Marner, Nylander swap spots as Maple Leafs look to 'reset some things'

Just as the heat seemed to go up on the Toronto Maple Leafs' top line, head coach Sheldon Keefe switched things around at practice on Monday.

Struggling winger Mitch Marner skated with captain John Tavares and Tyler Bertuzzi, while team-leading scorer William Nylander found himself patrolling the right side with Auston Matthews and rookie Matthew Knies.

Speaking to reporters after, Keefe admitted that he had been reluctant to make a change after Nylander opened up the season on a 17-game point streak while playing with Tavares. But, the coach added, with the team coming home after a long road trip he felt the time was right to change things up.

"It's been a daily discussion for us internally for a good chunk of time now," Keefe said Monday. "But Willy has been playing so well and Tavares and Bertuzzi with him have found such good chemistry, we've been really reluctant to mess with that and more so just challenge Auston and Mitch to sort it out and be better. But as things change, you come back from the road ... then you can kind of reset some things."

Marner, 26, has just three assists in his last five games, while Matthews, 26, has just two points — a goal and an assist. Both players are currently third (20) and second (21) in team scoring respectively, despite their struggles. Nylander has 27 points.

When talking specifically about the ways Matthews and Marner could be better, Keefe pointed to consistency.

"I think if you kind of look at the way it's gone for them this season, that's the way it's been," the coach said. "They've had really big nights and other nights where they haven't been effective at all. So just trying to find more consistency there."

The Maple Leafs are 10-6-3 this season and have lost their last two games, to Chicago and Pittsburgh.

For their part, the players seemed to welcome the change when speaking to reporters after practice.

"I think sometimes a little change can help everybody," Matthews said, admitting to some disconnect with Marner at times this season. "I just think the way the weekend went, mixing things up isn't the worst thing."

"Just trying to, obviously, jumpstart something and hopefully it works," Marner added. "We've all played with each other, us four have kind of swapped in and out and found ways to be successful. ... Obviously, we have confidence with whoever we're playing with, and I think that's something that's pretty nice to have to lean back on."

Other observations from practice on Monday indicated that winger Ryan Reaves could play in Tuesday's game against the Florida Panthers, as Bobby McMann was spotted wearing the "extra" jersey. Reaves has just one point in his first season in Toronto, which he scored in Chicago on Friday. The burly winger was a healthy scratch for three of the four games Toronto won during a recent streak.