The powerplay: Time to reboot?

[ZBBM]

[Assuming we get to actually use it once every few games....]

My question in the thread title is rhetorical: I think it's past time.  The dazzling Marner-to-Matthews-to-Twine hasn't worked in weeks.  Kadri is literally a 5th wheel.  When a puck does get to Tavares for a tip and it doesn't work, there's no other presence there to pick up any garbage.

Two suggestions:
1.  Swap Matthews and Kadri.  It would give Marner a much easier route to get the puck on Matthews' stick, where it spends far too little time IMO.  Matthews then could maneuver for a shot, or feed either to Kadri or back to Marner, one of whom should be more open as the D will draw to Matthews.  If Matthews shoots and there is a rebound, Kadri will be in a better position to swoop in and pounce on it.
2.  Replace Kadri with Kapanen, and proceed as above.

As for the 2U, God bless Trevor Moore but why isn't Kapanen playing there?  I would design the 2U around Nylander and Kapanen with an idea to create chaos in front of the net as much as possible.

I'm no hockey tactician so I'm sure others will have better ideas but a little creative change is in order.

 

[bustaheims]

I?d move Kadri to the 2nd unit. It?ll give him more usefulness and add some depth to it. Replace him with Kapanen/Johnson/whoever on that first unit, as the role he plays doesn?t require his level of skill.

In terms of tactics, they need to become more fluid, like the Bruins and some other teams have. More movement of players, not just the puck, will make them much harder to defend - especially with the level of puck handling skills that?s out on the ice.

 

[Bullfrog]

Busta, that's what I've been advocating for weeks. It's not to punish Kadri at all, it's to strengthen the 2nd unit. With Nylander back, we've got tonnes of talent to put on the 2nd unit. I'd put Marleau in Kadri's spot on the 1st unit. He's well suited for that type of position.

Kapanen-Kadri-Nylander-Gardiner and most likely Johnsson (assuming Marleau is on the 1st PP) makes for a decent 2nd unit. Or instead of Johnsson, try Dermott and Gardiner.

 

[CarltonTheBear]

I'd consider putting Nylander on the top unit in Kadri's place. Yeah, it weakens the 2nd unit, but all season long the Leafs priority has been on the top unit. And I wonder if the general lack of PP opportunities that we talked about in the GDT has something to do with that. The Leafs don't get a lot of PPs, so you may as well take full advantage of the ones you do get. Putting Nylander in that slot position opens up potential one-timer opportunities between him and Marner, which is something that wasn't there with Kadri. That could force PK's to focus on the slot position a little more and give more room to Matthews and Tavares.

 

[ZBBM]

Tonight vs. NSH is a perfect example.  This PP has been declining for the past 2 months.  No reaction from the coaching staff.

 

[Highlander]

Gone from 2nd or 7th to 22nd in three months.

 

[ZBBM]

Matthews' goal callback was a gut kick but the doughy PPs really have been momentum killers tonite so far.

 

[ZBBM]

And the one opp in the 3rd?  More of the same.

 

[CarltonTheBear]

https://twitter.com/DaveAMcCarthy/status/1083037152714412032

Is this enough of a reboot?

 

[Kin]

I don't hate it but I'd rather see JT as the guy on the #2 unit as opposed to Matthews.

 

[herman]

https://twitter.com/jonassiegel/status/1083037005032886272

Is this enough of a reboot?

This is what I was asking for before the season started.

 

[CarltonTheBear]

This is what I was asking for before the season started.

It's essentially just a carbon copy of last years units. RH Kapanen replaces RH Bozak, LW Tavares replaces LW JVR on the Marner unit. LW Johnsson replaces LW Komarov on the Matthews unit, although that change happened late last season. Let's see how it goes.

 

[herman]

This is what I was asking for before the season started.

It's essentially just a carbon copy of last years units. RH Kapanen replaces RH Bozak, LW Tavares replaces LW JVR on the Marner unit. LW Johnsson replaces LW Komarov on the Matthews unit, although that change happened late last season. Let's see how it goes.

Yup. That was working well, regardless of the people harping about PP time being split too evenly.
This gives Kadri (and Tavares by extension) more touches and opportunity to do damage. Every team scouted the Leafs Marner-PP unit and still couldn't stop it. Add Tavares instead of JvR and a faster retriever in Kapanen (with a harder shot option), and it's pure profit.

If they don't score, too bad, the PK now has to contend with a completely different attack pattern from Matthews/Nylander in motion.

 

[ZBBM]

Kapanen now on PP duh.

This (or something like it) should have been done before Xmas but Babcock is essentially a mule with a very high salary.

It should balance the threat from the 2 units.  As bad as both have been lately, the second was none at all.

 

[Zee]

Kapanen now on PP duh.

This (or something like it) should have been done before Xmas but Babcock is essentially a mule with a very high salary.

It should balance the threat from the 2 units.  As bad as both have been lately, the second was none at all.

Tavares has to switch positions I think.  He's too valuable of a player to just stand in front of the net and look for the JVR type goals on the PP.  I think he'd be able to do alot more in Kadri's current spot.

 

[cabber24]

I hope they get somewhat equal opportunity. I don't want to listen to the optics of Matthews being referred to anything "second unit".

 

[cabber24]

Kapanen now on PP duh.

This (or something like it) should have been done before Xmas but Babcock is essentially a mule with a very high salary.

It should balance the threat from the 2 units.  As bad as both have been lately, the second was none at all.

Crazy that he goes through guys like Levio, Moore, Hyman, and Brown but not the most obvious, most skilled, best scorers. I think he is obsessed with his idea of what he perceives as roles, player types and line structure.

Just get your best players on the ice and much as you can without burning them out.

 

[herman]

Kapanen now on PP duh.

This (or something like it) should have been done before Xmas but Babcock is essentially a mule with a very high salary.

It should balance the threat from the 2 units.  As bad as both have been lately, the second was none at all.

Who said it was Babcock being stubborn and not something like: Well Matty, I promised you'd get a shot with the primary unit and it was gangbusters for a bit there, but here we are halfway through the season and maybe it's time for a change, hm?

Tavares has to switch positions I think.  He's too valuable of a player to just stand in front of the net and look for the JVR type goals on the PP.  I think he'd be able to do alot more in Kadri's current spot.

Tavares is valuable because he can fulfill just about any role. He can run the halfwall. He can score off the bumper. He can be net front tap and tip guy. So that's why he's there, because our other PP options are better suited where they already are.

I think you'll see Kadri more engaged when Marner is no longer only looking for passes to Matthews.

 

[OldTimeHockey]

This (or something like it) should have been done before Xmas but Babcock is essentially a mule with a very high salary.

I'm not sure how to respond to posts like this?

Babcock's record since being with the Leafs is 145 - 108 - 35. If you remove the first season(which brought Matthews here), he's 116 - 66 - 24. Since being here the team has shown constant improvement. That's the result of two things: The team getting better players, and the team receiving proper management both in the press box and on the bench.

You can't expect a coach, in an 82 game season to constantly flip flop every time the wind tickles his under britches the wrong way(is there a wrong way?). If we had a coach, that behaved like many do on this board every time the team had a bad game, it would be absolute chaos and the chances of success would be slim to none.

As a coach you build a team to win in March, April, May, & June. This team is going to go through growing pains. They will continue to go through growing pains. They are mainly a young team, with many flaws. They are extremely talented and that makes up for some of those flaws but not all of them.

Does Babcock have some flaws? Sure he does. He'd be the first to tell you he does. So do all coaches, managers, bosses, CEO's, etc;

If this team's record was reversed and was 13-27-2 you'd be screaming that the coach was a jacka$$.

 

[herman]

You can't expect a coach, in an 82 game season to constantly flip flop every time the wind tickles his under britches the wrong way(is there a wrong way?). If we had a coach, that behaved like many do on this board every time the team had a bad game, it would be absolute chaos and the chances of success would be slim to none.

+1,000,000