Maple Leafs’ Depth Shines in Absence of Matthews & Other Forwards

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The common criticism about the Toronto Maple Leafs – apart from their lack of playoff success – is that their ‘Core Four’- oriented salary structure cannot foster success and doesn’t enable the construction of a deep, functional lineup. So far, the 2024-25 Maple Leafs have been turning that belief on its head.

Indeed, the $36.75 million allotted to the quartet of Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, William Nylander and John Tavares this season eats up a substantial portion of the club’s $88 million salary cap, creating challenges for the front office to fill out the roster. General manager Brad Treliving and the rest of the club executives, however, have risen to the occasion, finding value at the bottom of the lineup and adapting creative solutions to remain cap-compliant.

The result has been having high-end talent alongside reliable, capable depth to lean on in the event of injury. Sure, every team faces their share of injuries, but the Maple Leafs have been without the services of Matthews, one of the best players on the planet who is reportedly getting injury treatment in Germany, for the past six games and counting, to say nothing of the absences of Calle Jarnkrok and Max Pacioretty and the recent returns of Jani Hakanpaa and Connor Dewar.

That the Maple Leafs have absorbed and overcome these injury-related losses – Matthews especially – is a testament to their current organizational stability and depth.

Auston Matthews

Certain players simply cannot be replaced, and Matthews is one of them. Even amidst his somewhat disappointing (by his standards, anyway) start to the season, the captain stands as the club’s offensive focal point and an increasingly capable defender, thus leaving a sizeable hole.

So, how has Toronto managed a 5-1 record without him? Everyone around him seems to be rising to the occasion. Marner, the overtime hero in Saturday’s 4-3 victory over the Edmonton Oilers, has four goals and six assists in the six games Matthews has missed. Likewise, Tavares, the temporary No. 1 centre, has added four goals and two assists in his absence. Meanwhile, Bobby McMann responded to a jump in ice time by snapping an 11-game scoring drought and notching three goals over the past two games, while Matthew Knies ranks third on the team with eight goals on the season.

The ‘next man up’ mentality in replacing Matthews has extended to the power play, which has been far more effective in the absence of the team’s superstar forward. Operating at a hugely disappointing 10% clip (4-for-40) over 13 games with the 27-year-old in the lineup, the Maple Leafs have seen their success rate on the man advantage surge to 47% (8-for-17) in his six games missed. Perhaps the rest of the team has been forced not to over-rely on Matthews.

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Calle Jarnkrok, Max Pacioretty et al

While replacing Matthews is no small feat, it’s not particularly easy to have NHL-caliber players at the ready when secondary forwards are sidelined, either. Jarnkrok still hasn’t stepped on the ice yet this season due to the groin and sports hernia injuries that were recently addressed via surgery, thus keeping him away for at least a few more months. On top of that, Pacioretty and Dewar have also missed time to tend to various ailments, not to mention the five-game suspension that Ryan Reaves will begin to serve on Wednesday night.

Yet, the Maple Leafs continue to soldier on. Steven Lorentz has become a staple of the fourth line, Pontus Holmberg has come to be relied on for his physicality, and Nicholas Robertson has shown flashes of his game-breaking talent, albeit sparingly.

More significantly, there remains a decent bit of help in the pipeline. Alex Steeves made his season debut against the Washington Capitals last week, and, most recently, Fraser Minten has been called upon in place of the newly injured David Kampf. In the American Hockey League (AHL), the Toronto Marlies are chockful of potential call-ups, with Alex Nylander and Nikita Grebenkin performing at a high level and players like Nick Abruzzese looking for another opportunity at the NHL level.

Fraser Minten Toronto Maple Leafs
An injury to David Kampf is now giving Fraser Minten another opportunity with the Toronto Maple Leafs (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images)

To be clear, the roster still has imperfections. The Maple Leafs could use more depth down the middle, with Tavares being thrust into a more prominent role than what ideally suits him at this stage, and Max Domi and Holmberg are playing out of position as centers. By and large, though, depth is highly coveted throughout the league, and Toronto seems to have it. The forward corps has options down the lineup, the blue line is strong and even their goaltending seems secure, with Joseph Woll rounding into form as he capably backs up the club’s firmly established No. 1 netminder, Anthony Stolarz.

UPDATE: The Maple Leafs’ depth has now been tested even further with Wednesday’s announcement that Domi has been placed on injured reserve with a lower-body injury. Grebenkin has been called up.

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