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Tyler Bozak: An Asset To The Toronto Maple Leafs?

By Luke Ryan |

Its early days in this new NHL season but Maple Leafs center, Tyler Bozak, isn’t letting that slow him down.

The Regina native has upped his game in the early part of this season; the hope is the injury suffered against Columbus won’t slow him down.

Current reports, as seen on National Post sports reporter, David Alter’s Twitter feed suggest the injury may be a little worse than first expected:

Either way, Tyler Bozak makes for an interesting case study.

It’s been continually questioned why he remains with the Maple Leafs organisation; in fact, when his good friend Phil Kessel was shipped to Pittsburgh, Bozak was widely tipped to be next on the block.

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This year is about him performing to the best of his ability in the hopes of shipping him near trade deadline, one would assume. He is currently entrusted with decent power play minutes, and as a result sees solid ice-time.

The Maple Leafs can certainly hope that he re-finds the form of last year, where he ranked third among Leafs skaters with 49 points. Breaking the 50 point barrier may be a stretch too far with the current line-up, but it should no less remain a season goal for Tyler Bozak.

Mike Babcock was more than happy with his development (yes, players can still develop at age 29) in training camp, stating in an interview with the Toronto Sun:

“He’s worked hard this summer, he’s ready to go, we’re going to make him a better player. He’s going to play with way more pace and be a 200-footer going each way.I like the plays he makes, his hockey sense. It’s no different than with Nazem Kadri (trying to stay at least as second-line center after his own struggles last year).” (Toronto Sun)

This has been reflected in his game play five games into the year. He has upped his face-off winning percentage and now anchors the team in that department:

[table id=109 /]

Obviously, its early days and these stats may drop off as he plays more games, but the rule change off the draw seems to have been favorable to Bozak in particular. Tyler Bozak was continually singled out as not being a team player last season, based purely on advanced statistics. This can hardly be seen to be the case this year, with his face-off wins actually being a driver to the new possession style of hockey that Babcock is trying to bed in.

The biggest challenge now, as with many of the Maple Leafs roster, will be to maintain early season form despite the losses starting to stack up.

What do you think? Has Tyler Bozak impressed you thus far? Or is he purely meeting expectations?

Tell me what you think in the comments section below.

Next: Maple Leafs Takeaways: Signs Of Improvement

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