A few weeks ago, the Toronto Maple Leafs were dealing with a significant problem in a season that had many issues. That problem was the lack of secondary scoring as the top forwards were pulling their weight. The lack of production from players like Max Domi, Bobby McMann and Nicholas Robertson was very concerning as they needed to get offense from other forward units.
Just when things were continuing to look bleak, head coach Craig Berube made a change to the third line, putting Domi, McMann and Robertson together. Since then, that line has been absolutely fantastic and a big reason why the Maple Leafs got some wins. Even though the stars continued to shine, the newly formed third line continued to generate positive results overall.
“Hounding and Hustle”
For the longest time, the Maple Leafs needed offense from the bottom part of the lineup. Eventually, they got some life. In order to get something going, Domi, McMann and Robertson were formed on December 15th and they have been very impressive since. Before that, Robertson only had two goals, McMann had six goals and only seven points and Domi was in the midst of a 16-game point drought and didn’t score a goal all season.
Then, Berube united all three in the hopes of them trying to turn their misfortunes around. And did it ever work.
Since being formed, Robertson has seven points in seven games (four are goals), McMann has four goals and four assists, and Domi scored in three consecutive games and has seven points in seven games. In those seven games, the line has combined for 22 points. Considering the lack of production they had before, this is a massive improvement. The three players that needed to get out of their funk, did just that. Their underlying numbers support that as they have a goals for percentage of 63.64%, scoring chances for percentage of 65.52% and a high danger chances for percentage of 67.86%.
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What has attributed to their success? For Berube it’s their ability to hound and hustle for the puck. And you noticed it over the last stretch of games. They’re aggressive, have the speed and power to get in on the forecheck quickly and the ability to force mistakes and take advantage of them. A prime example is Bobby McMann’s goal against the Dallas Stars where Robertson forces a turn over, passes it to McMann and he scores.
The lines’ ability to play with pace, strike often and quickly take advantage of their offensive zone shifts is a great sign to see considering that all three struggled before. All three of those players have the edge, tenacity and skill that has made them successful in a short amount of time. However, their success brings up an important question.
Problem Solved or Temporary Fix?
As much as you would want to say that the problem has been fixed in regards to the third line breaking out of their individual slumps, it hasn’t. In fact, general manager Brad Treliving needs to ask himself: is the problem solved or is this just a temporary fix?
As much as you want to say the problem is solved, what if this run comes to an end and all three go on another cold streak and nothing is clicking for them? What if it continues past the trade deadline and you think you’ll get this production in the postseason and you don’t? You just don’t know given the past struggles. It’s great their producing and elevating their play, but this feels like a temporary fix and you need to add more scoring at the trade deadline as reassurance.
There are plenty of names that you can target in order to continue to improve the Maple Leafs’ depth. Do you try and get Morgan Frost from the Philadelphia Flyers as he needs a change of scenery? He has been much like Robertson before his streak of offensive production. Do you look to try and add someone with championship pedigree like Yanni Gourde? There are rumblings about him being a fit for the Maple Leafs.
You should always want to bolster your lineup. Even though the chemistry between Domi, McMann and Robertson are at an all-time high, you need to have options made available in case the secondary scoring goes cold again. When it does, you’re back at the beginning with the same problem and struggling to find solutions post deadline. That’s something that you really would want to avoid.
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Overall, the play from the new third line of Domi, McMann and Robertson has been impressive. Considering their poor starts to the season, to see them succeed and contributing offensively is a positive sign and the hope is that they can continue to get that faith from Berube and company.
Despite the success, it doesn’t feel like a permanent fix just yet as you need to have options available to bring in pieces that can continue to help contribute in the event that they hit another rough patch of bad luck. Given how they were inconsistent before, you need to be sure that it won’t happen again.
Statistics from Natural Stat Trick and Hockey Reference.
