Fixing the Maple Leafs!
First things first. The title of this post is pure clickbait. There I said it. I honestly don’t know if the Maple Leafs need fixing or not and tend to lean on the “they’ll be just fine” side of the fence. But I thought it would be fun to look at what I would do if I were in charge.
Let’s get it straight. I am not a hockey professional. I have not won a Stanley Cup, an Olympic Gold Medal, a World Championship. I have coached house league hockey and been a fan of the game as long as I can remember. So my credentials don’t exactly shine against Mike Babcock’s and I am not suggesting they do, or that I know what he doesn’t. This is just for fun.
The Forward Lines
The first thing I would tweak is the forward lines, and now is as good a time as any to do that given the Leafs are still holding on to 2nd in the NHL and still comfortable in a playoff spot, for now at least.
Kapanen — Matthews — Nylander
Can we just stop dropping Willy down the lineup now please? He looked very much his old self against Minnesota. I don’t think he’s 100% quite yet, although I wish he were, but he’s high in the 90’s for sure. Kapanen gives this line that grinder/defensive thing that Babcock likes so much (I hate it but it is what it is) while not at all diminishing the offensive capabilities of the line. The fastest Leaf by a country mile playing with Willy and Auston who aren’t shabby passers is pretty exciting.
Johnsson — Tavares — Marner
The obvious chemistry with Mitch and JT is undeniable and it’s the one pairing that hasn’t been apart for more than a few shifts all season and shouldn’t be. Johnsson is faster, just as defensively responsible and a bigger offensive threat than Hyman or Brown. Stop hobbling our best players with people that can’t finish.
Marleau — Kadri — Hyman
A true shutdown line. If we’re going to keep calling our third line a shutdown line then it needs a Hyman or a Brown on it. I am giving Hyman the nod here mostly because I can’t envision a scenario where Babs plays him fourth line minutes. Marleau and Kadri have great chemistry and I never want to see Marleau on Matthews wing again, that has not worked yet and has looked ugly at every attempt to do it.
Lindholm — Gauthier — Brown
I know this isn’t a popular opinion, but the more time that passes the more expendable Connor Brown becomes for me. I like the kid, I really do. His effort is great, his penalty killing is solid and his attitude is fantastic. But on this team he’s a fourth liner and $2.1m is a lot of money for that. Freddy the Goat has finally become the player everyone said he was that I couldn’t see. He’s tenacious, responsible defensively and hard working. The amount of time this fourth line spends in the offensive zone is inspiring and a complete reversal from last year. That being said a goal or two would be nice, but not critical.
The Defensive Pairings.
Gardiner — Rielly
Yeah, our two best defensemen on the ice at the same time, and honestly they aren’t perfect in our own zone. They are however pretty magical together and the few times they get used together backs that up.
Dermott — Ozhiganov/Zaitsev
Dermott is still a kid, and he still makes kid mistakes. But I still feel he’s a strong defenseman most nights and pretty responsible. Oz is getting better as time goes by and is making fewer and fewer mistakes while making more and more good decisions. He still gets burned but not nearly as often. If he does fail in the second pairing Zaitsev is improving as well, making some of the best defensive plays on the team in the last few games.
Hainsey — Zaitsev/Ozhiganov
I hate to jump on the Hate Hainsey bandwagon, but his foot speed and decision making are really lacking this year. Age is catching up to him, but I still feel he has a lot to offer with the right usage. That usage is not top pairing usage though. It’s in a mentor/penalty killing/limited ice time role. Whichever RHD doesn’t stick on the second pairing ends up here.
Power Play
Okay, we had a power play that looked unstoppable for 2 months. One power play, the second unit was an after thought that rarely got on the ice because the first unit was so lethal. For about a month now that first unit has gone cold. The number of nights they score even one is far outweighed by the number of nights they go O for in the last 15–20 games. The logical reason for that is other teams have figured it out. They aren’t changing, you know, I know, the other team knows, exactly what they are going to do. They’re going to set up with Matthews on the left, JT in the crease, Kadri in the slot, Rielly on the point and Marner on the right half boards. They’re going to cycle the puck back to Rielly, 90% of the time he’ll skate towards Matthews then pass the puck to Marner. When that happens Marner pushes in off the half boards, and looks for either JT in the slot or Matthews with the cross ice pass. On the 10% where Rielly throws the puck to Matthews, he’ll shoot if he has a lane, which lately he hasn’t, more often he pulls the penalty killers towards the icing line, passes back to Rielly who then dishes to Marner for the repeat of the 90% play.
Don’t believe me? Watch the next few power plays. It’s 2019. Teams watch video for hours. Fans can figure this power play out just watching in real time. The PK now is all about pressure, take away the space, don’t let Matthews shoot from the high circle and collapse on JT when the pass goes to the crease.
So…. First Power Play unit.
Matthews — Kadri — Nylander
Rielly — Kapanen
Kappy is as close to a 2nd defenseman you can get. He also has the speed to catch players on short handed chances and a great shot. He’s not the ideal rover because he isn’t a pass first player and isn’t that imaginative but he’ll get the puck to the net. Kadri takes the net front presence, Nylander in the slot because he has the most accurate shot second to Matthews.
Second Unit
Johnsson — Tavares — Marleau
Gardiner — Marner
Keep the JT/Marner combo together. JT keeps the net front presence and Marleau in the high slot with Johnsson replacing Matthews on the left side. Not nearly as deadly as our current first unit, but face it that unit hasn’t looked that good lately. Shake it up, what’s the worst that can happen? They don’t score. Guess what? They haven’t been scoring since November.
Defensive Play
The narrative forever is the Leafs need to upgrade their D, and to be honest they probably do. That being said, no one player is going to fix what is wrong and, in my humble opinion, that is the forward coverage.
Now I honestly believe this behaviour is taught and I have been saying the same thing since last season. A full season and a half, no one is convincing me that the players are ignoring the coaches and just doing this on their own.
The second any Maple Leaf gets the puck in the defensive zone, one or both of the wingers bolts the zone looking for the breakout pass. When this works it’s beautiful, the Leafs are fast, especially on the wing and they get a fair number of odd man rushes and breakaways from this.
The problem is it’s a high risk play, it means if the D can’t clear the zone they’re left in an odd man situation and that happens far too often. Then the fans freak out and say Gardiner blew the pass or Hainsey blew the pass, but what they’re ignoring is the forwards aren’t giving our defense any outs that aren’t a high risk pass. They aren’t sticking on the half boards to help if they have to, they’ve already put themselves out of the play.
This is a young team and a skilled one, but they aren’t, it seems, being taught to be responsible defensively. They’re like a bunch of teenagers that want to run up the score because they know they can. But when they have an off night offensively they get burned because they aren’t playing responsibly most nights.
That blowing the zone looking for the breakaway is great, in moderation. Just like that lethal power play set up is great. IF the other teams don’t KNOW what you are going to do. And it seems as the season goes on, more and more the other teams seem to know exactly what our young buds are going to try.
In conclusion, the tldr; version.
Shake things up. Stop being predictable.
Go Leafs Go.
#LeafsForever!
