Matthews injury will test Maple Leafs' depth at center

TORONTO -- John Tavares and Nazem Kadri scored a combined 69 goals last season, albeit for different teams.

Those numbers underscore the depth the Toronto Maple Leafs have at center, which will come in handy with center Auston Matthews out of the lineup for at least the next four weeks.
Tavares and Kadri would be a solid one-two punch at center for many NHL teams. Their production is a big reason why the Maple Leafs (8-4-0) should be able to absorb the loss of Matthews, who injured his left shoulder in a collision with Winnipeg Jets defenseman Jacob Trouba in the first period of a 3-2 win on Saturday.
Matthews leads the Maple Leafs in goals (10) and is tied for the team lead in points (16).
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"You need depth to win," Tavares, who scored 37 goals for the New York Islanders last season, said Monday. "You need guys to step up at different times in different situations. Obviously, injuries are a part of the game. I believe we have that and are ready to deal with that."
When the Maple Leafs signed Tavares to a seven-year, $77 million contract on July 1, general manager Kyle Dubas emphasized the importance of how much stronger they were up the middle with Matthews, Tavares and Kadri. Now comes the time for the Maple Leafs to prove it.

It starts with Tavares, who has 13 points (seven goals, six assists) in 12 games this season. The calm, level-headed approach he took upon learning about the extent of the Matthews injury is the same type of leadership he showcased while serving as the captain of the Islanders from 2013-18.
"I think it's an opportunity for everybody," Tavares said. "When you have one of the best players in the League on your team and he's going to miss some time, it's an opportunity for a lot of guys to step up. With his skill set, you don't always look to one person, but it starts with guys like myself and trickles on down through the lineup. Guys will get more opportunity, more ice time to take advantage and step up and play key roles, key minutes and key contributions."
No one meets that criteria more than Kadri.
"My game doesn't change," said Kadri, who scored 32 goals last season and has seven points (three goals, four assists) this season. "I've got to be responsible defensively and have that offensive flair, especially with the guys I'm playing with."

The injury to Matthews means Tavares will be the center on a line with Zach Hyman and Kasperi Kapanen. Kadri gets bumped up from the third line to occupy a top-six forward spot between Mitchell Marner and Patrick Marleau, a unit that spent a good chunk of the 2017-18 season together.
Kadri has scored in each of his past three games after going scoreless for the first nine.
"Everyone's got to pick up the slack," Kadri said. "I don't think it falls on the shoulders of one specific player. Collectively as a group everybody can do a little bit more. We have the depth to temporarily fix the situation.
"[Matthews] is a player that you can't replace, but we'll hold the fort until he gets back."
The 69 combined goals by Tavares and Kadri were one less than what Pittsburgh Penguins centers Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin combined to score last season. To put that in perspective, Evgeni Kuznetsov (27) and Nicklas Backstrom (21), the top two centers on the Washington Capitals, combined for 48.

When Penguins general manager Jim Rutherford, who sees Crosby and Malkin every day, looks at the Maple Leafs situation, he's reminded of what the Penguins went through in their Stanley Cup-winning runs of 2015-16 and 2016-17. Malkin missed a combined 45 games over those two seasons, yet the Penguins continued to win with Crosby and Nick Bonino serving as their first- and second-line centers.
"We're lucky in that we have two elite guys like Sid and [Malkin] so when one of them went down, we still had that one guy who can carry the load," Rutherford said on Monday. "And Bonino was invaluable in moving up in the lineup to take a larger role.
"Not a lot of teams in the League are fortunate enough to have that depth at center, but Toronto is one of them. Those two guys (Tavares, Kadri) are very formidable."
It will be interesting to see if the Matthews injury has any impact involving restricted free agent forward William Nylander. He has played the majority of his Maple Leafs career at wing and could easily shift to the middle if and when he comes to an agreement with Toronto.
An encouraging sign for the Maple Leafs: They went 11-7-2 in the 20 games Matthews missed in 2017-18 as he recovered from three separate injuries. Matthews missed four games with a back injury (Nov. 8-16), six games with a concussion (Dec. 10-20) and 10 games with a right shoulder injury (Feb. 24-March 20).
The Maple Leafs managed to have that success before Tavares came aboard. Now that they have him as a top center, the loss of Matthews should sting a little less.