Toronto Maple Leafs: Evaluating Alexander Kerfoot So Far
The Toronto Maple Leafs signed Alexander Kerfoot to a 4-year contract over the summer.
The Toronto Maple Leafs acquired Alexander Kerfoot in a deal with the Colorado Avalanche over the summer. The deal that also saw Tyson Barrie come in and “persona non grata” Nazem Kadri walking the other way, could easily be called Kyle Dubas’s best move over the summer.
Not long after Kerfoot signed a 4-year contract with a total value of $14 million ($3.5 million annually). With Kerfoot signed for a million-dollar less annually compared to Kadri, the Toronto Maple Leafs were able to create the cap-space to extend Johnsson, Kapanen and Marner.
Comparing both players, they’ve put up similar numbers last year; 44 points for Kadri vs. 42 points for Kerfoot. Kadri having the advantage 5v5 with 29 vs 22 points and Kerfoot having the advantage on the man advantage with 16 vs 13 points (courtesy of naturalstattrick).
With the new season underway, last years results don’t count anymore, so let’s take a look on at how Kerfoot is doing with the Toronto Maple Leafs so far.
Alexander Kerfoot
(Stats current before last night’s game).
Tallying seven points in 13 games, Kerfoot is off to a good start in Toronto. Centring the Leafs third-line that has been surprisingly good thus far with Ilya Mikheyev and Trevor Moore on his wings.
The underlying numbers confirm his strong start in Toronto, with his extremely good possession rating of 54.5% and a Fenwick For rating of 53.2%. Both indicating how dominating Kerfoot’s line has been on the ice. Kerfoot being on the ice for 12 goals scored during 5v5 (ranking third on the team) is not a mere coincidence.
With these numbers, it would be insane if Kerfoot’s point-pace didn’t improve from the already impressive 44 point-pace he’s on.
When further comparing him to his illustrious predecessor, Kerfoot numbers are also in his favour. For example, Kadri’s possession rating and Fenwick For rating were 53.2% and 50.5% (after 73 GP) and while Kerfoot has only played 13 games so far, he’s been posting better numbers.
It’s because of Kerfoot’s strong on-ice performance that Babcock opted to play him on the second-line instead in the absence of Tavares instead of moving Nylander to centre.
Points of improvement
Kerfoot’s vision in the offensive zone and his ability to make a play, already make him a valuable addition to Toronto’s roster. Nevertheless, there are areas to Kerfoot game that needs improvement for him to become even more complete.
One area of his game, in particular, that could use improvement is in the faceoff circle. With a current faceoff percentage of 46.2% at 5v5, he ranks last on the team among everyone who’s at least taken 5 faceoffs.
If Kerfoot’s faceoffs improve in combination with his shutdown game, he would give Babcock another good option on the penalty kill.
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Nonetheless, it’s evident Dubas orchestrated a brilliant move by trading for Kerfoot. Not only did he rid Toronto of the player that harmed the team during their last two playoff campaigns, but he also managed to down-size the cap weight of the third-line, freeing the way for Toronto’s top two lines to make more minutes.