Toronto Maple Leafs: Bozak's True Value In The Face-off Circle
Toronto Maple Leafs forward Tyler Bozak has long been heralded for his ability to win face-offs and not much else.
The value for the Toronto Maple Leafs with Bozak isn’t simply his ability to win draws, it’s what happens after he’s won them.
Winning face-off’s doesn’t mean much unless there’s shot generation not long after. Many times you can watch a team win a face-off, only to lose the puck shortly thereafter. When that happens, the face-off win is basically useless.
With Bozak, though, he’s one of the top centers in the league for possession after the face-off.
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Bozak ranks 3rd in the league in NSPF (Net shots post face-off) with 17.60 at 5v5, sitting behind only Calude Giroux and Vincent Trochek.
NSPF is described as this, via puckbase.com:
“Net Shots Post-Faceoff (NSPF) estimates a face-off taker’s contribution to puck possession by counting shot flow (shots-for minus shots-against) during the 10 seconds following a player’s face-offs in 5-versus-5 situations, and comparing it to a league-average face-off taker. NSPF is calculated for each of the offensive, defensive, and netural zones; the overall NSPF is their sum.” (Puck Base)
With a high number like Bozak has, there’s good reason to load him with offensive zone starts and play him on the top powerplay unit, despite better offensive players being available. Since he’s so effective at 5v5, there’s no reason to believe that will slowdown while he’s on the powerplay.
Good things just happen, more often than for other players, immediately after Bozak wins a face-off.
Bozak’s overall value to the team is debatable moving forward, but for all the criticism and lack of credit from many – including myself – he’s giving the Leafs positive play in one area that no one else seems to be able to match for the club.
Other than continuing to have chemistry with James van Riemsdyk, Bozak is more than effective in his role as his time with the Toronto Maple Leafs dwindles down. Hopefully he can pass on his tricks to Auston Matthews and Nazem Kadri before he leaves.
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