Toronto Maple Leafs Grading 2017-18 Part 1: Centers

The Toronto Maple Leafs have been eliminated from the Playoffs.

After a disappointing game seven loss at the hands of the Boston Bruins (again), it is easy to get caught up in who was at fault for the collapse in third period. All Toronto Maple Leafs fans wanted better. But unfortunately, it will be another year of waiting for a legitimate playoff run from this up and coming team.

With that said, it’s always beneficial to go back and grade players based on the totality of their season. With 82 regular season games and only seven games in the playoffs, it’s ridiculous to say, “Player X had a bad playoff series, therefore trade him.”

A complete look at trends throughout the season is the only way to evaluate each player.

This will be a six-part series. In which centres, left and right wingers, defenseman, goaltenders, and coaches will all be given grades.

Part one will focus on centres.

Auston Matthews (A+ )

The opponent’s biggest focus each game against Toronto is always Auston Matthews.

His ability to change the angle of his shot at a moments notice may be his greatest individual weapon. After scoring 40 in his rookie year, the 20-year-old American was held to 34 goals, but in only 62 games. Considering he missed one-fourth of the season, ending with 63 points reveals an improvement in consistency.

Matthews had points in 45 of his 62 games this season. That’s compared to 47 of 82 in his rookie campaign. That’s a drastic improvement, showing tremendous growth. In all, Matthews was a major factor in a much higher percentage of games.

Defensively, the Leafs top pivot took great strides. This especially occurred in the face-off circle, where he improved his winning percentage to 54.5% over the previous year’s 46.9%. Plus, last season he started 63% of his draws in the offensive zone. This year, however, Mike Babcock put more faith in Matthews this season making it a 50/50 split between o-zone and d-zone starts.

Barring the injuries, Matthews had a successful regular season. Unfortunately, his two points in the playoffs highlighted that there is still room for growth. He left something to be desired in the series against the Bruins.

Although Matthews did not have a disastrous series, it’s hard not to recognize that he was overshadowed by Boston’s top pivot Patrice Bergeron.

All in all, it was another big step in the right direction to becoming a complete star player in the NHL.

Nazem Kadri (Grade: B+)

With 32 goals, Kadri tied his career high set the year before.

He had the best face-off percentage of his career. And, only two players scored more goals with less ice-time per game. (Patrick Laine and James van Reimsdyk).

The Leafs seventh overall pick in 2009 is given much of the defensive centre responsibilities and continues doing well against the opponents best line. Despite his suspension in the playoffs, his ability to play a more disciplined game was apparent going from 95 to just 42 penalty minutes this season.

Other than being snake bit early on in the regular season, Kadri scored with relative consistency. He was one of Babcock’s favourite centres, trusting him in every situation.

The suspension Kadri received in the playoffs proved detrimental for the Leafs, as they lost two of three without him. As younger players come up through the system and some veteran players leave via free agency, Kadri will be an important beacon of leadership moving forward.

Hopefully, this year’s suspension in the playoffs can be used as a learning opportunity for future playoff runs.

Tyler Bozak (Grade: C+)

With only 11 goals in 81 games, it’s possible that Tyler Bozak’s age has caught up with him.

At 32 years-old, he posted career lows in goals per game, ice time per game, and shooting percentage, while falling to his worst face-off percentage since 2014-15.

The undrafted centre out of the University of Denver shows his recession through other statistical analysis as well.

While his Corsi for did increase from 51.7% to 53.3%, he started ten percent more of his faceoffs in the offensive zone than in 2016-17. His PDO was the highest its been since 2013-14.

The one thing Bozak improved was his ability to score in shootouts, going five for six on the year. The Regina native did manage four points in the playoffs. But, was often the victim of the Bergeron lines match-up game, and therefore fell victim to their deadly cycling ability.

Game seven against the Bruins may have been the last time Bozak suits up for the Maple Leafs. While this season he showed he was slowing down, he was an excellent signing out of college and one of the best undrafted free agents in Toronto Maple Leafs’ history.

Tomas Plekanec (Grade D+)

Yes, he had two goals and two assists in the playoffs. How much of a result of Mitch Marner and Patrick Marleau were those points? How much did Tomas Plekanec really bring to the table for the Leafs? It could be argued that the series wouldn’t have gone to seven games without him, but either way, they lost the series.

The Plekanec experiment was a giant failure.

Plekanec eluded to it himself that he was having a hard time not seeing himself in a Montreal Canadiens uniform. He clearly wasn’t all there until maybe the final four games of the series.

Mike Babcock couldn’t figure out how to use him, and he couldn’t find chemistry with anyone until pairing him with Marner (whom everyone finds chemistry with).

His sample size with the Leafs is too small to point to any advanced statistics in particular. But, it is clear that Plekanec just didn’t work.

Those that say he found a place during the playoffs are wrong. He was supposed to supplement what was already happening. Not having to shove him up way too high in the lineup.