TLN After Dark: Bobby McMann is the Leafs’ midseason unsung hero

Bobby McMann has been an unsung hero for the Toronto Maple Leafs this season. After a rocky start to the year where he was scratched in the season opener by head coach Craig Berube, Bobby McMann has completely turned his season around

In the first year of his two-year, $1.35M extension, McMann was expected to build off of what he had established last year: a player whose presence was very missed after suffering an injury in the playoffs. Following training camp and a few preseason appearances, it felt like McMann had plateaued in his development, or his recovery from his injury had taken a serious toll. It was noticeable enough for Berube to hold him out of Game 1 of the regular season against the Montreal Canadiens. Since then, McMann has gone above and beyond to prove that he deserves to be in this Maple Leafs lineup every night. 

McMann has been a Swiss army knife for the Maple Leafs this season, providing support to the top-six when injuries to Auston Matthews, Max Pacioretty, Matthew Knies, and John Tavares occurred and he’s elevated the third line with Max Domi and Nick Robertson when production out of the bottom six was scarce.

The 6-foot-2, 209-pound power forward has provided elements that the Leafs forward group has seriously lacked in years past. McMann has been a physical presence playing with no fear and also having enough offensive ability to be a threat to score or create offense every time he steps on the ice. The best way to describe McMann might be a player who is ‘hard to deal with’. 

McMann has provided the Leafs with a burst of energy that has given them life when they needed it the most, numerous times this season. Look no further than a January 2 game against the New York Islanders, when McMann buried both goals for the Leafs in a 2-1 victory or Saturday night against the Montreal Canadiens. Down 3-0 after 20, on the road, with minimal signs of life from the Maple Leafs, and it was McMann who steps up with physical play and a goal to get the team on the board and kickstart the comeback.

McMann has been everything the Maple Leafs could have hoped for and more in the first year of his extension. It’s now on Brad Treliving to find some pieces to fit in with McMann on the third line, with the idea of bumping Robertaon down the lineup and perhaps moving Domi to a wing position — he’s expected to play on the wing in Monday’s game against the Tampa Bay Lightning. In that case, this Maple Leafs’ bottom-six may finally have some depth and be able to provide not only some energy but some offensive production that Leafs fans have been so desperate for in the Matthews-Marner-Nylander era.

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