at the distribution, there is certainly an imbalance which hasn’t been an issue until the past couple of games. After being shutout against the Pittsburgh Penguins, the Leafs only got one against the St. Louis Blues in what was a less than stellar performance.
So is there a cause for concern? Not really considering this has only been a two-game stretch but over the long haul the Leafs need to find production and it can’t always be the usual suspects.
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Sure Auston Matthews, John Tavares and Mitch Marner are expected to be the go-to offensive players but it doesn’t excuse the rest of the team who haven’t pulled their weight. Take away the six goals from Rielly and Hainsey, the top two forward lines have contributed 17 of the team’s19 goals at even strength.
The only goals from the bottom forwards have come from a Connor Brown empty-net goal and Par Lindholm scoring on a deflection from Jake Gardiner. That’s simply not good enough for a team that got so much attention for their scoring depth.
The Leafs rank fourth in the league with 103 giveaways which isn’t a great look but they make up for it with 76 takeaways which are also fourth in the league. That’s not exactly where the team is shooting themselves in the foot as they are also second in the league with 134 missed shots.
Is that really the answer to the Leafs lack of scoring from their bottom six? Probably not since they do generate a lot of chances but there is one thing that could easily fix this problem and that’s getting William Nylander signed.
Obviously having Nylander means Mike Babcock is able to move somebody down the third line (most likely Kapanen) in order to balance out the top nine and give Nazem Kadri some offensive support.
Brown has proven to be an effective two-way player but doesn’t generate chances on his own, having Kapanen’s speed alone would give that line a new dimension and someone that can finish chances. This would open up space for Kadri to get going and not be the focal point for the opposition to shut down.
The Leafs are willing to be patient in their contract talks with Nylander and getting him signed at the right cap hit is important but eventually, a decision will have to be made.
Once that happens things should start to balance out for the team but in the meantime, it would be nice to have a player like Kadri, Andreas Johnsson, Josh Leivo or even Gardiner provide more offence once in a while.
Next. Leafs could look at a bridge deal for Nylander. dark
What do you think about the Leafs scoring slump? Should they be worried or is it something that should correct itself eventually? Let us know in the comments below.