Sheldon Keefe reveals new plan for star players to keep them fresh and energized for the playoffs

Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe spoke with the media on Monday, ahead of the team's matchup against the Arizona Coyotes at Scotiabank Arena and one of the things that he revealed was that the Leafs are trying something new with their lineup. With an increased level of confidence in the team's bottom six, Keefe notes that we're going to see a bit of a dip in ice time for the team's best players in hopes of allowing them to save it for when the games really matter.

In addition, Keefe reveals that his goal will be to try to focus on getting the core 4 into as many offensive zone situations as possible, having them play less in their own zone to try to maximize their offensive potential without wearing them down in the D zone.

Obviously, the main concern here is what will happen when good team defense is required. Naturally, we're still going to see the Matthews and Tavares lines in the defensive zone. We just are. This type of deployment just limits the time they spend there, as opposed to having them start 200 feet down the ice and having to burn energy pushing the puck up the ice before they get their offensive chances.

Having the grunts do the grunt work is not a new idea. Teams have been using their bottom six to push the puck up the ice to create chances for the best players to do their thing in the offensive zone for ages. It's just the first time that the Leafs have had a lineup this deep in a very long time.