Jim Hiller decided to make some Leafs fans unhappy after he chose to move Gavin McKenna down from the PP1 unit in favour of a returning John Tavares.
The Toronto Maple Leafs return to the ice against the Utah Mammoth on Tuesday night as part of the NHL's Frozen Frenzy, where all 32 teams are going to be in action. It's no doubt going to be an intense night of hockey action, and Toronto is trying to capitalize on a big win in Colorado on Saturday.
They are going to have some heavy reinforcements as well with the return of John Tavares, though the team will be without Chris Tanev for the next few games as he has another stint on the IR.
John Tavares pushes Gavin McKenna out of the first PP unit
But it's Tavares' return that is drawing a lot of attention. Not only because he is returning fairly soon after the birth of his son, but that he pushed Jim Hiller to make a simply puzzling decision:
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Toronto decided to go back to the status quo and put the former captain back on the first power play unit alongside Auston Matthews, Kirill Marchenko, William Nylander, and Darren Raddysh. That moves McKenna to the second unit where he won't get as much playing time.
The rest of the Maple Leafs lineup is going to be more of what we saw against Colorado, though Troy Stecher moves up alongside Morgan Rielly and Nick Blankenburg lines up with Oliver Ekman-Larsson:
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Anthony Stolarz is expected to start as he looks for his third straight win to start the season.
Considering how successful he was and integral to the Maple Leafs' power play last game against the Avalanche, you'd think that he earned it. Hiller himself even said so, saying that they weren't just giving him the chance to perform - he played his way into it.
But it seems like going back to the old formula is what Hiller hopes will continue to keep Toronto's seventh-ranked power play hot.
Maple Leafs fans are stunned by Hiller's lineup decisions
Though don't expect the Maple Leafs fans to be happy about that decision, and they have decided to voice their very vocal opinions on social media:
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A lot of fans were pointing to Hiller not really understanding how good McKenna was and that he was exactly the injection of life the team needed:
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The general sentiment is essentially 'what the heck' but it is Hiller's final choice as much as we like it or not. Tavares does have one assist on the PP but he's also a little bit rusty, and the power play may suffer as he gets more comfortable.
Though this could all be an overreaction and Tavares could come in, solidify the power play and be the force we know he can be for Toronto. But it came at the cost of Gavin McKenna and for some that's unacceptable - even if it's the former captain.
Do you think Gavin McKenna should be on the first power play unit over John Tavares?
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