Toronto Maple Leafs: Don’t Trust Babcock’s Summer Lines
By James Tanner
The Toronto Maple Leafs season ended with a game seven loss to the Bruins.
What followed was some unexpected drama. The Toronto Maple Leafs head coach, Mike Babcock, and their best player, Auston Matthews, according to some members of the media, were in a feud.
There were rumblings and rumours, but it’s Toronto and that’s normal. The only thing that we do know where that whatever was happening, it was enough so that Babcock went to visit Matthews in Arizona after the season.
Is it a big deal? Probably not. But speculation was that Matthews wanted to play more minutes (reasonable) and that he wants to play with Mitch Marner (also reasonable). Sportsnet’s John Shannon reported that the meeting ‘did not go well for Babcock,’ whatever that means.
Shannon - Mike Babcock and Auston Matthews had their meeting in Arizona about the direction of the team moving forward. I keep hearing the meeting didn't go very well from a Babcock perspective.
— WGR 550 (@WGR550) June 7, 2018
To be clear: no one knows what the meeting was about or what, if any, the problems were or are. There is speculation and that is it.
But it’s also easy to see how Matthews would want more ice time. Despite not playing as much total ice time as other centers of his ilk, he’s among the league leaders for goals over the last three years, even though he’s only been in the NHL for two of them.
How many more goals would he have if he started the first power play? Or if he played with Mitch Marner, had two extra minutes of ice time per night?
I doubt there’s anything here, really. Matthews is clearly going to get those extra minutes eventually. If he’s 20 and the best at his job, which he is, he won’t be the first or the last person in such a situation to be frustrated by the slow pace their coach or boss – with the best long term outcome in mind – brings them along slowly.
Tavares
The interesting thing is that when the Toronto Maple Leafs signed John Tavares last weekend, Babcock said that he envisions Tavares on a line with Hyman and Marner.
What I find more interesting, in light of the previous speculation about Matthews wanting to play with Marner, is that everyone just takes Babcock at his word.
If you ready any coverage of the Leafs post Tavares signing, you’d be forgiven for thinking that the line of Hyman-Tavares-Marner was written in stone.
But Mike Babock – and 100% of other NHL coaches and GM’s – regularly say things to the media that don’t end up being true. Even if Babcock meant what he said, it’s the beginning of July. He’s got over two months to think about it before he even has a practice.
Who knows what will happen? One thing I think is pretty obvious is that we shouldn’t take any public words from an NHL coach all that seriously. Mitch Marner and John Tavares might end up being a great combo.
But if Auston Matthews really wants to play with Mitch Marner – that might also happen. The Leafs have an incredible group of forwards and there are probably no wrong combinations. I just don’t think that, in light of all the off ice rumours, we should assume the coach’s publicly pronounced July lines are guaranteed to actually be the lines when October comes.