A tough customer who can play.
asserted
who → play → ?
There have still been sporadic attempts by various administrators to try to fill lineup spots with menacing players ready and willing to fight, regardless of whether they could play the game.
uncertain
they → try → game
Ryan Reaves was perhaps the worst example, a player past his prime but full of good quotes and showy gestures aimed mostly at legitimizing the diminishing role of the enforcer in the modern game.
asserted
Reaves → aim → game
This year, pretty much the same was expected, at least in this corner, from Zack MacEwen.
asserted
same → expect → MacEwen
His acquisition seemed to be a standard move by a new general manager to add muscle and keep the traditionalists happy.
asserted
acquisition → seem → traditionalists
But maybe John Chayka knew something we didn’t.
asserted
we → know → something
While not a true heavyweight like Reaves, the six-foot-four, 230-pound McEwen came to the Leafs with 17 career goals in 240 NHL games with 342 penalty minutes.
asserted
McEwen → come → minutes
When the Leafs signed him as a free agent on July 1, few noticed.
asserted
few → sign → July
After all, he’d only played three games with New Jersey last season because of knee problems.
asserted
he → play → problems
Naturally, then, it comes as a bit of a surprise after 12 games of the 2026-27 season to see that MacEwen has worked his way into the lineup as a regular, and an effective one.
asserted
MacEwen → come → regular
MacEwen has played in six games and has yet to get 10 minutes of ice time in any of them.
asserted
MacEwen → play → them
The Leafs begin a four-game western swing Saturday night in Edmonton and he may or may not be in the lineup for all of those.
uncertain
he → begin → those
That said, he and linemates Teddy Blueger and Brandon Duhaime were crucial to the entertaining 5-4 victory over the New York Rangers on Thursday night.
asserted
he → say → night
Many have been surprised by MacEwen’s quickness getting around the ice surface and his ability to make smart, decisive plays with the puck.
asserted
Many → surprise → puck
He’s been physical, but has fought just once and hasn’t been taking needless penalties.
asserted
He → fight → penalties
The 30-year-old Charlottetown native is in the lineup because of his play more than his willingness to drop the gloves as the Leafs work to establish a sturdy, dependable identity with the bottom six of their forward group.
asserted
Leafs → drop → group
He knocked Steven Lorentz out of a job, and seems to be Jim Hiller’s lineup preference at the moment ahead of Bo Groulx.
asserted
He → knock → Groulx
Will this last?
asserted
this → last → ?
But if he stays in the lineup, it almost certainly won’t be because he fights.
asserted
he → stay → lineup
This fall, there have been the usual giddy reports and breathless discussions on hockey panels about all the fighting across the NHL as if it demonstrates the need for that element of the game in 2026.
asserted
it → demonstrate → 2026
A league that once had upwards of 900 fights a season now is usually in the 300 to 350 range, and probably will be again.
asserted
that → have → range
There’s never been an ounce of evidence, of course, that fights translate into wins.
asserted
fights → translate → wins
Indeed, the Carolina Hurricanes didn’t have an enforcer or a single player with more than 70 penalty minutes last season and still managed to win the Stanley Cup.
asserted
Hurricanes → have → Cup
The Hurricanes registered only nine fighting majors in the regular season and playoffs, yet didn’t get pushed around by anybody.
asserted
Hurricanes → register → anybody
Commissioner Gary Bettman has long been too afraid of a backlash from traditional hockey thinkers to take fighting out of the NHL brand.
asserted
Bettman → take → brand
But the NHL is becoming more and more isolated in its appetite for dangerous bare-knuckle fighting.
asserted
NHL → become → fighting
In the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, a fight now earns an ejection.
asserted
fight → earn → ejection
In the Ontario junior league, new rules this season discourage excessive fighting.
asserted
rules → discourage → fighting
A player who fights more than three times before Dec. 31, for example, now gets a two-game suspension.
asserted
who → fight → suspension
These days, fighting might still get a player to the NHL, but it won’t keep him there any more.
uncertain
it → get → him
MacEwen’s proof of that.
asserted
MacEwen → ’ → that
He fought 12 times for the Philadelphia Flyers in the 2021-22 season and it didn’t help him achieve a regular NHL spot.
asserted
him → fight → spot
MacEwen seems to have figured all this out.
asserted
MacEwen → seem → this
After knee surgery earlier this year, he’s not only recovered but seems to have added a quicker first step.
asserted
he → recover → step
He’s out there to forecheck, defend and deliver hits, and there’s a noticeable hunger about his approach.
asserted
He → ’ → approach
Like he knows this might be his last chance.
uncertain
this → know → ?
The Leafs don’t need a high-profile enforcer, a lesson learned from the Reaves experience.
asserted
Leafs → need → experience
What they need is to become, as a group, much more difficult and unpleasant to play against, just like last year’s Hurricanes.
asserted
need → need → Hurricanes
MacEwen clearly has the ability to fit within that dynamic without dropping his gloves.
asserted
MacEwen → have → gloves
He’s proven that.
asserted
He → prove → that
…and 1 more, not listed.
The Aporia
