The Maple Leafs have a new (old) dynamic duo: Auston Matthews and William Nylander

It’s a big-time luxury for the Maple Leafs and their head coach to be able to swap one highly skilled, elite winger for another when things aren’t quite right at the top of the lineup.

When the connection between Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner went cold more than seven weeks ago, Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe simply dropped William Nylander, a point-per-game player (essentially) last season, onto Matthews’ right wing and let it roll.

And roll it has.

Matthews is leading all NHL forwards in five-on-five points since Nov. 12, when Keefe swapped Marner for Nylander on the Leafs’ No. 1 line. He’s picked up 21 such points in 22 games. Nylander isn’t far behind with 16 such points.

Matthews still isn’t scoring at five-on-five like usual — though his eight goals during the nearly two-month run still rank him among the league leaders — but he’s looked more and more comfortable playing set-up man to Nylander when the time is right.

Matthews, in fact, shares the NHL lead among forwards with 13 five-on-five assists during this stretch with Nylander. His 10 primary five-on-five assists are tops at his position, some going directly to Nylander.

The chemistry between those two, as well as the pesky third wheel Michael Bunting, is real.

The threesome has generated 4.2 expected goals per 60 minutes, the No. 1 mark of any high-usage line in hockey this season (min. 200 mins).

“I think those guys, over the time that they’ve played together here, their chemistry has grown and they’ve reconnected that way. And that’s been good to see,” Keefe said of Matthews and Nylander. “There hasn’t been a lot of reason to change it at this point.”

Change it back, that is, to Marner playing with Matthews.

It’s easy to forget now, in light of the crazy run that Matthews and Marner put together for two-plus seasons, that Matthews and Nylander were once a thing themselves. They spent the bulk of their first four seasons in the league together, with Zach Hyman typically playing the third wheel — a job that now belongs to Bunting.

“I think we still have the same chemistry that we had before,” Nylander said. “But I think it’s just working maybe a little bit more often, finding each other.”

Why? “I think I’ve maybe improved a little bit from last time,” Nylander said.

That improvement, he believes, is tied to improvement in the, you guessed it, consistency department. And in fact, Matthews noted the same thing about Nylander when asked last month how his new-again linemate has grown over the years.

You could make a case that Nylander has been the Leafs’ most consistent producer of offence this season, or right there with Marner anyway. He’s registered at least a point in 28 of 37 games, 76 percent of the time, a mark that ranks just behind Marner among Leafs (32) and right around the top 10 league-wide.

Nylander’s longest stretch without a point this season is just two games. It happened only once.

His 10 multi-point games trail only Matthews among Leafs (11).

Nylander attributes his improved consistency to “Just focusing on it every game, trying to work hard and create offence.”

Matthews, too, has of course morphed into a different sort of beast from his earlier years. Even in a “down year” the 25-year-old is on pace for 40 goals and 93 points. (His pace since the line change: 45 goals and 104 points.)

Just as Matthews has found Nylander, Nylander has found Matthews. Nylander has a soft touch as a passer and supreme, probably underrated vision. He and Matthews are both elite takeaway artists. Both rank among the NHL’s top 10 at their positions in that department during this run back together.

The threesome of Matthews, Nylander, and Bunting hasn’t been quite as devastating as the trio of Matthews, Marner, and Bunting last season.

Offensively, it’s close — and as noted, about as good as it gets in hockey this season. Defensively, last year’s top unit wins pretty convincingly, another reminder of Marner’s supreme defensive ability.

Matthews and Bunting with…

Per 60 mins Nylander Marner

2022-23

2021-22

SF

38.2

41.3

SA

29.6

25.5

CF

69.0

74.8

CA

61.1

44.2

GF

4.6

6.7

GA

1.5

3.3

xGF

4.2

3.9

xGA

3.0

2.0

Nylander brings a different sort of flair to the line offensively.

As Matthews noted, “His skill set’s very unique. He sees the ice extremely well and makes plays. But he can also shoot the puck as good as anybody.”

And he’s willing to use that shot almost as often as Matthews.

Over the 22-game run, Matthews has landed a team-leading 62 shots on net at five-on-five. Nylander has hammered 57 such shots of his own. “Obviously they’re worried about his shot all the time,” Nylander said of Matthews, “so I think that leaves me open a little bit more and creates more space for me.”

Matthews didn’t think the dynamic was all that different with Nylander there instead of Marner. “I think you’ve just gotta read off each individual guy and try to know their tendencies and where they like to play with the puck, without the puck, and try to just support (them) all over the ice,” he said. “But I mean, they’re both incredible players so it’s a lot of fun and it’s pretty easy to play with each guy.”

Nylander’s willingness to rip it, however, would seem to increase the unpredictability factor for the line.

Most teams defending Marner when he’s playing with Matthews can generally count on him looking to pass, even if they’re mostly helpless to stop it.

“I’ve liked it and I like the way the players have responded to it,” Keefe said of the Nylander-Matthews connection. “But certainly, Will, just the fact that he’s confident, I think, no matter where he plays or who he plays with, that he can just be himself and (if) he has an opportunity to shoot the puck he’s going to shoot the puck, and if he has a chance to make a play he’ll make the play. So I do think that provides a different dynamic. Mitch, when he’s at his best, is doing that very well too.”

Added Keefe: “Willy, for the most part, can get you through the neutral zone really well and then from there, there’s a little more puck time available for everyone. And I think, whether it’s Auston or (Michael), those guys have benefited from that.”

In other words, Matthews and Bunting might each touch the puck a tad more with Nylander, which might explain the uptick in playmaking for Matthews.

One side benefit to playing with Matthews is more ice time.

Nylander is averaging almost 19 minutes during this run with Matthews, including just over 14 minutes per game at five-on-five. The latter is almost two full minutes more on average than he was getting to start the season, playing alongside John Tavares.

The only Leafs forward logging more five-on-five minutes during that stretch is Matthews (15).

It’s obviously not a sure thing that this born-again connection lasts. Keefe is admittedly reevaluating it — the prospect of reconnecting Marner with Matthews — all the time. Marner has been a clear boost to Tavares defensively. But after a hot start, their connection hasn’t always sizzled at the other end.

The Leafs may be better off with the current look regardless, with their top-two lines winning their minutes pretty decisively. The current No. 2 trio of Marner, Tavares and Calle Järnkrok is winning about 60 percent of the expected goals in their minutes (just not generating much on offence).

Matthews, Nylander and Bunting are also clicking at almost 60 percent.

At the very least, the Leafs have learned that what’s old can still be new again.

(Top photo: Kevin Sousa / NHLI via Getty Images)

Stats and research courtesy of Natural Stat Trick, Evolving Hockey, Hockey Reference and Stat Head