Lately, the Toronto Maple Leafs have been on a bad run of form. They have lost their last three games in a row, including an overtime loss to the Boston Bruins on the weekend. On top of that, they’ve lost four of their last five games. Therefore, by points percentage, they currently sit out of a playoff spot for the first time since October last season. There have been a few issues with this team over the last week or so, the biggest being their power play. However, there is another issue that many don’t talk about. During this poor run of form, they haven’t gotten much production from the bottom six.
What’s Missing in the Bottom Six?
In the first two games of the season, Toronto’s bottom six looked very effective. In the season opener against the Montreal Canadiens, the Leafs were held off the board. However, they looked dangerous and at times were more threatening than the stars. Their second game against the New Jersey Devils was littered with secondary and tertiary scoring. Max Pacioretty and Steven Lorentz made their marks in the first period, bagging a goal each. Bobby McMann, who was on the fourth line at the time, also scored in that first period. John Tavares was the only player not in the bottom six to score in that game. Although he was on the second line then, now he’s the Leafs’ third-line centre.
Since then, Toronto’s bottom six have only scored a combined two even-strength goals. Pacioretty scored his second of the season against the Tampa Bay Lightning and Nicholas Robertson against the Columbus Blue Jackets. It could be possible that the secondary and tertiary offences are drying up. Head coach Craig Berube has made a few changes in an attempt to shake things up. He’s scratched several players on separate occasions. That includes Pacioretty (twice), David Kampf, Pontus Holmberg and Ryan Reaves since the game in New Jersey. However, nothing has notably sparked.
The Missing Piece of the Third Line
While the bottom six consist of the third and fourth lines, the third line is expected to score more. In today’s NHL, typically, teams have their third line as a scoring line. When looking at Toronto’s third line, the conclusion would be that it is a scoring line. Pacioretty, Tavares and Robertson are known for their shooting and scoring abilities. However, that may very well be the problem with this line. Theoretically, this looks like a line that would score many goals. But, without someone setting up the play, goals won’t come. As mentioned, that line and the entirety of the bottom six haven’t been able to score lately at even strength. Something is missing in this equation, it doesn’t equal goals.
What Toronto is missing in their bottom six is a playmaker. Although, the Leafs don’t have many playmakers in their lineup in general. Mitch Marner, William Nylander and Max Domi are the only pure playmakers on this team. Even Auston Matthews is required to run plays, but he’s primarily a sniper. There are two forwards out of the lineup that could potentially fit into Toronto’s bottom six. Those players are Calle Jarnkrok and Connor Dewar, they’ve been out with injuries. However, those two are two-way forwards and aren’t known for their ability to create scoring chances.
Where Can Toronto Find a Playmaker?
While it seems like the only situation would be to look elsewhere for the missing piece. However, according to PuckPedia, the Leafs are over the salary cap by over $4M. Therefore, chances are it won’t be likely for the Leafs to find a playmaker in a trade. Another option would be to look at the Toronto Marlies in the AHL, who are unbeaten in regulation thus far. Alexander Nylander and Alex Steeves have been off to a great start this season. They have five goals each in seven games, that’s good enough to make the top 10 of the league. However, it would be unlikely for them to earn a call-up considering they are both on AHL contracts. That means they would have to sign new deals to play for the Maple Leafs, and that would complicate things with the front office.
However, there is an alternate solution to this problem. That is, everything could work itself out as it is early in the season.
Main Photo Credit: Ed Mulholland-Imagn Images
