Jim Hiller is making a notable adjustment for the Maple Leafs’ game against the Montreal Canadiens, and it starts with John Tavares sliding to the wing.
At practice, Tavares was lined up with Nick Paul and William Nylander, a change that gives the veteran a different look and shifts more of the heavy lifting down low to Paul. The move comes as Hiller looks to reshape his forward group for tomorrow’s matchup.
“We think it might be easier for him to keep generating more offence from the wing and have Pauly do a little bit more of the work down low,” said Hiller.
For Tavares, who is 36 years old, the switch makes a certain kind of sense. He has never been the fastest skater, and his defensive game is not what it once was. Putting him on the wing could lighten the load and let him focus more on producing offensively.
But the change also puts a spotlight on a bigger issue for the Leafs: Nick Paul is now their second-line centre.
That is not exactly the cleanest answer for a team with Stanley Cup aspirations. Tavares moving off centre may help him, but it leaves a clear gap in the middle of the lineup, and Paul is now the player tasked with filling it.
The question now is how long this arrangement lasts. It could be a short-term fix until Marchenko returns from injury and the Leafs can get closer to the lineup they had before both Tavares and Marchenko went down. It could also stick for longer, possibly through the rest of this season and even into next year.
Either way, the need for a real second-line centre is still there.
The Leafs may be able to wait until the offseason to sort that out, especially with other issues on the blue line that need attention first. But if Tavares is going to keep spending time on the wing, Paul will have to handle the extra responsibility down the middle.
There is also another possibility worth watching: Easton Cowan at centre. He has played the position before in junior, and there may be a path for him to grow into a longer-term answer. For now, though, that remains a conversation for another day.
The rest of the forward group at practice featured Cowan with Auston Matthews and Jack Roslovic, Joshua with Sissons and McKenna, and Duhaime with Blueger and MacEwen. Lettieri also appeared on the sheet.
On defense, the pairings were McCabe with Raddysh, Rielly with Tanev, and Ekman-Larsson with Stecher. Mermis was listed as well, while Bobrovsky and Stolarz were the goaltenders on the ice.
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