Auston Matthews Identified As The Real Issue For The Maple Leafs, Not Bottom-6 Depth, Per Insider
The Maple Leafs have had a lot of issues with secondary scoring and while that's true, one insider believes that their drought lies within one very important player.
One of the biggest stories about the Toronto Maple Leafs' season so far has been the fact they've had a lack of secondary scoring depth. Besides their Core 4, no other player has done anything of note and it's getting concerning.
However, according to The Athletic's James Mirtle, the Maple Leafs scoring woes don't lie only in their bottom line, but deeply entrenched with their captain too.
Auston Matthews Is Not The Scoring Option Toronto Needs
Mirtle wasn't the only one who noticed a difference, as NHL Insider Mike Johnson also commented on Mirtle's article while on TSN's FirstUp and agreed that Matthews' lack of production is a concern:
We can talk about the depth scoring that's part of it for sure but if you wanna talk actual numbers is based largely on Auston Matthews' production compared to last year. But he hasn't been healthy and he's still not healthy."
It's a shocking turnaround from last season where Matthews had a historic 69-goal season and being the league's most dominant goal-scorer by a large margin.
This season, Matthews only has 9 goals and while his injury did end up playing a factor into things, it's surprising it took the captain this long to get things sorted out if it was bothering him at the beginning of the year.
Luckily, Toronto has had Mitch Marner, William Nylander, John Tavares, Matthew Knies and now a returning Bobby McMann, so the team isn't lacking offense, but they are missing their number one piece and it's costing them in the long run.
As good as the others are, Matthews has to start showing he can be that dominant force he was last season, and if the bottom six can't pick up the slack while Matthews lags behind; it'll be another disappointing end to the season for the Leafs.
