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\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGetty\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
The Toronto Maple Leafs could replace Mitch Marner with a veteran blueliner in this critical role in 2025-26.<\/p>\n
The Toronto Maple Leafs<\/a> will be looking to fill a key lineup role vacated by Mitch Marner\u2019s departure. No, it\u2019s not the top-line spot alongside Auston Matthews<\/a> and Matthew Knies. While that slot doesn\u2019t have a clear owner as of now, the leading candidate seems to be newcomer Matias Maccelli.<\/p>\n The spot in question is the quarterback role on the first power play unit. The Leafs have rolled out with a five-forward setup for the top power play unit. The unit consisted of Auston Matthews lining up for the one-timer spot, William Nylander and Matthew Knies cycling the zone, with John Tavares cleaning up the front of the net.<\/p>\n That left Mitch Marner to run the show from the blue line. However, Marner\u2019s absence now means that someone else will have to take over that role on the point. So, the leading candidate to return to the spot is Morgan Rielly<\/a>.<\/p>\n In previous seasons, Rielly lined up on the point with Marner, Matthews, Tavares, and Nylander as forwards. However, the Maple Leafs experimented with the five-forward setup with limited success.<\/p>\n While the unit itself was successful enough, it failed at crucial times. For instance, the Maple Leafs had trouble handling shorthanded rush chances from opponents. Having Rielly in the backend could help alleviate some of the pressure from opponents.<\/p>\n Moreover, it gives coach Craig Berube an opportunity to cycle the forwards up front without necessarily committing any of them to a single spot. That could provide the Maple Leafs\u2019 power play a little more wiggle room as opponents attempt to shut them down.<\/p>\n Rielly Must Provide Strong Point Shot in Maple Leafs\u2019 Power Play Unit<\/p>\n One of the things the Maple Leafs have been missing is a strong point shot. Marner didn\u2019t have it. He wasn\u2019t the sort that could unleash a rocket from the blue line and hoped it would barrel past traffic.<\/p>\n Rielly isn\u2019t known for having a rocket launcher on his stick, but he could provide a better point shot. That\u2019s something that will be crucial to the Leafs\u2019 success with the man advantage. Having a big body like Matthew Knies<\/a> lurking around is something Toronto must take advantage of. The traffic he can create, plus Tavares vacuuming up loose pucks, could lead to a far more effective power play unit.<\/p>\n Rielly Isn\u2019t Necessarily Better than Marner<\/p>\n Unfortunately, it\u2019s tough to assume that Morgan Rielly would be better than Mitch Marner on the Maple Leafs\u2019 top power play unit.<\/p>\n Yes, Rielly is a defenseman and provides a better all-around game. But the fact is that the Leafs will miss Marner\u2019s overall ability to move the puck and cycle with the rest of the forwards. Unless Rielly can cycle with the other forwards, he\u2019ll likely remain anchored to the blue line. That situation could make Toronto\u2019s power play predictable and relatively easy to counter.<\/p>\n Overall, it might be tough for the Maple Leafs\u2019 power play to surpass the results from previous seasons. But they\u2019ll have to make do under the circumstances.<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tNestor Quixtan<\/a> Seasoned NHL analyst focused on covering all 32 teams with news, analysis, and insights. Originally from Toronto, Canada, Nestor’s singular experiences and background have enabled him to bring a different take on the sports world as a whole. More about Nestor Quixtan<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tMore Heavy on Maple Leafs\n\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\tLoading more stories\n\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty The Toronto Maple Leafs could replace Mitch Marner with a veteran blueliner in this critical role in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":182853,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5106],"tags":[5,20,5172,4,66,31,5171],"class_list":{"0":"post-182852","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-toronto-maple-leafs","8":"tag-hockey","9":"tag-maple-leafs","10":"tag-mapleleafs","11":"tag-nhl","12":"tag-toronto","13":"tag-toronto-maple-leafs","14":"tag-torontomapleleafs"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/115156439795238056","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/182852","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=182852"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/182852\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/182853"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=182852"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=182852"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=182852"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}