Maple Leafs’ Overreliance on Matthews and Nylander Remains a Concern

So far in the 2026-27 season, the same storyline seems to follow the Toronto Maple Leafs every year: overreliance on Auston Matthews and William Nylander to carry the scoring. Whether it was during the “core four” era or the new era involving Kirill Marchenko, they seem to hope everyone else catches up with the production from their two most productive players. At some point, depth scoring needs to help, or the Maple Leafs could see the same result in 2025-26: missing the playoffs.

Depth Scoring Still Not There

Through nine games, Matthews has 13 points, while Nylander has 12. Granted, Marchenko has nine points in nine games, giving the Maple Leafs three players at a point-per-game or better pace. That said, if those three players are averaging 21:44 (Matthews), 20:37 (Nylander), and 18:44 (Marchenko) of ice time per night, and the next forward is at 16:47, that shows head coach Jim Hiller is overusing his top line.

On top of that, Hiller isn’t getting enough from players outside of the top six, with too much outside shooting. Even with the team’s 29 shots against the New York Islanders in their 4-1 loss on Oct. 17, it was all from the perimeter. A couple of players are a tad below the point-per-game pace- Easton Cowan and John Tavares (seven points), Jack Roslovic (six), and Gavin McKenna (five)- that’s not enough to provide help to the two guys who are almost double the sixth-leading scorer on the team.

The plan seems to be for the top line to generate most of the offense and hope the rest can catch up. If that doesn’t work, the Maple Leafs get neutralized. If that’s the case, they don’t seem to adjust when its initial approach isn’t working, and it causes more problems.

There are already concerns about Hiller not managing his bench well, especially after the McKenna fiasco a few games ago. Now, with him overusing Matthews and Nylander, plus at times Marchenko, it’s hard to keep those guys fresh on a nightly basis. If he double or triple-shifts them, they won’t be as strong at the end of a game compared to teams that can roll all four forward lines.

Teddy Bluger is averaging 12:05 of ice time, while Brandon Duhaime is at 11:12. Even McKenna is only at 14:23, and he was viewed as the key piece before the season began as the first overall pick. He can still be that guy, but playing less than 15 minutes a game doesn’t help. All in all, with how huge the TOI gaps are on the roster, the Maple Leafs aren’t relying on all four lines. It’s mainly Matthews, Nylander, Marchenko, and parts of the second line.

If the Maple Leafs want to get out of this three-game skid they’re on, and more importantly, this 3-4-2 start to the 2026-27 season, the depth needs to get rolling. Plus, a better distribution of ice time needs to occur if they want their superstars fresher in the crunch-time minutes.

It’ll be interesting to see what happens on Monday night against the San Jose Sharks as the Maple Leafs look to get back in the win column. The Sharks are 4-3-1 and on a two-game point streak. Even with them losing in a shootout in their last game against the Detroit Red Wings, they are still playing solid hockey through the first eight games of the season. They will need to keep Macklin Celebrini off the scoresheet, as he has 11 points in the six games he’s played so far in 2026-27. Can the Maple Leafs snap this losing streak before it gets worse?