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Predators @ Leafs - Oct. 6th, 7:00pm - TSN4

I'm not so sure about that but
His 34.3kmh skate up the ice to that goal while carrying a puck (which slows one down some) is currently 7th on the Leafs this season. Everyone's times are slower at the start of the season on NHL edge. That will probably change when the OT skating gets added tonight. It is not amazing or breathtaking and won't even be average by the end of the season. But I'm not ready to declare him a slug yet because I've seen it a few times this season.
He was only 94% in the faceoff dot. It helps if you don't have to face Claude Giroux 6 times (who is probably 2nd or close to it to Bergeron in faceoffs over the last number of years).

The Claude Giroux model is how the Leafs should develop Tavares’ evolution. Which of his strengths are still at a very high level? Lean on that and buttress the rest with his linemates and deployment.

They need to separate Nylander and Tavares. Nylander covers the transition game and feeds him good pucks, but doesn’t really cover Tavares’ actual issues outside the OZ. Leafs have lots of burners now, so a more defensive winger with speed and someone that can still cycle down low is all Tavares needs, even with janky passes. The man has made an Islander career out of taking yucky puck bounces and roofing them. Make his line heavy and chaos-generating, rather than rush oriented and save that Willy firepower for where it can really do damage (with 34)
 
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I agree with Hiller. That is the best game I've seen Matthews play in quite some time.
It wasn't a shot or fancy scoring stuff. He was on a mission in puck battles.
He was really going after it, fought back hard and willed them to win.
 

These are single game reads, and slightly differing models of interpreting the recorded metrics, but the picture painted is relatively consistent. Spread out the skill that was sheltered on the original L2 and make a more balanced top 9.

I like Hiller adjusting to the hot hands, other than curtailing McKenna even though he was really going offensively. Given how they're holding him off a lot of optional skates, I assume McKenna's on some sort of regiment for ramping up his strength and stamina over the course of the season so he doesn't crash into that 40 games played wall that kills the momentum of a lot of rookies.
 
It was good day for Leaf fans.

I need some Matthews laser beams to go in the net before I believe he's back. Some of those drag whips.
 
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These are single game reads, and slightly differing models of interpreting the recorded metrics, but the picture painted is relatively consistent. Spread out the skill that was sheltered on the original L2 and make a more balanced top 9.

I like Hiller adjusting to the hot hands, other than curtailing McKenna even though he was really going offensively. Given how they're holding him off a lot of optional skates, I assume McKenna's on some sort of regiment for ramping up his strength and stamina over the course of the season so he doesn't crash into that 40 games played wall that kills the momentum of a lot of rookies.
That is exactly what I think about the optional skates. He's probably doing weights to increase his strength on that ~164 lb body. Rest is almost as important as the training to repair the little micro tears in his muscles from training. As you say, rest is also important so he doesn't hit the 40 game wall too hard.

I bet line 3 looked a lot different compared to line 2 against the Islanders. Easton Cowan's stats looked pretty good against Montreal as well. We'll see how it goes. We may be facing some sort of reckoning after the road trip. Hope not.
 
We may be facing some sort of reckoning after the road trip. Hope not.

It’s essentially still preseason in terms to getting their legs and brains going, on top a new system and play philosophy. Not time to panic about the luck based results, but they definitely need to bear down on process and make sure their execution rate hits a higher consistency.
 

These are single game reads, and slightly differing models of interpreting the recorded metrics, but the picture painted is relatively consistent. Spread out the skill that was sheltered on the original L2 and make a more balanced top 9.

I like Hiller adjusting to the hot hands, other than curtailing McKenna even though he was really going offensively. Given how they're holding him off a lot of optional skates, I assume McKenna's on some sort of regiment for ramping up his strength and stamina over the course of the season so he doesn't crash into that 40 games played wall that kills the momentum of a lot of rookies.

Does anyone know what accounts for the discrepancy in Jake McCabe's game performance in the two statistical models above?
 
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Does anyone know what accounts for the discrepancy in Jake McCabe's game performance in the two statistical models above?

The first one is just game stats stacked. He was on ice for some suboptimal events.

The second one doesn’t seem to have much weight on PK but gave a chunk of credit for drawing a penalty.
 
It’s essentially still preseason in terms to getting their legs and brains going, on top a new system and play philosophy. Not time to panic about the luck based results, but they definitely need to bear down on process and make sure their execution rate hits a higher consistency.
It is early. Up until this last game, their practice focus has been on defense. So I won't rush into it. But I do not think they did as much to address their defensive issues of last season. That is before they stepped onto a sheet of ice. I believe there is enough offensive talent on this roster to score. They jettisoned a bunch of minus players. We have our fingers crossed Bobrovsky can bounce back - tho his early numbers are very similar to last season ... Hopefully Stolarz can bounce back but he got lit up last night. We have one aged shutdown pair and set of 6 dmen that are not very physical. Top six have defensive lightweights Nylander, Rosolvic & McKenna. Bottom six the jury is out - I'm not very sure yet.

The next two games should be a good test to see how they stack up.
 
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