L K
Active member
The Leafs are the #1 team in scoring in the NHL (3.38 goals/game) just ahead of Tampa (3.36). Their powerplay is decent (20.4%) but sits 12th in the league. Short of adding one of those near PPG style defensemen who rack up points, I think the Leafs power-play could really benefit from a shake-up of the 2nd unit.
Honestly, my approach is not a surprising one, but it would be to simply kick Clarkson off the power-play. Playing him in a position where he doesn't add anything to the team just brings down the effectiveness of the unit overall. It would make more sense to put Kadri back on the 2nd unit and have him lined up with Lupul and either Holland or Santorelli, if not a consideration for Komarov or Panik if you insist on playing with a guy sitting in front of the net.
To be honest, I think that screening player is highly overrated as the Leafs really don't rely on point-shots to try and score goals. They spend more time taking shots from the half-boards or feeding passes down low for quick shots/deflections. Having Clarkson standing near the net where he can't feed the puck to anyone really turns the power-play more into a 4 on 4.5 type of situation because of how rarely they take shots from the point.
| Player | PPG | PPA | PP-TOI | PPP/60 | ||||
| Bozak | 6 | 4 | 99:18 | 6.04 | ||||
| Clarkson | 1 | 0 | 65:01 | 0.92 | ||||
| Holland | 0 | 1 | 28:23 | 2.11 | ||||
| Kadri | 0 | 2 | 75:47 | 1.58 | ||||
| Kessel | 4 | 7 | 107:24 | 6.15 | ||||
| Lupul | 2 | 1 | 41:17 | 4.36 | ||||
| Santorelli | 0 | 2 | 10:16 | 11.69 | ||||
| van Riemsdyk | 4 | 6 | 101:51 | 5.89 | ||||
| Franson | 3 | 3 | 85:16 | 4.22 | ||||
| Gardiner | 0 | 3 | 77:06 | 2.33 | ||||
| Phaneuf | 1 | 8 | 94:00 | 5.74 | ||||
| Rielly | 0 | 3 | 55:43 | 3.23 |
Honestly, my approach is not a surprising one, but it would be to simply kick Clarkson off the power-play. Playing him in a position where he doesn't add anything to the team just brings down the effectiveness of the unit overall. It would make more sense to put Kadri back on the 2nd unit and have him lined up with Lupul and either Holland or Santorelli, if not a consideration for Komarov or Panik if you insist on playing with a guy sitting in front of the net.
To be honest, I think that screening player is highly overrated as the Leafs really don't rely on point-shots to try and score goals. They spend more time taking shots from the half-boards or feeding passes down low for quick shots/deflections. Having Clarkson standing near the net where he can't feed the puck to anyone really turns the power-play more into a 4 on 4.5 type of situation because of how rarely they take shots from the point.
