The Toronto Maple Leafs Need More From Depth Players In Wake Of John Tavares' Injury

In professional sports, one athlete’s suffering often leads to another’s golden opportunity. When the injury bug strikes a team, it takes away one player’s talents, but it also gives a lesser-known talent a chance to prove they deserve the opportunity. 

The latest example is the Toronto Maple Leafs and the injury to veteran center John Tavares.

Tavares suffered a lower-body injury Thursday against the Buffalo Sabres, and on Saturday, the Maple Leafs announced Tavares would be out week-to-week. But while Toronto will clearly miss Tavares’ consistency, he’s once again produced at a point-per-game pace this year, with seven points in seven games; the Leafs are handing opportunities to other players on the roster.

"You know, John was playing well too. That's a tough one for us," Maple Leafs coach Jim Hiller said after morning skate on Saturday. "You know, just on the heels of (Tanev), too. So those are two veteran players, and you just got to find a way."  

Those other players who’ll receive better chances include centers Nick Paul and Colton Sissons. Paul was Toronto’s second-line center in Saturday’s 4-1 loss to the New York Islanders, playing alongside youngster Easton Cowan and star sniper Kirill Marchenko. 

Paul has done well in a small sample size, posting three assists and four points in nine games, and he’s done so averaging only 15:46 of ice time. That’s basically what he’s averaged in his career, with the 31-year-old Paul averaging 15:22 in 546 career games.

But in three of his last five games, Paul has played at least 17:05. With Tavares gone, we should expect Paul to keep getting that kind of ice time, although he played just 14:36 against the Islanders, largely due to the fact that the Maple Leafs only took two penalties.

Meanwhile, Sissons has also put himself in a place where more opportunities are coming his way. The 32-year-old has two goals and three points in nine games this season, and he’s averaged only 15:00 of ice time. But in two of his past four games, Sissons has played at least 16:50.

Sissons’ hard-nosed game is what Leafs coach Hiller wants to see from his team. So Sissons will likely get more chances, and he started Saturday’s game against the Islanders on a line with budding star Gavin McKenna. If he can’t produce points with a talent like McKenna, Sissons can’t produce points with anyone. We saw Hiller use Sissons with the goaltender pulled late in the third period to win a faceoff on his strong side.

Speaking of McKenna, he’ll also get more opportunities with Tavares out of the lineup. Specifically, McKenna is moving up to the Maple Leafs’ first power-play unit. When Tavares was healthy, McKenna was slotted in as part of Toronto’s second power-play group, but with Tavares on the sidelines, McKenna will be playing with stars Auston Matthews, William Nylander, Marchenko and Darren Raddysh. That will benefit not just McKenna, but every other player in that power-play unit.

If Tavares is out a month or longer, the Maple Leafs will feel it. Tavares may not be the star he was when he joined the Buds, but he’s still a valuable component for Toronto, and the Leafs will be happy to get him back whenever that is. However, Tavares’ injury could turn into something beneficial if it leads to other Maple Leafs players stepping up and showing they have more to give.

"Obviously John's a big piece," Easton Cowan said. "Unfortunately, you know, things like that happen. So I feel like just the next man up. We've got a lot of good players. So I'm just looking to, you know, get two points here tonight and keep it rolling."

That could include the player GM John Chayka just acquired from the Vancouver Canucks – center Aatu Raty. Chayka made a low-risk, decent-reward gamble by picking up Raty, and if a change of scenery breathes life into Raty’s game, Toronto will have added a solid asset at a very cheap cost. And if it doesn’t work out, no harm, no foul.

Ultimately, the Leafs will need blue-collar players to contribute meaningfully in one way or another. Players like Paul, Sissons, and Raty don’t have Tavares’s natural talent, but if they’re opportunistic and make the most of their increased playing time, Hiller and Chayka will be thrilled, and Chayka won’t have to resort to more trades to address his team’s needs. Chayka created an open roster spot in the Raty trade, so if none of these aforementioned players take advantage of the increased opportunities, Chayka will strike again on the trade front.

The sooner Tavares returns, the better the Maple Leafs will be. But the void he’s leaving right now is the carrot Hiller and Chayka can dangle to other players. How they respond to these chances will go a long way toward deciding Toronto’s place in the Atlantic Division standings. The first sign was negative, but with an easier schedule to end October, the Maple Leafs need to take advantage.

The Buds do have a great deal of high-end talent, but squeezing the most out of their worker bees is the challenge ahead for Leafs brass. Time will tell whether those players rise to the occasion or whether more change is coming for Toronto.

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