Matthews could get some fast company
Expected Nylander reunion would create a line with serious speed
Maple Leafs centre Auston Matthews says he doesn’t know if he will be reunited with William Nylander on a line once the newly signed winger returns to the lineup.
But that reunion is expected after the chemistry they developed last season, when Matthews established himself as one of the pre-eminent players in the NHL, especially at even strength.
Entering this season, before a shoulder injury cost him 14 games, Matthews was at or near the top of several scoring categories since the start of the 2016-17 campaign. He led in even-strength goals (67) and was second to Alex Ovechkin in total goals (84 to 90). Matthews’ goals per 60 minutes (1.84) were also near the top. The Matthews-NylanderZach Hyman trio stayed together longer than any other line on the team last season. Matthews sees no reason why they can’t pick up where they left off.
“I don’t know who he plays with,” he said of Nylander, “but he’s such a good player, I don’t expect it to take too long for him to get back to where he was before. It doesn’t matter who he plays with, we have skill and talent up and down our lineup. Willie works hard and he makes a lot of plays … he can play with anyone and we’re excited to have him back.”
In a related move on Monday, Leafs GM Kyle Dubas traded forward Josh Leivo to the Vancouver Canucks for 22-year-old forward Michael Carcone, of Ajax, who was expected to report to the AHL’s Marlies. That made room on the NHL roster for Nylander. Dubas also announced that top defence prospects Timothy Liljegren and Rasmus Sandin will be freed up to play for Sweden at the world junior championship, starting Boxing Day in Vancouver.
In trying to decide whether Nylander should return to Matthews’ line, coach Mike Babcock can reference last season’s production, but must also weigh Matthews’ success without Nylander during the contract stalemate that ended Saturday.
Matthews opened this season on a record tear, registering at least two points in each of his first seven games. He became the first player to score16 points in the first seven games of the season since the start of the salary-cap era in 2005. Only six other players in the last 30 years have started a season at that pace: Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux, Kevin Stevens, Joe Sakic, Sergei Makarov and Mike Bossy.
Matthews did most of that on a line with Patrick Marleau and Kasperi Kapanen, whose rise in Nylander’s absence has been a key development for the club. Kapanen scored 18 goals in his first 57 games as an NHLer. In 22 games since he joined Matthews’ line, he has 10.
Marleau, meanwhile, has been a positive influence on all of the Leafs’ younger players. For instance, after Monday’s practice, Marleau led a self-created drill which saw him work the puck in the corner, drop it off the end boards to another player, skate out to the slot and snap home a pass from behind the net. Matthews, Kapanen and Mitch Marner all took part in the drill, and soaked up pointers and insight from Marleau.
A line of Matthews and Kapanen skating with the equally swift Nylander could be hard to keep up with. But in the playoffs against the Bruins in the spring, Babcock broke up Matthews and Nylander after they were held in check by Boston blueliners Zdeno Chara and Charlie McAvoy.
Matthews worked hard in the off-season to improve his overall game after that setback and now leads the NHL with 0.70 goals created per game.