Head coach Sheldon Keefe announced that forward Michael Bunting will not play for the Toronto Maple Leafs in Game 5 of the Stanley Cup playoffs first-round series.
Bunting was issued a three-game suspension after he made an illegal check to the head of Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Erik Cernak. The suspension has expired but Keefe decided not to insert him into the lineup just yet.
This is certainly an interesting move from Keefe. Bunting is arguably the best left winger on the Maple Leafs right now and keeping him out of the lineup objectively makes the team worse on paper. However, the playoffs aren’t about what’s on paper.
During Bunting’s first and only playoff appearance in game one of this series, the Lightning dismantled the Leafs by a score of 7-3. Since then, the Leafs have won three straight games, outscoring the Lightning 16-9 in that span. All three of those wins occurred with Bunting in the press box.
Bunting is a scrappy player who went too far with the headshot on Cernak in game one. It seems the Maple Leafs are playing it safe and not messing with what’s working. Although, if game five goes south fingers will inevitably be pointed at Keefe for keeping his best left winger out of the game.
The Maple Leafs have rolled with Calle Jarnkrok, Matthew Knies, Alex Kerfoot and Zach Aston-Reese so far. Those four players have a combined three goals and five points in 15 games played. Knies has looked solid in the four games he’s played but is Aston-Reese really more valuable in the lineup than an often penalized but still effective Bunting?
Bunting is in the second and final year of the two-year, $1.9M contract he signed with the Maple Leafs. He scored 23 goals and 49 points in 82 games this year. He is set to become a UFA after this season and it is unknown whether the Maple Leafs will make a serious attempt to sign him.
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