Analyzing Babcock’s 3rd Season with the Toronto Maple Leafs

Toronto Maple Leafs coach Mike Babcock has taken a lot of criticism throughout this season regarding the decisions he’s made.

When the Toronto Maple Leafs signed Mike Babcock to a long term lucrative deal, Leafs fans knew good times were ahead. His first two seasons with the team were highly successful in their own way. In his first season, Babcock altered the Leafs’ terrible possession ratings while giving his young promising players, like Nazem Kadri and Morgan Rielly, big roles to prepare them for the future. In his second season, he lead a young talented group to a playoff appearance using strict player deployment, which was tailored to his players’ strengths and weaknesses.

This season the expectation was different. Fans expected the Toronto Maple Leafs to compete with the league’s elite due to them having one of the best forward groups on paper. For the majority of the season, the Leafs have been comfortably sitting in a playoff spot, allowing Babcock to play around with his lineups. This has lead to many Leafs fans questioning these decisions and wondering whether these changes were permanent or “part of a larger plan”. With that being said, the time for experimentation is over and for the first time in months, Mike Babcock is going to be forced to deploy his players in the most effective way to win.

In this article, we will look at some of the major storylines Babcock has received criticism for and how he has handle them throughout the season.