Auston Matthews' Role with the Toronto Maple Leafs is Set to Change Significantly
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Toronto Maple Leafs forward Auston Matthews is going into next season with a chip on his shoulder, but according to one reporter, he might just have a new role.
Auston Matthews had a bit of a down year with the Toronto Maple Leafs last season, although by anyone else's standards, this would have been a career year.
It's well-known at this point that the forward was dealing with a nagging injury that took away his ability to score goals at will.
However, with an offseason under his belt, the expectation is that Matthews will be able to get back to that level of production that made him so dangerous.
Auston Matthews and the Toronto Maple Leafs
Of course, as captain of the team, Matthews was given more defensive assignments last season, and it greatly affected his ability to generate offense.
Well, according to Mark Masters, the additions of guys like Scott Laughton and Nicolas Roy could be good news for Matthews. Next season, expect Matthews to get fewer defensive assignments.
With the way the lineup is coming together, maybe Matthews won't be needed to be relied upon to play quite as many defensive zone starts.
You can free him up a little bit more if you have a responsible line led by Nicolas Roy and even a Scott Laughton, that can soak up some defensive zone starts.
You can free him up a little bit more if you have a responsible line led by Nicolas Roy and even a Scott Laughton, that can soak up some defensive zone starts.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=CPL5Glzrybs
Overall, the Toronto Maple Leafs are a team that could always use more offense, and if Matthews gets back to that 60-goal pace, then the Mitch Marner exit won't sting so bad.
Regardless, we need to see it before we go out and believe it. Ultimately, there is still a lot of hockey to be played.
Hopefully, the Maple Leafs are able to figure out the best system of hockey for this particular roster. Having said that, we do trust Craig Berube to figure it out.
Hopefully, Matthews continues to get healthier and healthier as this season goes on.
Previously on TorontoLeafsInsider
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