The Toronto Maple Leafs‘ all-star winger is set to return to action Saturday in Montreal after missing 12 games due to a reported ankle injury, yet he will not be skating alongside 70-goals-hunting Auston Matthews on the top line.
“To have those guys on different lines presents some really good options and spreads out our scoring depth really well. So, we’ll give it a look,” coach Sheldon Keefe told reporters after Friday’s practice.
“We’re always going to be a fluid group. It’s just the way our group is.”
For now, Keefe is sticking with the Tyler Bertuzzi–Matthews–Max Domi unit that outscored the opposition 9-6 in Marner’s absence and generated 67.9 per cent of expected goals when thrown over the boards.
Marner will join left wing Bobby McMann on John Tavares’s second line, while William Nylander will be expected to drive Toronto’s less experienced third line, bumping Nick Robertson to the press box.
Because the Maple Leafs are essentially locked into the Atlantic Division’s third seed, Keefe can afford to experiment with his combinations down the stretch.
Marner himself acknowledged that the top line has played “unbelievable” during his recovery. Toronto has gone 7-4-1 during its recent Marner-free stretch.
Keefe cautioned not to read too much into current line combinations, however, as he likes to move his wingers around depending on the situation and to keep the opposition guessing.
TV timeouts and special-teams shifts also play a factor in deployment.
“When the game’s flowing and there’s not a lot of whistles, depth is really important,” Keefe said. “But a lot of the games, especially regular season, are slow. There’s a lot of whistles.
