Coach Mike Babcock

[CarltonTheBear]

One thing about this season is that they'll have a fair bit of cap space, at least it looks like so right now, and that could bode well for picking up a d-man at the deadline, or even a backup goalie if they think Sparks isn't going to cut it.

I've seen the idea of acquiring a defenceman at the deadline brought up a few times now, so I figured I'd go over the defencemen who are currently on expiring contacts this season:

Erik Karlsson: not getting traded
Tyler Myers: probably not getting traded
Jay Bouwmeester: lefty, probably not getting traded
Alexander Edler: might get traded, but is a lefty
Zdeno Chara: not getting traded
Marc Methot: lefty, probably not getting traded
Niklas Kronwall: lefty, bad, avoid
Anton Stralman: not getting traded
Jake Gardinder: we have him
Brayden Coburn/Dan Girardi/Adam McQuaid/Carl Gunnarsson/Ben Lovejoy: not going to solve any of our problems

 

[cabber24]

One thing about this season is that they'll have a fair bit of cap space, at least it looks like so right now, and that could bode well for picking up a d-man at the deadline, or even a backup goalie if they think Sparks isn't going to cut it.

I've seen the idea of acquiring a defenceman at the deadline brought up a few times now, so I figured I'd go over the defencemen who are currently on expiring contacts this season:

Erik Karlsson: not getting traded
Tyler Myers: probably not getting traded
Jay Bouwmeester: lefty, probably not getting traded
Alexander Edler: might get traded, but is a lefty
Zdeno Chara: not getting traded
Marc Methot: lefty, probably not getting traded
Niklas Kronwall: lefty, bad, avoid
Anton Stralman: not getting traded
Jake Gardinder: we have him
Brayden Coburn/Dan Girardi/Adam McQuaid/Carl Gunnarsson/Ben Lovejoy: not going to solve any of our problems

I have done this exercise as well and have Boumeester circled on my list. Ideal rental candidate. Hopefully, STL is not in a playoff run and he becomes available.

 

[disco]

https://twitter.com/51Leafs/status/1151587691651391490
"what? brown cow and patty gone? real gud men. Zaity... cream your sugar!"

 

[disco]

I don't think anyone can argue the Leafs have two #1-calibre lines consisting of multiple superstars that are at least average defensively. The quote a few weeks ago when asked about ice-time Babs responded that "about 19 minutes is the sweet spot for Auston". Keep in mind that's WITH powerplay time.

I think the average for a top line in the League is 22 minutes. Auston and JT's lines playing this much means an extra SIX minutes of a top line being on the ice. That's not insignificant. Especially in a big game. Everyone gave him a pass in the regular season since the Leafs were basically locked into their spot at Christmas. But if Babs doesn't ride his two #1 lines more often next year and they don't go far I think he's gone.

For the record I think Babs has done a superb job nursing this young talent along, getting their defensive game improved, stamping out bad habits, all of it. I was always 100% with Babs from the start, but I have pause with this one. And I think the brain-trust does too.

 

[CarltonTheBear]

I think the average for a top line in the League is 22 minutes. Auston and JT's lines at that means an extra SIX minutes on the ice every game that a top line is on the ice.

Last season just 7 forwards averaged more than 22 minutes a game. And I'm not saying that there's a direct connection between the two but 6 of those forwards didn't make the playoffs, and the 7th (MacKinnon) just barely got in. The season before that it was just 2.

 

[disco]

I think the average for a top line in the League is 22 minutes. Auston and JT's lines at that means an extra SIX minutes on the ice every game that a top line is on the ice.

Last season just 7 forwards averaged more than 22 minutes a game. And I'm not saying that there's a direct connection between the two but 6 of those forwards didn't make the playoffs, and the 7th (MacKinnon) just barely got in. The season before that it was just 2.

The centers of McDavid, Barkov, Kopitar, Couturier, MacKinnon and Draisaitl all played at least 22 minutes last year. Crosby, Toews, Giroux, Larkin and Schiefle averaged at least 21 minutes.

 

[herman]

I know people were griping about Matthews' ice time for game 7, but weren't the shift counts about the same between Tavares and Matthews? The only reason his minutes came out shorter were Matthews' shift lengths were tighter. Tavares still had the Bergeron assignment operating with only half a Hyman so naturally those shifts dragged longer.

 

[herman]

I think the average for a top line in the League is 22 minutes. Auston and JT's lines at that means an extra SIX minutes on the ice every game that a top line is on the ice.

Last season just 7 forwards averaged more than 22 minutes a game. And I'm not saying that there's a direct connection between the two but 6 of those forwards didn't make the playoffs, and the 7th (MacKinnon) just barely got in. The season before that it was just 2.

The centers of McDavid, Barkov, Kopitar, Couturier, MacKinnon and Draisaitl all played at least 22 minutes last year. Crosby, Toews, Giroux, Larkin and Schiefle averaged at least 21 minutes.

Outside of Scheifele (and sort of Crosby, but not really due to injury), I think it's safe to say all those teams were 1 line + poop.

 

[CarltonTheBear]

The centers of McDavid, Barkov, Kopitar, Couturier, MacKinnon and Draisaitl all played at least 22 minutes last year. Crosby, Toews, Giroux, Larkin and Schiefle averaged at least 21 minutes.

I know. But you said top lines average 22 minutes a night. They just don't. That's the very high end of the spectrum. Also you listed 11 players there, just 3 of them were on playoff teams this past season.

Tampa's top trio played 18-20 minutes.
Calgary's played 19-20.
Boston's played 18-20.
Washington's played 18-21* (Because Ovi plays a ton of PP, otherwise it'd be 18-20).
New York's played 17-18.
San Jose's played 18-19.
Toronto's played 18-20.
Nashville's played 18-20.
Pittsburgh's played 19-21.
Winnipeg's played 19-22.

Those are the top 10 teams in the league. Toronto really isn't out of place there.

I'm all for arguing that Matthews/Tavares should have been out there every other shift in Game 7, sure. But Babcock saying they should be in the 18-19 minute range in the regular season is completely reasonable especially on a good team with depth.

 

[disco]

Fair enough, I didn't realize the top lines on top teams were so similar in ice-time. Keep it to the playoffs then. Even a two minute increase for these lines would be, in my opinion, an advantage worth being exploited. Especially considering the drop-off between the Leafs top six and bottom six.

 

[Chris]

I know people were griping about Matthews' ice time for game 7, but weren't the shift counts about the same between Tavares and Matthews? The only reason his minutes came out shorter were Matthews' shift lengths were tighter.

I recall someone posting stats that confirmed this. I also remember watching game 7 and thinking that Matthews was often the first to leave the ice on his line. Made me wonder if he was dealing with some kind of nagging injury. Maybe those screws in his leg were bothering him.

 

[herman]

https://www.thepointhockey.com/did-auston-matthews-lack-of-ice-time-have-more-to-do-with-the-player-than-the-coach/

 

[Kin]

I feel like stating things just in raw minutes per game is a bit misleading. Couturier, for instance, is getting 2 and a half minutes of PK time a night. If your stars aren't on the PK, they won't eat time like that.

Likewise, as we all know, the Leafs had some of the fewest PP opportunities in the league last year and had the 4th best goal differential. That means they had less PP time driving up their stars minutes and were one of the most likely teams to have enough of a lead in the third to rest their guys a bit.

 

[Phileas Fogg]

Another thought from Justin Bourne (I'm a fan of his logic) that came up last week on 590 - in his opinion, Matthews has the ability to crank it up to 110%, a level that no one on this ice can match, but he can't do it playing big minutes, due to his size and the fact he plays more of a power game. He thought his utilization in game 7 reflected a logical approach from babcock, and I'd certainly agree.

 

[disco]

Rumour is Dubas went to the brass in April for the change and was met with "give it one more year". I'm finally leaning heavily, as Dubas is apparently, to get this change out of the way sooner rather than later. Babcock is a great coach but enhancing strengths instead of minimizing weaknesses might be what this team needs right now. A fresh perspective. Someone not so risk averse. The young core have only heard his voice for 3 years now. They've definitely got the horses to be much better than .500, which they've been since January. And I'm not going to pile on the players, like Button and Burke have done recently.

https://twitter.com/Steve_Dangle/status/1187202438694088704

 

[OldTimeHockey]

And I'm not going to pile on the players, like Button and Burke have done recently.

So it's all on the coach? A .500 record with three $11 million dollar players on the ice for most of those games and it's on the coach?

 

[Guilt Trip]

And I'm not going to pile on the players, like Button and Burke have done recently.

So it's all on the coach? A .500 record with three $11 million dollar players on the ice for most of those games and it's on the coach?

Defensive systems are on the coach and the Leafs' system is still crap. That's coaching. Leafs issues aren't solely on Babs but he's not exempt from blame.

 

[OldTimeHockey]

And I'm not going to pile on the players, like Button and Burke have done recently.

So it's all on the coach? A .500 record with three $11 million dollar players on the ice for most of those games and it's on the coach?

Defensive systems are on the coach and the Leafs' system is still crap. That's coaching. Leafs issues aren't solely on Babs but he's not exempt from blame.

I'm not letting Babcock off the hook. The poster I quoted let the players off though. That's what I took exception with.
There's also something that I tell the players I've been coaching for 20 years now. I, as a coach can only show you the way. You as a player have to decide whether or not you want it bad enough to put in the work.

 

[Guilt Trip]

And I'm not going to pile on the players, like Button and Burke have done recently.

So it's all on the coach? A .500 record with three $11 million dollar players on the ice for most of those games and it's on the coach?

Defensive systems are on the coach and the Leafs' system is still crap. That's coaching. Leafs issues aren't solely on Babs but he's not exempt from blame.

I'm not letting Babcock off the hook. The poster I quoted let the players off though. That's what I took exception with.
There's also something that I tell the players I've been coaching for 20 years now. I, as a coach can only show you the way. You as a player have to decide whether or not you want it bad enough to put in the work.

I don't think he let them off. He just said he isn't going to pile on the players like Burke and Button have but I get your point. I've coached a long time as well and I've always been all about the effort.

 

[Kin]

I'm always amazed by the sheer number of people who will attribute what's going wrong with a professional hockey team to either an easily identifiable and fixable tactical problem or a conscious decision on the part of players to play poorly.

Seriously. Millions and millions of dollars are at stake here and people think the collective group running the Leafs can't see what they gleaned through their copious brilliance picked up at beer league and minor midget.