<p>Hello, OilersNation! I&#8217;m Arun Srinivasan, the managing editor of The Leafs Nation and I&#8217;m here to provide you with everything you need to know about the Toronto Maple Leafs, who enter Saturday&#8217;s matchup on a three-game losing skid.</p>
<p>When Cam Lewis and Zach Laing invited me to put together this guest post titled Views from Toronto, I was tempted to make an array of Drake jokes and call it a day, but that wouldn&#8217;t be fair to you, or to me, or the Oilers or Maple Leafs, for that matter.</p>
<p>With some strength and guidance (<em>sorry</em>) let&#8217;s get right into it, shall we?</p>
<h3>Maple Leafs&#8217; offensive imbalance is reaching a heightened state</h3>
<p>During the three-game losing skid, the Maple Leafs have scored three goals, and it&#8217;s somewhat fitting that Auston Matthews, Bobby McMann and William Nylander are the only players to get on the board during this late January regression. <a href="https://theleafsnation.com/news/auston-matthews-cool-calm-collected-embracing-the-challenge-leading-team-usa-4-nations-faceoff">Matthews looks like the best goal-scorer in the world</a> — this isn&#8217;t meant to be an inflammatory shot at Leon Draisaitl, who is running away with the Hart Trophy this year — Nylander probably leads the NHL in breakaways, while McMann has been the lone unsung hero for the Maple Leafs. Mitch Marner can be added to this group, as he plays in all situations and ranks fourth in NHL scoring prior to Friday&#8217;s games, but the point remains that the roster imbalance is reaching a heightened state, necessitating a trade for a genuine third-line centre.</p>
<p>Matthew Knies and John Tavares joined the Leafs at practice and took part on the team&#8217;s five-forward power play unit — a set up that head coach Craig Berube has become insistent upon. Knies boasts a unique combination of speed, size, power and tenacity, and he understands how to work off the gravity effect that Matthews commands. As for the power play, Berube wants to have two power forwards at the net-front, which makes sense: Berube emphasizes simplicity, Tavares has made a career of living in the slot and using his exceptional hockey intelligence to great effect, while Knies is at his best when he&#8217;s aiming to bully defenders, he&#8217;s far more than the puck-retrieval specialists that used to occupy the left wing on the Matthews-Marner line.</p>
<p>Toronto&#8217;s power play has become dormant and predictable. You would think that having Matthews and Nylander would unlock better results, but the entries are completely flaccid, as the Leafs continue to skate to centre-ice, then a drop pass to either Marner, Matthews or Nylander, while the opponent gets its base defence set up and either swats the puck away, or communicates where the initial passing lanes are. Tavares should help in this regard, at least off the draw, but the Maple Leafs&#8217; outright refusal to attack with speed off the rush has been confounding.</p>
<p>Max Domi hasn&#8217;t scored since December 20, Nick Robertson has recorded eight goals in 43 games, despite being given ample opportunity to make a dent in the lineup, Fraser Minten is a bright spot and along with Knies, represents the Maple Leafs&#8217; future but he&#8217;s also a cerebral, defensive-minded player who could potentially grade out as a reasonable facsimile of early-stage Anthony Cirelli. They are getting virtually nothing from the secondary and ancillary players, while Toronto&#8217;s defence corps rank dead last in goals scored. The once-dynamic Maple Leafs have not been fun to watch, although they can suffocate teams when they&#8217;re at their best due to sound defensive positioning, above-average goaltending and real star power.</p>
<p>It ought to be concerning that Nylander, Marner, Matthews, McMann, Knies and Tavares have accounted for 74.8 percent (116/155) of Toronto&#8217;s goals this season. If the stars aren&#8217;t scoring, it&#8217;s like a vacuum comparable to a black hole. If you take a more optimistic viewpoint, Knies and Tavares help Toronto build its near-optimal lineup, the team has weathered several injuries across the board, and it could be leading the Atlantic Division once again with a victory Saturday. It&#8217;s also worth mentioning that Knies-Matthews-Marner are Toronto&#8217;s most commonly-used unit at 5-on-5 for the second consecutive year and control 54.3 percent of the expected goals at <a href="https://www.naturalstattrick.com/teamreport.php?team=TOR">5-on-5.</a></p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Leafs?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Leafs</a> lines during practice Jan. 31/25</p>
<p>Knies-Matthews-Marner<br />Pacioretty-Tavares-Nylander<br />McMann-Domi-Robertson<br />Holmberg-Kampf-Lorentz<br />Reaves</p>
<p>Rielly-OEL<br />McCabe-Tanev<br />Benoit-Timmins<br />Myers</p>
<p>Woll <br />Stolarz</p>
<p>Murray, Minten and Grebenkin skating after these guys, we are told… <a href="https://t.co/l0rdwbjmkb">pic.twitter.com/l0rdwbjmkb</a></p>
<p>&mdash; David Alter (@dalter) <a href="https://twitter.com/dalter/status/1885430691149889810?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 31, 2025</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<h3>Morgan Rielly&#8217;s decline in real-time is becoming harder to ignore</h3>
<p>Morgan Rielly is declining badly — he&#8217;s still functioning as the fourth-best defenceman on the Maple Leafs, but it&#8217;s a far cry from the form we&#8217;ve come to expect. It gives me no pleasure to report this. Rielly is a staple of the Maple Leafs&#8217; community, we&#8217;ve watched him grow up through his entire tenure with the organization and he&#8217;s often had to carry inferior partners for the majority of his professional career. It&#8217;s just becoming harder to ignore now, especially after a critical turnover which led to a goal from Minnesota&#8217;s Marat Khusnutdinov in a 3-1 loss Wednesday.</p>
<p>Rielly addressed the criticism head-on and while accountability matters to a degree, he isn&#8217;t playing with the confidence we&#8217;ve come to expect. Berube placed him alongside Jake McCabe — Toronto&#8217;s best point-of-attack defender, and second-best defenceman overall after Chris Tanev and it has worked largely because of McCabe&#8217;s steady excellence. Rielly isn&#8217;t contributing offensively — again, a larger symptom of the defence corps overall — but he&#8217;s not ideally suited against top competition anymore, and while it&#8217;s been five years, we all remember the Connor McDavid <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NK7bH2lU7_E"><em>golaso</em></a> from January 2020.</p>
<h3>Ryan Reaves is public enemy No. 1 but will he suit up?</h3>
<p>Ryan Reaves is probably detested by Oilers fans for a vicious hit on Darnell Nurse in the <a href="https://theleafsnation.com/news/leafs-ryan-reaves-assessed-match-penalty-for-illegal-hit-to-head-darnell-nurse">November 16 matchup</a>. Reaves earned a five-game suspension and wasn&#8217;t particularly contrite when speaking publicly, <a href="https://theleafsnation.com/news/oilers-darnell-nurse-believes-its-pretty-obvious-ryan-reaves-had-intention-to-inflict-pain-during-hit">although he did apologize to Nurse</a>. Nurse wasn&#8217;t in the mood to forgive nor forget, and pulled off a pretty cool celebration upon scoring in his return to the lineup. If Knies and Tavares return to the lineup Saturday and <a href="https://theleafsnation.com/news/leafs-practice-notes-tavares-knies-hakanpaa?utm_source=dlvr.it&amp;utm_medium=twitter">all indications appear that way</a>, Reaves would be rendered a healthy scratch.</p>
<p>Reaves has two assists in 32 games and the fourth line loses possession and puck share virtually any time he&#8217;s on the ice, he&#8217;s one of the NHL&#8217;s slowest skaters and if you want to buy into the idea that winning fights provide marginal momentum, well, he&#8217;s been in one fight this year, where you could argue that he lost to <a href="https://theleafsnation.com/news/ryan-reaves-heavyweight-tilt-blue-jackets-mathieu-olivier-1st-fight-of-season">Mathieu Olivier of the Columbus Blue Jackets</a>. There&#8217;s an appetite to see Reaves back on the ice for reasons I&#8217;d prefer not to delve into, I&#8217;d much prefer to keep it to the on-ice analysis when possible, but he&#8217;s simply one of the worst players in the NHL and if Knies and Tavares are ready to go, he&#8217;ll be watching from the stands.</p>


Hello, OilersNation! I'm Arun Srinivasan, the managing editor of The Leafs Nation and I'm here to provide you with everything you need to know about the Toronto Maple Leafs, who enter Saturday's matchup on a three-game losing skid.

When Cam Lewis and Zach Laing invited me to put together this guest post titled Views from Toronto, I was tempted to make an array of Drake jokes and call it a day, but that wouldn't be fair to you, or to me, or the Oilers or Maple Leafs, for that matter.

With some strength and guidance (<em>sorry</em>) let's get right into it, shall we?
<h3>Maple Leafs' offensive imbalance is reaching a heightened state</h3>
During the three-game losing skid, the Maple Leafs have scored three goals, and it's somewhat fitting that Auston Matthews, Bobby McMann and William Nylander are the only players to get on the board during this late January regression. <a href="https://theleafsnation.com/news/auston-matthews-cool-calm-collected-embracing-the-challenge-leading-team-usa-4-nations-faceoff">Matthews looks like the best goal-scorer in the world</a> — this isn't meant to be an inflammatory shot at Leon Draisaitl, who is running away with the Hart Trophy this year — Nylander probably leads the NHL in breakaways, while McMann has been the lone unsung hero for the Maple Leafs. Mitch Marner can be added to this group, as he plays in all situations and ranks fourth in NHL scoring prior to Friday's games, but the point remains that the roster imbalance is reaching a heightened state, necessitating a trade for a genuine third-line centre.

Matthew Knies and John Tavares joined the Leafs at practice and took part on the team's five-forward power play unit — a set up that head coach Craig Berube has become insistent upon. Knies boasts a unique combination of speed, size, power and tenacity, and he understands how to work off the gravity effect that Matthews commands. As for the power play, Berube wants to have two power forwards at the net-front, which makes sense: Berube emphasizes simplicity, Tavares has made a career of living in the slot and using his exceptional hockey intelligence to great effect, while Knies is at his best when he's aiming to bully defenders, he's far more than the puck-retrieval specialists that used to occupy the left wing on the Matthews-Marner line.

Toronto's power play has become dormant and predictable. You would think that having Matthews and Nylander would unlock better results, but the entries are completely flaccid, as the Leafs continue to skate to centre-ice, then a drop pass to either Marner, Matthews or Nylander, while the opponent gets its base defence set up and either swats the puck away, or communicates where the initial passing lanes are. Tavares should help in this regard, at least off the draw, but the Maple Leafs' outright refusal to attack with speed off the rush has been confounding.

Max Domi hasn't scored since December 20, Nick Robertson has recorded eight goals in 43 games, despite being given ample opportunity to make a dent in the lineup, Fraser Minten is a bright spot and along with Knies, represents the Maple Leafs' future but he's also a cerebral, defensive-minded player who could potentially grade out as a reasonable facsimile of early-stage Anthony Cirelli. They are getting virtually nothing from the secondary and ancillary players, while Toronto's defence corps rank dead last in goals scored. The once-dynamic Maple Leafs have not been fun to watch, although they can suffocate teams when they're at their best due to sound defensive positioning, above-average goaltending and real star power.

It ought to be concerning that Nylander, Marner, Matthews, McMann, Knies and Tavares have accounted for 74.8 percent (116/155) of Toronto's goals this season. If the stars aren't scoring, it's like a vacuum comparable to a black hole. If you take a more optimistic viewpoint, Knies and Tavares help Toronto build its near-optimal lineup, the team has weathered several injuries across the board, and it could be leading the Atlantic Division once again with a victory Saturday. It's also worth mentioning that Knies-Matthews-Marner are Toronto's most commonly-used unit at 5-on-5 for the second consecutive year and control 54.3 percent of the expected goals at <a href="https://www.naturalstattrick.com/teamreport.php?team=TOR">5-on-5.</a>

https://twitter.com/dalter/status/1885430691149889810
<h3>Morgan Rielly's decline in real-time is becoming harder to ignore</h3>
Morgan Rielly is declining badly — he's still functioning as the fourth-best defenceman on the Maple Leafs, but it's a far cry from the form we've come to expect. It gives me no pleasure to report this. Rielly is a staple of the Maple Leafs' community, we've watched him grow up through his entire tenure with the organization and he's often had to carry inferior partners for the majority of his professional career. It's just becoming harder to ignore now, especially after a critical turnover which led to a goal from Minnesota's Marat Khusnutdinov in a 3-1 loss Wednesday.

Rielly addressed the criticism head-on and while accountability matters to a degree, he isn't playing with the confidence we've come to expect. Berube placed him alongside Jake McCabe — Toronto's best point-of-attack defender, and second-best defenceman overall after Chris Tanev and it has worked largely because of McCabe's steady excellence. Rielly isn't contributing offensively — again, a larger symptom of the defence corps overall — but he's not ideally suited against top competition anymore, and while it's been five years, we all remember the Connor McDavid <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NK7bH2lU7_E"><em>golaso</em></a> from January 2020.
<h3>Ryan Reaves is public enemy No. 1 but will he suit up?</h3>
Ryan Reaves is probably detested by Oilers fans for a vicious hit on Darnell Nurse in the <a href="https://theleafsnation.com/news/leafs-ryan-reaves-assessed-match-penalty-for-illegal-hit-to-head-darnell-nurse">November 16 matchup</a>. Reaves earned a five-game suspension and wasn't particularly contrite when speaking publicly, <a href="https://theleafsnation.com/news/oilers-darnell-nurse-believes-its-pretty-obvious-ryan-reaves-had-intention-to-inflict-pain-during-hit">although he did apologize to Nurse</a>. Nurse wasn't in the mood to forgive nor forget, and pulled off a pretty cool celebration upon scoring in his return to the lineup. If Knies and Tavares return to the lineup Saturday and <a href="https://theleafsnation.com/news/leafs-practice-notes-tavares-knies-hakanpaa?utm_source=dlvr.it&amp;utm_medium=twitter">all indications appear that way</a>, Reaves would be rendered a healthy scratch.

Reaves has two assists in 32 games and the fourth line loses possession and puck share virtually any time he's on the ice, he's one of the NHL's slowest skaters and if you want to buy into the idea that winning fights provide marginal momentum, well, he's been in one fight this year, where you could argue that he lost to <a href="https://theleafsnation.com/news/ryan-reaves-heavyweight-tilt-blue-jackets-mathieu-olivier-1st-fight-of-season">Mathieu Olivier of the Columbus Blue Jackets</a>. There's an appetite to see Reaves back on the ice for reasons I'd prefer not to delve into, I'd much prefer to keep it to the on-ice analysis when possible, but he's simply one of the worst players in the NHL and if Knies and Tavares are ready to go, he'll be watching from the stands.

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