And he shut down the MacKinnon line in the playoffs just what, 8 months ago? He hasn't declined and fallen off anywhere near as much as haters claim. ROR has struggled this year, by his standards, because he couldn't find consistent chemistry with Kyrou and his most often linemate was Josh Leivo. He has gotten the toughest matchups in the league and is constantly taking D-Zone faceoffs. Then, he broke his foot blocking a shot right when it looked like he was going to break through. I promise you, Dude is currently at minimum 90% of the player he was when he was the Selke Award winning, Conn Smythe Award winning, Stanley Cup Champion. Maple Leaf fans, to fully appreciate ROR, watch this man carefully when he is on the ice, analyze his every move and you will see that he impacts the game by doing the little things consistently right more than virtually anyone, even if he isn't on the score sheet.
The Leafs should deploy him as a center somewhere, if even on the third line, and use him to shut down the biggest threat line of your opponent while simultaneously opening up better matchups for your more threatening scoring lines. That is what ROR was born to do and only one player on Earth arguably does that better, and that player is a certain Center in Boston you may have heard of.
