Alex Steeves' continued success for the Toronto Marlies should force the Maple Leafs' hand as they continue to find answers for their secondary scoring conundrum.
The Toronto Maple Leafs have run into a bit of a wall when it comes to goal scoring and while most of the year the issue was primarily their lack of secondary scoring, it's now coming from up top as well, starting with Auston Matthews.
The former MVP has just 3 goals over his last 15 games and while he's contributing with a lot of assists, the Maple Leafs need their goal scoring machine to get going to alleviate some of the pressure from the bottom of the lineup.
The Leafs have scored 23 goals over their last 7 games but if you take out the outlier of the group, which was a 6-5 win over Pittsburgh, that's 16 goals in the other 6 games.
Bobby McMann hasn't scored a goal over his last 11 games, Max Domi has just 5 goals on the season, and Nicholas Robertson has 5 goals over his last 26 games. Pontus Holmberg, Steven Lorentz, and David Kampf have combined for 15 goals, the list is nearly endless.
At this point the only solution can be from internal options and fortunately for them they have one in the form of Alex Steeves. The Toronto Marlies standout has 33 goals and 51 points in just 45 games and although he was given an opportunity at the NHL-level it was extremely limited.
The youngster is doing his best to impress the front office brass by keeping his game simple and sticking to the basics, eventually hoping for another chance with the Maple Leafs:
'I know I'm shooting right away when I get the puck. Just trying to set it up. Trying to freeze the d-man, freeze the goalie & look low glove ... It's tough for goalies to pick up. I work with our goalie coach on shot selection. It's where I find I have the most success.'
Steeves had a quick stint with the Maple Leafs near the end of February where he scored a goal and an assist in his first game before fizzling out of the rotation. He averaged just 9:53 TOI, including 5:41 in his final game before being sent back down to the minors.
Searching for more goals, the Maple Leafs should look to give Steeves another opportunity and one that is more consistent than his usual sub-10 minutes per game. The third line could use a boost as it has become a game of musical chairs lately and Steeves could be the answer ahead of a playoff run.
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