The Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Pittsburgh Penguins last night.
The Toronto Maple Leafs have won four of their last five games. They have played one less game than the Canadiens, and have a nine point lead on the fourth place team in the Atlantic (i.e the team that would have to pass them to force them to a wild-card position). So things are going well.
But more specifically, things are going well for Frederik Andersen. The Leafs goalie is on absolute fire and he could arguably win the Hart Trophy if the season ended today. The team in front of him would likely not even be in a playoff spot right now if they hadn’t gotten Vezina-Level goaltending.
And with one of the deepest rosters in the NHL, that’s on Mike Babcock.
Mike Babcock
Coach Babcock is unanimously considered one of the three best hockey coaches in the world. He is respected on a level usually reserved for players like Sidney Crosby – essentially he’s a “star” coach and a celebrity. Even in hockey-mad Canada, that’s a rare thing for a coach.
The Leafs and their fans were so excited to get Babcock over the Sabres, that he’s been considered close to infallible up to this point. As a hockey writer, I’ll question the coach’s moves, but it doesn’t mean I think I’m smarter than him, or that I know better. The most likely thing is I just don’t understand the motivation behind his thinking.
So let’s give him the benefit of the doubt. He clearly knows what he’s doing, and I’m sure he has a long-term plan in mind that would make sense if he deigned to explain it to people (he won’t ).
While I think Nylander on the fourth line is pretty dumb, and Polak in the lineup over Carrick preposterous, Babcock has earned the right to do what he wants.
But that doesn’t mean he knows everything. It doesn’t mean he can’t be questioned. Or, and hear me out here: openly criticized.
Nylander
William Nylander – if not for the presence of Auston Matthews – would be the cornerstone of the Toronto Maple Leafs. He’d be their franchise player.
Sure, he’s had an unlucky season, and sure, it’s OK to try to get him going by trying him out on different lines. But what happened last night was not OK.
Playing – or embarrassing – the second most important player on your team for under 9 minutes is completely unacceptable. It would be one thing if Nylander was playing badly. But he isn’t. He has a low shooting percentage, which has cut badly into his goal scoring, but otherwise, he’s near the top of the league in all of the peripheral stats. If you go by scoring chances, shots generated, possession or whatever, Nylander is having a very good season. But he can’t buy a goal.
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He doesn’t need to be punished, motivated or “woken up.” Anchoring him to the bench for the entire third period is unacceptable. If any other coach did this, there would be outrage. If the team wasn’t dining out on a career season from it’s goaltender, Babcock might find out how fast this market can turn on someone – anyone.
This is, afterall, the market that turned on Pat Burns and Doug Gilmour. It’s the market that bailed on three of the most beloved players in its franchise history (Kaberle, Tucker and Sundin) for refusing to be moved to make way for a rebuild.
Process > Results
It’s all good if the Leafs are winning. But it shouldn’t matter – embarrassing your star player with a nine minute game just isn’t cool. William Nylander, and the Leafs fans all deserve better.
And yeah, I know the Leafs won. But you can’t blindly chase results. Process matters. The Maple Leafs barely beat a tired team playing their third best goalie, and they probably didn’t deserve to. I know I’m not a professional coach, but playing your best players might help you play better.
Next: Another Reason to Question the Coach
The Maple Leafs are begging for regression. Andersen has helped them avoid a season-ruining slide, and it’s up to Babcock to prevent the team from going down the toilet once Andersen goes back to being his normal self (he’s good, but he isn’t Sergei Bobrovsky and he’s never going to be).
William Nylander playing just over eight minutes is a joke, and Babcock deserves the heat he’s getting for it.