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Leafs quarterly report card gets mostly positive marks

February 12, 2021, 3:28 PM ET [223 Comments]
Mike Augello
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The Toronto Maple Leafs are atop the NHL standings at the league’s quarter mark (or should I say most of the league’s quarter mark). The Leafs 11-2-1 record is fairly representative, as they have wins over all six North Division foes, as opposed to the Montreal Canadiens, who have played bottom dwellers Vancouver and Ottawa half of their games. Here is a look and evaluation of the Leafs roster, coaching and management thus far.

Management

A- - The additions made by GM Kyle Dubas leading up to the season have been mostly positive. The signings of T.J. Brodie and Zach Bogosian have provided stability to the club’s blueline, and KHL import Mikko Lehtonen is slowly adjusting to the North American game. Up front, the contributions of Wayne Simmonds and Joe Thornton in the locker room have made a noticeable difference to the club’s overall esprit de corps, but have been limited on the ice because of injuries. Travis Boyd has stepped in to provide some depth scoring on the fourth line, but the performance of Jimmy Vesey and Alexander Barabanov has been less impactful.


Coaching

A - Since taking over from Mike Babcock in November,2020, Sheldon Keefe has repeated his success at the AHL level with a 38-17-6 record, but a full evaluation of his abilities will be tied to the club being able to advance in the playoffs for the first time since 2004.

Keefe is stern and serious, but not a taskmaster like Babcock, is willing to try different things to see if they work and gives his star players the time on ice to succeed instead of maintaining rigid and inflexible control.


Forwards

A+ - Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner – Matthews leads the NHL with 11 goals, Marner leads the Leafs and is in the top five of NHL scoring with 21 points and both play over 20 minutes per game. Not much more needs to be said.

A – John Tavares, Zach Hyman, Wayne Simmonds – Tavares is on a point-per-game pace and draws the top line matchup on most nights, giving Matthews more freedom to score. Hyman started on the checking line, was moved up to play with Matthews and Marner when Thornton was injured and does a lot of the dirty work to get them the puck. Simmonds made a difference with his physicality and in front of the net on the power play before breaking his wrist last week.

A- - Jason Spezza, Travis Boyd – Excellent contributions from depth players cannot be underrated. Spezza has eight points in 13 games averaging less than 10 minutes per night and Boyd has stepped in as an effective fourth liner and may have won a spot in the every day lineup with four points in six games.

B – William Nylander – Nylander has a lot of talent and when he is on, he is an extremely effective offensive weapon. The 24-year-old’s issue continues to be consistency and that has not changed.

B- - Joe Thornton - Jumbo Joe seemed to getting acclimated to playing on the top line with Matthews and Marner, but a cracked rib has kept the 41-year-old out of the lineup for three weeks. The question is whether he will be given another chance to play with the dynamic duo.

C+ - Ilya Mikheyev – “Soup Man” has played hustled and shown energy as a penalty killer and a checker, but it took 14 games and 23 shots on goal before scoring his first of the season vs. Montreal on Wednesday.

C - Alex Kerfoot, Jimmy Vesey – The Harvard connection both have roles as penalty killers, but have been underwhelming thus far. Kerfoot has six points in 14 games, but has seen a number of different linemates over that time. Vesey started on the second line and scored two goals early on, but has gone eight straight without a goal.

C- - Pierre Engvall – The big Swede continues to be a tantalizing physical package that seems to frustrate Keefe, because he won’t use the tools available to him. He has very good speed and the size to be an effective NHL forward, but at times just disappears.

D - Alexander Barabanov – Maybe an unfair grade for the former KHLer, since he is averaging only 6:20 per game, but there have only been a few shifts over seven games where Barabanov has made any kind of impression.

Incomplete – Nic Petan, Joey Anderson, Adam Brooks, Nick Robertson – Petan has played three games, and Anderson, Brooks and Robertson have played just one game, which is not enough to fairly evaluate them.


Defense

A – Morgan Rielly, Jake Muzzin – Rielly has rebounded from a bad year brought about by injuries to lead the club in defensive scoring (11 points) and effectively quarterback the Leafs top power play. Muzzin is the anchor of the club’s shutdown pairing and leads the Toronto blueline with a +7 and nine points

A- - Justin Holl – The 29-year-old has settled into playing with Muzzin on the second pairing and uses his size to clear the front of the net on the penalty kill.

B+ - T.J. Brodie – The big add to the blueline in free agency, Brodie struggled a bit to start the season, but has settled in alongside Rielly on the top pairing and has provided quality minutes.

B – Zach Bogosian – Toughness, veteran savvy and a big body to clear the front of the net, just what the Leafs were looking for from the low cost veteran defenseman.

C – Travis Dermott, Mikko Lehtonen – The rotation of the bottom pairing blueliners will eventually stop. Dermott has not made any major mistakes, but many people expected him to be a bigger contributor offensively and that has not come to pass. Lehtonen has made a few defensive errors, but his skating ability is NHL caliber and he has shown his abilities as a point man on the Leafs second power play.

Incomplete – Rasmus Sandin – Looked good in his only game, but five minutes is not enough to evaluate.


Goaltending

A- - Jack Campbell – The Leafs backup played excellent in two victories over Ottawa and Calgary before suffering a leg injury on January 24. The club has been quite secretive about his status and has had to lean heavily on Andersen early in the year, something they did not want to do.

B+ - Frederik Andersen – Andersen got off to his traditional sluggish start, but after the Campbell injury has gone 5-1-0 in his last six starts. The Leafs starter leads the NHL with nine wins and has raised his save percentage after being below .900 since the beginning of the season.


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