There were times last season when the Maple Leafs had the worst fourth line in the league. During the two-month stretch when they had David Kampf up the middle with Noah Gregor and Ryan Reaves on his wings, they didn’t have an identity nor were they a line that could be trusted in either offensive or defensive situations. The importance of a good fourth line is something that’s often overlooked, mostly because they play the least amount of minutes per game, and because for the longest time, they were reserved for the team’s enforcer.

The only addition the Maple Leafs made up front at last year’s trade deadline was that of Connor Dewar, who was acquired from the Minnesota Wild at the final buzzer of the deadline in exchange for a 2026 fourth-round pick and prospect Dmitry Ovchinnikov. He scored one goal and added five points in 17 games for the Maple Leafs after his acquisition, with one assist in six playoff games. He may have seemed like a bit of a passenger at times, but three months and change into his first full season as a Maple Leaf, playing under a new head coach, he’s starting to make sure Leafs fans remember his name.

Dewar may not have contributed to any of the goals in the Maple Leafs’ 3-2 win over the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday night, but he did enough away from the puck to earn him the player of the game belt in the dressing room. In a game that saw Ryan Reaves in the lineup over Nick Robertson, suggesting that there might be a fight between Reaves and Flyers forward Garnet Hathaway after the latter injured defenceman Jake McCabe on Sunday night, it was Dewar who ended up dropping the gloves. The 25-year-old’s tilt was against Flyers forward Joel Farabee, who hilariously admitted at intermission that he only asked Dewar to fight because he wanted to spark the building, calling the Leafs forward a ‘great guy’ afterward.

The fact that Dewar was the one to step up and drop the gloves in a game when everybody expected Reaves to should spell the end of the latter’s regular role on the fourth line. Reaves is by all accounts a great locker room guy and somebody valuable to the team in more ways beyond his on-ice impact, but especially after the trade deadline, when the Leafs have a fully healthy lineup, there shouldn’t be a world where either of Dewar or Steven Lorentz are sitting in place of Reaves.

Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews spoke fondly about Dewar’s game, noting his two-way understanding of the game and reliability in tough situations.

“I think he’s an extremely high-IQ player,” Matthews told reporters after Tuesday’s win. “I think he does all the little things really well. He may not be the biggest or fastest guy on the ice but I think he’s extremely effective when he’s out there. For a guy like him to try and set the tone for us in the first period, that’s huge and doesn’t go unnoticed.”

It’s true, at 5-foot-10 and 192 pounds, Dewar isn’t out organically instilling fear into anyone with his size. But he plays like he’s 6-foot-4 and 250 pounds. He has 68 hits in 24 games since he joined the lineup in November, and although the points haven’t really come yet, head coach Craig Berube is more than happy with what he’s seen from Dewar.

Although the quote might be ten days old, it rings true for Dewar in 2025. He has 17 hits in his last four games, and as proven by his fight, he’s actively looking for ways to impact the game outside of putting points on the board. He had ten goals with the Wild before he was acquired last season, so the potential is there, it just needs to be unlocked. And the more he’s available to develop chemistry in a regular role with the likes of Lorentz and Kampf, the more you’ll be hearing his name during games.