When Mike Babcock joined the Maple Leafs he certainly had his work cut out for him. As Toronto enters year two of the Babcock era, Mike still has a lot of work to do implementing his systems to both the forwards and defensive end.
Even though the Maple Leafs finished in last place, there were still positive strides taken from both the offense and defense. We all remember the Wilson/Carlyle times where the Leafs were constantly chasing down the puck and lacked possession. It was a disaster, especially under Randy when we dumped the puck in just to get a change, resulting in less and less offensive puck time.
Have fun with Mr. Carlyle in Anaheim, talk about grasping for straws.
Babcock got the Leafs back in the saddle and at least has them controlling the puck more than they did in the past. After years of bottom feeding, Toronto ended up 13th in corsi-for percentage and 17th in fenwick-for percentage. I’m not even close to a huge analytics guy, I think it’s a nice tool to use, but by no means should you be basing your team’s progress on analytics.
The bottom line is, Babcock’s systems are much more complimentary to the Leafs than any system of the past. His breaktout systems are up-to-date with the current play of the NHL and he adapts to the players he has on his team. Something a coach must do to be successful. Mike Babcock insists on doing all of the little things right, even in practice. Have your stick in the lane and not just waiving around, ensure you finish your checks and do a proper back-check. Cover your point man, clear the man in front of the net, whatever the mechanics are of what Babcock is trying to implement are little things that every player can work on and improve.
With Toronto adding some strong grinding players and some crafty puck possession players the team should have no issues continuing to improve controlling the puck. After all, players like Gardiner and Rielly have learned so much in just one season, you can expect heading into year two with the best coach in the NHL, and they will continue to excel under big Babs.
If the Leafs want to continue to have success, and improved success on the power play they need to continue to enter the offensive zone with the puck on their stick and in control. Continue to rifle the puck on net and drive it hard for any rebounds. Quite often when you are pressuring the opponent in their zone for a long period of time, you will force them to take a penalty.
With such a vast amount of high end talent be iced this season, you can bet the power play numbers are going to go up, especially with Phaneuf not missing the net with every second shot.
The overall talent this season is much higher on the offensive end, mainly Nylander, Matthews, Kadri, JVR, Komarov and the possible emergence of Brown, Marner or another rookie. Morgan Rielly should be getting much more consistent power play time, and with the addition of Zaitsev, perhaps our second power play unit will have a surprise or two, pending if Gardiner, Zaitsev or even youngster Carrick gets a look on the blue line.
That’s where a lot of the Leafs offense lacked last season, was shots from the point. Both Rielly and Gardiner need to learn to shoot more, and all I ask is the puck gets through and is on net. Hopefully analytics guru Dubas was able to point out to the higher ups that this is where they lacked production on the power play last season. Don’t be surprised to see Babcock toss Kadri on the point with Rielly to start the season; he can generate a lot of offense when he has some open ice to work with.
Last season the Leafs finished 27th overall in power play proficiency and were tied for 22nd with three other teams for goals on the man advantage.
Keeping things in perspective, PA Parenteau was getting the most power play time out of any player, so things should only improve going forward!
The Leafs were not all that bad killing penalties last season, but there is always room for improvement. Ranking 13th overall on the kill, Toronto scored a few shorthanded goals, including Grabner, Rielly and Uncle Leo Komarov.
Toronto won’t have Grabner to kill penalties this season, but they will have a number of young, quick players who will be itching to kill penalties and impress Mr. Babcock. Remember, there will be some serious battles in training camp this season, easily the best battles for positions we have seen…quite possible ever in Leafs history.
Komarov may be the odd man out this season, time will tell, I guess it all depends what line he is playing on and how much ice time he’s getting. Babcock had him on the first line last season, including the power play and penalty kill. With the ferocious and raw game that Leo plays, it may be best to let someone else take over the penalty killing duties, or at least bump him down to the second unit. With the respect Leo has in the dressing room and on the ice, he’s a player the Leafs want to have playing for them 82 games a season, he does it all.
If you are wondering who would fill the shoes of Komarov and Grabner, here are a few options I think that would get the job done.
If one of Hyman or Brown make the team, you can bet they will be used on the penalty kill. Brown is an excellent penalty killer and had some experience on the kill with Grabner last season. Bozak and JVR have been on the PK in the past, but perhaps Babs will want to save JVR for a more offensive role.
Guys like Laich and Greening could also be very useful on the penalty kill. Dare I say Marner on the penalty kill to increase his ice time? If Babcock and the Leafs decide to keep Marner, pending how they plan to use him, he could be very useful on both the PK and PP for Toronto moving forward. The kid has some serious speed, vision and overall a high hockey IQ.
There are some serious decisions to be made by management at this point in the rebuild.
If I were part of the three headed monster in Shanahan, Lamoriello and Babcock; I would fathom this is the most difficult part of the rebuild.
Thanks for reading, enjoy the rest of your hump day.