With Nylander Out, the Maple Leafs Make a Surprise Move

Hockey has a funny way of making us look at the wrong numbers. A player has six games without a point, his ice time has been modest, and we naturally wonder why a coach would give him a bigger opportunity. Then the Toronto Maple Leafs line combinations have placed Bo Groulx on the top line alongside Auston Matthews and Jack Roslovic. Now the question becomes pretty obvious: Why him?

I think there's a reasonable explanation, even if we don't know exactly what the coaching staff has in mind.

The Maple Leafs May Need Something Different.

With William Nylander out, Toronto needs to fill the gap. The instinct is often to look for another scorer. But a line isn't simply three players who can put up points. Think about Zach Hyman's role when he played alongside Matthews. A line needs more than scorers. Somebody has to retrieve the puck, win battles along the boards, get to the right places, and create room for the other two.

Groulx can offer a different look while the coaching staff works out how best to arrange the lineup. His numbers don't make a compelling case for a promotion. He's without a point through six games, and his latest outing was his longest at 10 minutes. That's not much evidence that he's ready for a bigger role. But it also isn't much evidence of what he might do with better linemates and a different assignment.

Sometimes we judge a player on the opportunities he's already received without considering that he may not have been given the opportunity we're now asking him to succeed in. That doesn't mean Groulx will make the line better. Playing with Matthews brings its own challenges, and the game moves quickly at that level. He'll have to show that he can make smart decisions and contribute without needing the puck on his stick all the time.

An Opportunity Is Not a Promise for Groulx.

Groulx hasn’t shown anything that would suggest the coaching staff suddenly believes he’s a top-six forward. It may be nothing more than a practical adjustment while Nylander is out. But there's something sensible about trying a player already in the organization before rearranging half the lineup. If Groulx can do the small things well, Toronto might discover a useful option. If he can't, the coaching staff can move on to another combination.

That's the part I find interesting. We often treat lineup decisions as rewards for past performance. Sometimes they're experiments designed to solve a problem. Groulx has an opportunity now that he didn't have earlier in his career. He doesn't have to become Nylander. He just has to give Matthews and the Maple Leafs something useful.

Let's see what he does with the chance before deciding whether he deserves it. This should be a fun little experiment. Given how much Groulx brought to the team last season when he finally got a chance, what Maple Leafs fan won’t be rooting for him?