Maple Leafs: Time for Mitch Marner to step up with Auston Matthews out

The Toronto Maple Leafs will be without Auston Matthews in what the team is calling a short-term absence and it’s hard to not see that as a cause for concern.

Already missing Joe Thornton who suffered a fractured rib, the lines will be put into a blender against the Edmonton Oilers. Considering how heavily the top line played against Connor McDavid, it will likely be up to John Tavares and his line to take on that assignment.

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Of course, the real question many will be wondering is how the Leafs deal with the absence of Matthews in the short term. You cannot simply replace Matthews in the lineup but you have to hope other players can step up in this situation and one who comes to mind is Mitch Marner.

Since signing his deal, Marner has taken a fair share of criticism for his play and with Matthews sidelined, this is where he shows why he was worth the deal he signed. It’s not known yet how the lineup will change with Matthews out but you have to think Alexander Kerfoot moves up since Sheldon Keefe said that William Nylander would not move to centre.

"“No matter who is in the lineup, what the lines are, we have to find a way to get to the net a lot more,” Keefe told reporters after practice. “It has been an issue for us, not just in the last game — certainly the last game highlighted it a lot because we did not get the power-play goal to supplement our offence.“We have to find ways to get to the net more consistently. JT (John Tavares), Will (Nylander), Mitch, Hymes (Zach Hyman), all these guys, but all the way through the lineup — (Jimmy) Vesey, (Ilya) Mikheyev, all these guys have to do a better job of helping us get there, (Alex) Kerfoot.”"

Regardless of who moves up, the burden will rightfully be placed on Marner to carry the offensive workload whether it means trying to be a facilitator for whoever moves up or try to do more on his own. If he doesn’t step up, you can be sure there will be a fair amount of criticism thrown Marner’s way.

We haven’t seen Marner as the true driver of a line since he was with Tyler Bozak and James van Riemsdyk. Some might say he was the facilitator when he was with John Tavares and Zach Hyman but each of those players didn’t rely heavily on Marner.

To put all the pressure on Marner might be unfair considering Tavares will likely be asked to carry a heavier workload too. Imagine if the Leas never went out and signed Tavares? It would make this Matthews injury a bigger deal.

Are you worried about the Leafs without Matthews? Who needs to step up with him out? Let us know in the comments below.