Auston Matthews is one of the most lethal offensive threats in the NHL, with a wicked fast release and pinpoint accuracy perpetually keeping goaltenders up at night. While his presence in the offensive zone is unquestionably daunting for opponents, he’s been working hard to become more of a two-way forward as well.
On Thursday, Toronto Maple Leafs head coach acknowledged #34’s improvements in the defensive end and announced that he’d be spending some more time on the ice while the Leafs killed penalties.
Some would argue that this is more of a slight than a compliment, as it’s often lower line players that handle penalty killing duties. That’s been shifting in recent years, with play makers – particularly ones that win face-offs – get some time.
To put it into perspective, Sebastian Aho and Mika Zibanejad were each just one shorthanded point off the league lead last year with 5.
Mike Johnson dove into the role change on Leafs Lunch.
Keefe explained the move, bringing up the faceoff strategy and the added bonus of having the opportunity for some playmaking.
"I don't expect it to be any sort of full-time role or responsibility, but on a part-time basis as needed," Keefe said. "We want to start getting him comfortable with those situations, and face-offs in particular, in an area where he can bring a lot for us on the left side.
"We've seen so much growth as a defensive player that we believe he can bring a lot to the penalty kill. Obviously the offensive threat that he is on the ice brings an addition to some of our other penalty killers a lot too. So we're going to start to get him some minutes in that regard."
Matthews has less than 8 minutes on the penalty kill over his entire NHL career, so we’ll likely see that number jump up in a big way this season.
(H/T NHL.com)
