While it’s true the Maple Leafs have, at times, experimented with Auston Matthews’ offensive zone positioning — at full strength and on the power play — all his placements have been on the perimeter. And while perimeter hockey has been a regular-season success for Toronto since Matthews’ arrival on the scene, it’s also true that the same style of play has proven to be a playoff disaster, year after year.
Undoubtedly, the fact that former Maple Leafs playmaking wizard Mitch Marner frequently sought out time and space away from the net, left Matthews no choice but to interact with him on the outside. But with Marner opting to high-tail it on the next stagecoach to Las Vegas, those days are officially over.
There’s no better time than now for the Maple Leafs to finally ask Matthews to give (what we call) the “Phil Esposito Experiment” a serious try. For those too young to know, back in the early 1970s, Boston’s Phil Esposito was a scoring machine — despite having the mobility of an elephant and enduring the brutal net-front assaults the NHL allowed during that era.
The majority of Esposito’s goals were scored from the lower-slot, net-front area. Being big and strong, he would stake out his preferred spot, fend off incoming defenders, and use his incredible release to snap pucks home at a rarely-seen-before frequency.
While it’s true that Matthews’ teammate John Tavares has attempted a similar approach throughout his career — especially on the power play — we believe Auston Matthews can take that assignment to another level. Not only is Matthews bigger, stronger, and more mobile than Tavares, there is nobody in today’s game as skilled as Matthews when it comes to corralling loose pucks or winning fifty-fifty puck battles. Combine all that with Matthews’ uncanny goal-scoring instincts and his incredible shooting skills — and you may have the makings of the NHL’s next 70+ goal scorer.
In addition, placing Matthews down low will undoubtedly force opposing coaches to alter their defensive-zone tactics — shrinking their alignment, which in turn helps Matthews’ linemates win more races for stray pucks along the perimeter and in the corners. And that, of course, adds up to more puck possession time — which has been the Achilles’ heel of the Maple Leafs’ post-season play for some time now.
Will it work? A better question is this: what’s the downside of at least giving it a try?
