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Toronto Maple Leafs: The New Mike Babcock

By Patrick Morrison

UNIONDALE, NEW YORK - FEBRUARY 28: Head coach Mike Babcock of the Toronto Maple Leafs speaks with the media prior to the game against the New York Islanders at the NYCB Live's Nassau Coliseum on February 28, 2019 in Uniondale City. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
UNIONDALE, NEW YORK - FEBRUARY 28: Head coach Mike Babcock of the Toronto Maple Leafs speaks with the media prior to the game against the New York Islanders at the NYCB Live's Nassau Coliseum on February 28, 2019 in Uniondale City. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /
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The Toronto Maple Leafs wrapped up their preseason on Saturday  with a 5-0 walloping of Detroit.

One very welcome thing stood out between the benches, this is not the same Toronto Maple Leafs coaching staff we have grown accustomed to.

Pre-season has finally concluded for the Toronto Maple Leafs for the 2019-20 season.

In what was a very exciting couple weeks, fans were treated to a whole raft of talent that could crack the roster for 2019-20.

Toronto Maple Leafs Coaching

Ilya Mikheyev has torn his way onto North American ice and his energy, skill and tenacity were all on show in preseason.

Rasmus Sandin proved that at the tender age of 19 he can be one of the coolest customers with the puck on his stick. Cody Ceci, has shown some of us may not have our finger entirely on the pulse when it comes to player evaluation.

Yet, despite all the excitement surrounding the players, there has been one extremely welcome change that is glowing through from the bench. There appears to be an abundance of new ideas and willingness to try different things from the coaching staff.

Whether or not this is Babcock driven or based on the new hires, it doesn’t matter, there is change in the air.

Mike Babcock has long been considered a coach who chooses declining veterans over NHL ready rookies. This pre-season he tasked 19-year-old Rasmus Sandin with a 30 plus minute game including penalty kill and powerplay to see how he handled it.

Although this is unlikely any of Babcock’s doing, the powerplay changed tactics multiple times, trying new things out each time they went cold. They tested a Reilly and Barrie pairing on the PP, playing Matthews and Marner on their off-sides and moving Tavares back to the front of the net.

One of the Leafs biggest downfalls last year was a faltering powerplay that failed to make changes when teams figured them out. In pre-season alone we have seen a coaching staff that appear to be willing to make changes on the spot if something doesn’t work.

Probably the biggest surprise thus far, Babcock disproved many people’s assumptions on mistakes that they believed would be made come game 1. Some of the more heavily speculated incoming mistakes were:

– Ben Harpur would be in the opening night roster
– Cody Ceci would be on the top pairing
– Babcock wouldn’t give any of the young D-men an opportunity

Of those 3 assumptions, only one proved to be correct. Ben Harpur was placed on waivers before the final pre-season game. Babcock gave Sandin every opportunity to make the team and it appears he has.

Cody Ceci was tasked with minutes paired with Morgan Reilly and although it’s only pre-season, they look good, and that certainly hasn’t been on Morgan alone.

There are still a number of hurdles we are yet to face this season, the most glaring of which is ice time for the big two down the middle. This pre-season, however, has certainly given many of us hope that Mike Babcock and the rest of his staff are more willing than ever to fix something once it’s broken.

Next. 2013 NHL Entry Draft: Where Are They Now?. dark

What has been your biggest surprise of this pre-season and what are you most excited about heading into 2019-20?

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