5 Ways to Make the Toronto Maple Leafs a Better Hockey Team
The Toronto Maple Leafs are not off to the start of the season we hoped that they would have.
In the summer, the Toronto Maple Leafs made one huge move, and added approximately 46 depth players.
It was thought that this would give them a roster that was among the most talented in the NHL, while also being one of the deepest.
This still might be true, but the team isn’t playing in a satisfying way.
A 7-5-3 record is not what we were hoping for to this point.
Yes the schedule has been brutal (at one point they played 3 x back-to-backs in 12 days).
Yes the injuries have been brutal (with the back-to-backs, they played several games without four regular core players).
And yes, through it all, they’ve actually put up some half-decent peripheral numbers and are maybe not getting the results they deserve.
It is definitely a complex problem (they’re better than their record, and at the same time, maddeningly inconsistent) without an easy answer or narrative.
Take Auston Matthews – he’s on pace for 60 goals, he’s one of the NHL’s leading puck-possession forwards, and some how he leaves you wanting more. It’s like, he’s one of the best players in the NHL at 80% and you wonder, even if it’s not fair, what kind of gaudy numbers he could put up if he took over games more often.
I tend to think he plays in a way that makes it look easy – think Mats Sundin – so he always puts up results that outperform the eye-test of the effort you think you’re getting.
Either way, I digress: here’s the five ways that the Toronto Maple Leafs can improve. (Short of doing this, anyways).
#5 A New Top Pairing
Cody Ceci is not a top pairing defenseman. Using him as one is insanity.
There isn’t a single analyst working the NHL – sycophants not included – that can give you a reasonable explanation for Cody Ceci not only playing with Morgan Rielly, but being hard-matched against some of the NHL’s best players.
Gap control. Decision making. Breakout passing. You name it, and Cody Ceci doesn’t do it at a level warranting his position on the team.
I will give him this: he is an excellent penalty killer.
But his game does not complement Rielly’s. He has done nothing to earn his job. Babcock said he was a top-four player the day he was acquired, despite the fact he had some of the worst statistics in the NHL.
And so, Babcock just gave him a role on the Leafs, and it made no sense and it still doesn’t.
Justin Holl has earned a promotion to the top line.
Travis Dermott would be a great partner for Morgan Rielly.
Rasmus Sandin is a better player than Cody Ceci.
Jordan Schmaltz can move the puck and might do an OK job there.
Tyson Barrie and Morgan Rielly would be a dream combo, would the coach decide to on a strategy that actually fit his roster.
Anyways, the best thing Cody Ceci can be used for is to clear the cap space to get Hyman back in the lineup. He needs to taken off his current role, as it isn’t fair to the team, the player or the fans to continue to run him out there like this.
#4 Get Healthy
It’s easy to get frustrated with the Toronto Maple Leafs when they can barely scrape by the lowly Flyers when they just played the night before.
It’s easy to get frustrated when the team isn’t it’s high-flying self, or when they blow leads, fail to start on time etc.
But one thing we need to remember is that this team hasn’t played a full game with their full roster since the 2017-18 season.
For most of their games this year, they’ve been missing Travis Dermott, John Tavares and Zach Hyman.
That’s two-thirds of their top line, and the only defenseman they have that is a) familiar with the system because he hasn’t been recently acquired b) capable of playing both sides of the ice c) good at defense d) worthy of a top-four role.
But missing Tavares is a huge blow. He’s one of the best all-round players in the NHL, and he forces coaches to either put their best defenders on against him or Auston Matthews.
His presence makes the Toronto Maple Leafs the deepest team in hockey at the most important position – centre ice.
Dermott is back, and both Tavares and Hyman are going to be playing soon. Once the Leafs are healthy, look out.
#3 Unleash Tyson Barrie
The Toronto Maple Leafs made an astoundingly good trade to acquire two quality NHL players for one. In addition, the Leafs genius GM somehow got the Avalanche to retain half of Barrie’s salary.
It was a great trade, but it’s being sabotaged by stupidity.
If there is one thing we know about Mike Babock, it’s if you give him a Ferrari, he’ll take it off-roading and then try to use it transport a quart of firewood.
What he is doing with Tyson Barrie should be against the law.
You need to unleash this thoroughbred and let him play like the fourth forward he is.
You don’t shackle Barrie and force him to play into a system designed to prevent goals instead of scoring them.
You give him the keys to the team and tell him to go nuts.
Tyson Barrie has a much better shot that Morgan Rielly. He should probably get some time on the team’s top unit.
But beyond that, Tyson Barrie should get more ice time with the big boys, and have the freedom to roam.
On the TSN broadcast earlier in the week there was a graphic showing that Tyson Barrie last year at this time had 11 slot-shots to the zero he has so far on the Leafs.
UNLEASH THE BEAST.
#2 Fix the Power-Play
The Toronto Maple Leafs power-play has been a disappointment for over a year now.
Their big fix this year was switching Matthews and Marner so they could do one-timers.
Only problem: I have a better shot than Mitch Marner, and Matthews has the best shot in the world, and doesn’t need to do one-timers.
Sure, switch them up occasionally for a different look – one of the keys to Game Theory is to keep your opponent guessing by throwing in a non-optimal play occasionally – but don’t make it your go-to.
The true problem with the Toronto Maple Leafs power play is – you guessed it – the coaching.
If you were always going to switch the power-play units at the one-minute mark, why on earth would you load up one of them with your 5 best players?
It’s one of the many things that makes no sense about this Mike Babcock coached team.
The Leafs could take a lesson from Ovechkin – and I’m not talking about his trite, narrative friendly talking points – I’m talking about the fact that he plays basically 100% of his team’s power-play minutes.
When the Leafs have a power-play, they should have one goal: get Auston the puck. Stop with the Morgan Rielly floaters from the point. Stop trying to thread the needle for a backdoor tap in.
Just. Get. The. Damn. Puck. To. Auston.
And leave the guy on the ice for the entire two minutes.
It’s not rocket science.
“Give your player the best chance to succeed” is not a difficult concept to grasp.
And while we’re fixing the power-play, stop wasting time with the drop pass entries. Give the puck to Nylander and let him carry it over the line and set up the play 75% of the time. The other 25% of the time, just dump it in (to keep them honest).
Move Matthews back to his old spot. Put Tavares in front of the net. Let Nyladner be the QB, and use Barrie’s shot to keep them honest.
Let Marner roam the zone trying to get open.
It’s the most simple thing you could do: put Marner, Matthews, Nylander, Tavares and Barrie out on the ice for two minutes, and make getting Matthews the puck the top priority.
My grandmother could improve the Leafs current power-play. Jeez.
#1 Get a New Coach
The list of Mike Babcock problems is long:
- Often over-coaches (see line matching the Blue Jackets in OT)
- Doesn’t trust his best players. (see Shore taking defensive draws in OT).
- The power-play is brutally constructed (see above).
- Is supposed to be a motivational genius, but his team never starts on time, regularly blow leads, and often look listless and like they aren’t trying.
- Often out-coached (When Tampa loaded up one line to compensate for the Leafs superior depth, Babcock let that line destroy him and didn’t match it with a 3 x superstar line of his own).
- His goalie pulls are often wacky and wrong.
- Players don’t seem to like playing for him.
- When an opponent criticizes his best players, he agrees with the opponent.
- Doesn’t give stars the chance to be creative and unstructured.
- Doesn’t play his stars enough.
- Stubbornly sticks to his ideas when they are clearly terrible and not working (Ceci on top pairing).
- Doesn’t coach the team he has, but rather the team he wishes he had.
- Trolls the GM in the media.
- Doesn’t give players like Nick Shore a chance.
- Still can’t believe he benched Spezza in game one.
The main problem with Mike Babcock is that the Leafs have assembled a high-flying team of offensive superstars, and he just doesn’t coach the team in a way that compliments the players he has.
The Leafs are desperate for someone who’s vision aligns with that of the GM’s. Kyle Dubas is the best thing that ever happened to this franchise, but to fully take advantage of his vision, the Leafs need someone in charge who is going to implement that on the ice.
What they don’t need is a guy who uses Cody Ceci has his “top shut-down guy” when Jake Muzzin is available.
Next. Coaching Change and Rental Trades. dark
What they don’t need is a guy who undercuts Auston Matthews growth and development by making Nick Shore take faceoffs in the defensive zone, or hiding him from the Blue Jackets best line.
Nothing could be more obvious than the fact that the Toronto Maple Leafs need a new coach.