Toronto Maple Leafs: Fixing the Power-Play In One Move
By James Tanner
The Toronto Maple Leafs have been awful lately.
The Last time the Toronto Maple Leafs won a game in regulation was December 28th. That sounds way worse than it is, since they’ve managed points in five of their last eight games and it’s currently the hockey equivalent of the dog days of summer. It’s a long season, the Leafs are on a learning curve, the roster isn’t set, there’s money, and assets and tons of fun to come. No real need for consternation.
But of course, I’m about to consternate – which, according to this thing’s spell-check, is not, in fact, a real word. Oh well. Here goes:
Auston Matthews and the Power-Play
Matthews is 25th in the NHL with 2.55 points per 60 minutes of ice-time. This stat tends to drop as you get more ice-time, and of the 24 players ahead of Matthews, only three players also skate at least 15 minutes per game (unless noted, all stats 5v5). Those players are Kucherov, McDavid, and Getzlaf – that is some pretty sick company.
More from Editor In Leaf
- Toronto Maple Leafs: Nick Robertson Healthy and Ready
- Ryan Reaves Will Have Zero Impact on Toronto Maple Leafs
- Toronto Maple Leafs: Playing Max Domi In Top-Six a HUGE Mistake
- Top 10 Scandals in the History of the Toronto Maple Leafs
- Toronto Maple Leafs: Results from the Traverse City Prospects Tournament
Matthews is the seventh most used regular-strength centre in the NHL. The problem comes on the power-play where the Leafs are giving away free goals. Matthews is ranked 60th, just among centres, when it comes to minutes per game on the power-play.
The Leafs have four players who get more ice-time per game on the PP than Matthews. Insanely, one of them is Tyler Bozak.
This is the most egregious thing Mike Babcock does, and it makes no sense. You have a player who – in a fairly large sample size – is putting up roughly the same points-per-minute scoring rate as Connor McDavid and a higher one than Sidney Crosby, and the Leafs play Tyler Bozak the most during a time when he gets the advantage of open ice.
HabsFan vs. LeafsFan: S02E22. Link: https://t.co/0ww1ljuqoW. Guests: @OLW93, @baltimoredavey, @James_Tanner123. Roman Polak's new film, the heroism of Carey Price, Babcock's lament, and maudlin Marincin. @kamalrehman10, @FSAWinningHabit, @Puck_Prose, @EditorinLeaf. #Habs #Leafs pic.twitter.com/bCDFmBlgPu
— Ari Shapiro (@ari_shapiro) January 15, 2018
Sometimes I like to imagine all the things people say mean things about to me in the comments, and then I wonder what they’d be like if I wrote a blog that said “The Leafs should play Bozak more than Matthews!” Just a thought!
Conclusion
Play Matthews a lot more on the power-play. The two league leaders in power-play ice-time are Crosby and Malkin, for obvious reasons. The Leafs first power-play should be JVR-Matthews-Nylander with Marner and Rielly at the points. These five guys should play about the first minute and a half of every-powerplay. The only exception should be if they were the guys who drew the penalty. In that case, get the #2 unit out for no more than 30 seconds.
The power-play is free goals. The Leafs are stacked and if they’d lean a little more on their best guys and tried for a little less balance, they’d get instant results. The Leafs currently have the 11th best power-play. There is no reason, with their lineup, for them to not have the best (or second best) power-play in the league.