Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Jim Hiller is going to undo the last two years of Craig Berube's work and give Auston Matthews more of a focus offensively.
Over the past two seasons, there has been a clear regression in goal-scoring from Auston Matthews and while there could be an argument that injuries have prevented him from being his old self, a lot of that also had to do with his deployment.
Craig Berube loved to use Matthews as a defensive-first centre who took on punishing minutes in all facets of the game, ands given much more responsibility in his own end than in year's past. It led to Matthews scoring the least amount of goals during any stretch of his career, and led to many questions about if he's going to be able to get back to a 50-goal pace.
Toronto built a bottom six designed to take defensive work off Matthews
There is good news though for the Maple Leafs as they don't have to deal with Berube's lineup construction anymore as that lies in the hands of Jim Hiller. Hiller, a former assistant with the Maple Leafs, is all too familiar with Matthews and other stars such as Morgan Rielly and William Nylander and that familiarity will only help get the captain back on track.
Hiller knows where Matthews thrives, and with a new coaching staff and a promise to bring a more exciting brand of hockey - we could see him turn back the clock and become that offensive force again. But also, the team took Matthews' responsibility and dished it out to multiple players in order to balance things out.
Nick Paul, Colton Sissons, and Teddy Blueger are all players who were either signed or acquired as a means to give Matthews the defensive help necessary to take his high-pressure minutes away and let him worry about scoring and actually be an offensive player.
There's no more need to throw him out there for defensive zone face-offs or have him be the one to face tough matchups as they now have more than enough personnel to cover for him. The goal should be simpler: give Matthews fewer defensive-zone responsibilities and more chances to start shifts where his shot and offensive instincts can dictate play.
If Sissons, Blueger and Paul can't take the ugly shifts, Toronto hasn't actually freed Matthews at all
Though all of that only happens if the newcomers pull their weight. We need to see Paul, Sissons, and Blueger all taking the tough shifts and proving that the focus on improving the bottom-six was a smart decision by John Chayka.
But if Hiller needs to start deploying Matthews in tougher situations because he can't rely on his role players, then that really doesn't do much to give him that offensive freedom.
While you do genuinely want to have Matthews' defensive skillset in your lineup, it's not his strength. Giving him more chances to shoot, stay in the opponent's zone and providing him easier matchups will allow him to find that offensive foundation again.
Does this mean Hiller needs to shelter Matthews away? Absolutely not. There's still a world where his defensive help can be a critical asset that changes the momentum of a game in an instant. But he's Toronto's best goal-scorer, and arguably the best pure scorer in the entire world.
Hiller knows it's time to start treating him like that type of player once again and while it may not lead to a 50-goal season, it's at least giving him a chance to get back there without the added defensive pressure.
Did Craig Berube end up ruining Auston Matthews?
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