They must think they can resolve lines 2 & 4 without changes in personnel
(EDIT: I'm a little surprised by this ...)
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2026-27 Toronto Maple Leafs General Discussion | Official: Sundin & Chayka to lead front office
- Thread starter herman
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They must think they can resolve lines 2 & 4 without changes in personnel
(EDIT: I'm a little surprised by this ...)
L K
Well-known member
Early returns are that it's not working. I don't understand the love affair of Tavares and Nylander being paired together and having the 3rd winger be a guy who weighs less than a hockey stick doesn't seem like the logical trifecta. It doesn't help that Tavares has been poor in the draw in the early season relative to his usual standards.
herman
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The Marchenko Bet & The Leafs’ Possession Play, Sundin's Push for Bobrovsky, Second-Line Struggles — Maple Leafs Notebook
In the past two seasons, the Maple Leafs barely possessed the puck. Last season, they finished last in 5v5 shot-attempt share. The year they won their division, they finished 29th but were buoyed by excellent goaltending. Over the same period, we can draw a pretty clear parallel between...
mapleleafshotstove.com
YYZ
Well-known member
The coach should be an ipad loaded up with tmltoday.com behind the bench.
Tavares is better at faceoffs and twice the scorer Paul is
Skating speeds between Tavares & Paul are similar.
I'd try to leave what is working alone. Lines 1 & 3 are working
Tavares and Nylander put up a pile of points together last season.
My focus would be to fix that 2nd line short term - to make sure they don't fall into a hole.
Groulx is a 6'2" 202lb left shooting forward (bigger than Cowan) who has played some center so he can help with draws - one of the faster skaters in the franchise (faster than Cowan last season - as many were) coming off a 28 goal AHL season and a good Calder Cup playoff where he scored as many goals as Cowan but played better defensively. He'd be playing like his NHL career depends on it because it does - in a top 6 role like he's played in the AHL & Jr.
McKenna could shift to more strength and conditioning work, engaging in puck battles, etc on the 4th line and maybe be the puck distributor on the #1 PP to help him get some points and confidence.
The only disruption is to the two lines that are not clicking. PK & goaltending have been ok.
They have a spare roster spot. They could audition someone from the Marlies - Wood, Lettieri, Brisson, etc to put some heat on the 4th liners to wake them up or try one of them on line 2.
Skating speeds between Tavares & Paul are similar.
I'd try to leave what is working alone. Lines 1 & 3 are working
Tavares and Nylander put up a pile of points together last season.
My focus would be to fix that 2nd line short term - to make sure they don't fall into a hole.
Groulx is a 6'2" 202lb left shooting forward (bigger than Cowan) who has played some center so he can help with draws - one of the faster skaters in the franchise (faster than Cowan last season - as many were) coming off a 28 goal AHL season and a good Calder Cup playoff where he scored as many goals as Cowan but played better defensively. He'd be playing like his NHL career depends on it because it does - in a top 6 role like he's played in the AHL & Jr.
McKenna could shift to more strength and conditioning work, engaging in puck battles, etc on the 4th line and maybe be the puck distributor on the #1 PP to help him get some points and confidence.
The only disruption is to the two lines that are not clicking. PK & goaltending have been ok.
They have a spare roster spot. They could audition someone from the Marlies - Wood, Lettieri, Brisson, etc to put some heat on the 4th liners to wake them up or try one of them on line 2.
herman
Well-known member
Arn
Well-known member
I think he’ll be fine.
Main issue to me is that he’s just small and light.
Main issue to me is that he’s just small and light.
Arn
Well-known member
Yeah I’d like to see him get more PP1 time just as he’ll have a bit more space and time where that size probably won’t be quite as big an issue. Also hopefully pot him a few points and get a bit of confidence.
Agree he needs to be on a different line, but wouldn’t want to see the third line broken up, so maybe the only option would be to have him ride alongside Matthews and Marchenko who can cover for the defensive side a bit and are also both shooters.
But then I’m not sure Roslovic fits with Tavares and Nylander either and he’s done a decent job with Matthews.
herman
Well-known member
Edit: yo they forgot to edit
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herman
Well-known member
This also forces Willy to tarp on before any post-game remarks
YYZ
Well-known member
I would think the dressing room should be a safe haven for the players. Maybe they have gone to not letting anyone outside of the team into the dressing room. I don't mind it. Let them have their space if it means I get to watch a better team.
Arn
Well-known member
I always felt that thing like that feel a bit cringeworthy outside of a dressing room.
I certainly know from experience that there are certain things in terms of the way you say things, or rituals that feel natural in there but make no sense to real life.
I certainly know from experience that there are certain things in terms of the way you say things, or rituals that feel natural in there but make no sense to real life.
herman
Well-known member
herman
Well-known member
CJ is visual analytics designer behind the All Three Zones tracking project (microstats) that you most commonly see fueling the backend for JFresh's player cards. Corey Sznajder created the project and continues to track for AllThreeZones.com as the data side person.
I'm still digging through this, but it looks and feels incredible
I'm still digging through this, but it looks and feels incredible
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rjd
Well-known member
So after 5 games, it's shaping up to be what I expected. If the Leafs win, it's because someone goes off and has a game. In they lose, their defense breaks down. I think their forward group is pretty good for the most part. Tavares is concerning, as he is handling the puck like a hand grenade at the moment. It's just bouncing off of his stick, and he can't maintain control of it the way that he used to. That goes for the defence as well. They are just throwing pucks where ever in the defensive end when they are under pressure. That's when they have control, half the time they don't have control of it and it's just bouncing all over the place. Long periods of time they are stuck in their own end and they don't really have any purpose when that happens.
I'm a little worried that Matthews awesome game came against a team with weak center depth. He's struggled in the games where the teams have good center depth. He needs to be the best player on the ice, and it seems that if there is a good center on the other team, that just doesn't happen.
I think Tanev and Jake McCabe need to be broken up. Which is good because I think that Raddysh and Rielly need to be broken up as well. OEL and Stetcher are what they are, they are a third pairing.
There is a chance they could get better, if they take better care of the puck, but there is also a chance that this is the team that they are, which is a team that has to rely on either of the goalies standing on their head, or one of Matthews, Nylander, Marchenko, and hopefully at some point, McKenna dominating the game.
We'll see what happens in the next 5 games.
I'm a little worried that Matthews awesome game came against a team with weak center depth. He's struggled in the games where the teams have good center depth. He needs to be the best player on the ice, and it seems that if there is a good center on the other team, that just doesn't happen.
I think Tanev and Jake McCabe need to be broken up. Which is good because I think that Raddysh and Rielly need to be broken up as well. OEL and Stetcher are what they are, they are a third pairing.
There is a chance they could get better, if they take better care of the puck, but there is also a chance that this is the team that they are, which is a team that has to rely on either of the goalies standing on their head, or one of Matthews, Nylander, Marchenko, and hopefully at some point, McKenna dominating the game.
We'll see what happens in the next 5 games.
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I'd like to see some small tinkering. Keep Nylander with Matthews and Marchenko with Tavares for a stretch of games. Mix up the top-4 D pairings. I'd also probably take Groulx off the 4th line. I've always felt like it's tough for one single player to be the lone physical presence on a 4th line, which is why I was originally mildly excited to see both Duhaime and Joshua on the wings there. Maybe give Wood a shot I guess.
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