dappleganger
Active member
princedpw said:
Just wait for an injury. Robertson will get his chance.
2023-24 Toronto Maple Leafs General Discussion
- Thread starter herman
- Start date
Just wait for an injury. Robertson will get his chance.
Florida going 3-6-1 in their last 10 games has put home ice in round 1 back on the table. If the Leafs win their game in hand on the Panthers they will be just 2 points behind (Florida has the tie breaker locked up though). Leafs play Florida once more in game 81 of the season, so it could really just come down to that.
dappleganger
Active member
Bender said:
Gives the Leafs something to play for.
With 47 even strength goals, Matthews is getting into lofty territory in another way.
3 more ESG and he is tied for 10th best season all time (Esposito)
7 more ESG and he is tied for 4th best all time (Gretzky, Kurri when they scored 71, 73 goals)
8 more ESG and he is tied for 3rd best all time (Gretzky, when he scored 87 goals)
3 more ESG and he is tied for 10th best season all time (Esposito)
7 more ESG and he is tied for 4th best all time (Gretzky, Kurri when they scored 71, 73 goals)
8 more ESG and he is tied for 3rd best all time (Gretzky, when he scored 87 goals)
herman
Well-known member
Florida and Boston are both relatively top heavy now, and their success is derived from a fairly committed depth as well as a playstyle that leans on their strengths (also gaming the refs).
The Leafs are similarly configured, but plagued with generations of Leafiness. The last few games since the Devils wake-up call has been promising. Under Keefe, the Leafs have played what I would call aggressive puck possession -- a finesse style game that requires lots of puck holding and slowly picking apart seams in defensive structure. Mitch Marner exemplifies this playstyle. When it's on, it's on. The problem we've seen is come playoffs when space is at a premium and you have one dedicated opponent picking over your play patterns with a finetooth comb every day, and the refs call fewer of the body-positioning calls, this playstyle is just kind of easy to disrupt. The mental load and onus was placed on the offensive players to try to break down defenses and put in goals or else the team was dead in the water when we get burned on our own inevitable mistakes.
Prior to and after the Florida matchup, Keefe remarked about being more direct, pucks to the net, playoff style hockey. It's about time we made this adjustment. The Leafs are more patient and supportive of their flawed defense with forwards checking back responsibly, and it frees them up to capitalize on the other team's mistakes. Sort of like playing PK style the whole game. Save the aggressive puck possession for the power play. We can beat them with depth scoring if we adhere to a more conservative approach at 5v5, especially if there is no real need to stack line 1/2 to try to over power their matchups.
The Leafs are similarly configured, but plagued with generations of Leafiness. The last few games since the Devils wake-up call has been promising. Under Keefe, the Leafs have played what I would call aggressive puck possession -- a finesse style game that requires lots of puck holding and slowly picking apart seams in defensive structure. Mitch Marner exemplifies this playstyle. When it's on, it's on. The problem we've seen is come playoffs when space is at a premium and you have one dedicated opponent picking over your play patterns with a finetooth comb every day, and the refs call fewer of the body-positioning calls, this playstyle is just kind of easy to disrupt. The mental load and onus was placed on the offensive players to try to break down defenses and put in goals or else the team was dead in the water when we get burned on our own inevitable mistakes.
Prior to and after the Florida matchup, Keefe remarked about being more direct, pucks to the net, playoff style hockey. It's about time we made this adjustment. The Leafs are more patient and supportive of their flawed defense with forwards checking back responsibly, and it frees them up to capitalize on the other team's mistakes. Sort of like playing PK style the whole game. Save the aggressive puck possession for the power play. We can beat them with depth scoring if we adhere to a more conservative approach at 5v5, especially if there is no real need to stack line 1/2 to try to over power their matchups.
Arn
Active member
I really do like this idea
https://theathletic.com/5392201/2024/04/05/maple-leafs-marner-nylander/?source=user_shared_article
Basically
Bertuzzi Matthews Domi
XXX Nylander Marner
XXX Tavares McMann
With Marner?s Selke level defence covering for Nylander at centre.
I like the balance it brings and how difficult it would make match ups for the opposition
https://theathletic.com/5392201/2024/04/05/maple-leafs-marner-nylander/?source=user_shared_article
Basically
Bertuzzi Matthews Domi
XXX Nylander Marner
XXX Tavares McMann
With Marner?s Selke level defence covering for Nylander at centre.
I like the balance it brings and how difficult it would make match ups for the opposition
herman
Well-known member
I would do this to ease Marner back in. He has a sneaky underrated shot that he doesn't use when he's on the ice with Matthews/Tavares (for good reason), but there will be no such compunctions in an L3 overmatch situation.
Bertuzzi-Matthews-Domi
McMann-Tavares-Nylander
Knies-Holmberg-Marner
Dewar-Kampf-Reaves
A bit reminiscent of the HBK line that Pittsburgh rolled out to 2 Cups when all their opponents' defensive efforts had to be focused on Crosby/Malkin. Also open to swapping Nylander/Marner as needed, and Domi/Holmberg.
Just double shift Marner with Matthews on DZ draws; still need to slap in Jarnkrok at some point and that might be dropping Reaves after he throws down in game 1, depending on how his recovery is going.
Bertuzzi-Matthews-Domi
McMann-Tavares-Nylander
Knies-Holmberg-Marner
Dewar-Kampf-Reaves
A bit reminiscent of the HBK line that Pittsburgh rolled out to 2 Cups when all their opponents' defensive efforts had to be focused on Crosby/Malkin. Also open to swapping Nylander/Marner as needed, and Domi/Holmberg.
Just double shift Marner with Matthews on DZ draws; still need to slap in Jarnkrok at some point and that might be dropping Reaves after he throws down in game 1, depending on how his recovery is going.
Arn
Active member
The main takeaway for me is that Matthews Bertuzzi Domi line seems to be working. Matthews (a bit like Sundin back in the day) should prosper almost with whoever.
That allows more depth behind him spreading Marner/Tavares/Nylander over a couple of lines.
Then if you need to load up and stick marner back with Matthews you know you have that option.
I guess this has been made possible by Bertuzzi and Domi really beginning to contribute. Which is why we got them for depth.
That allows more depth behind him spreading Marner/Tavares/Nylander over a couple of lines.
Then if you need to load up and stick marner back with Matthews you know you have that option.
I guess this has been made possible by Bertuzzi and Domi really beginning to contribute. Which is why we got them for depth.
herman
Well-known member
Arn said:
Yeah, that was the hope in the offseason when we picked them up. Matthews is going to get significant defensive attention, and be relied on to zero-out the line he's matched against. If he can do it with effectively with secondary wingers like 59/11/19 and hold Pastrnak/Point/Kucherov mostly off the board during 5v5, then you have a recipe for cooking the opposing depth with Tavares/Nylander/Marner + Knies/McMann etc. at 5v5, which would mitigate our PP foibles.
https://twitter.com/jonassiegel/status/1776279122668331303
bustaheims
Active member
CarltonTheBear said:
Those are practically herman's lines!
I still really don't love Holmberg at 3C but I guess we're kinda just stuck with it now.