Toronto Maple Leafs: Five Takeaways From The First Five Games
After five games, the Toronto Maple Leafs have only one win.
It wasn’t the game when first overall pick Auston Matthews scored four goals against the Sens. It wasn’t even the game where the Toronto Maple Leafs took a four goal lead against the Jets. I think you know where this is going.
The Leafs might have just broken the record for the greatest looking 1-1-3 team in NHL history. The groundwork is all there for them to make the playoffs THIS year, although a few things need to change. Here are five takeaways from the first five Leafs games.
Matt Hunwick is seriously hurting this team
Out of the seven defensemen who have dressed for the Leafs thus far, only two players have a negative shot differential after five games; Nikita Zaitsev (43.96%) and Matt Hunwick (38.58%).
When looking into this a bit further, when Zaitsev is not paired with Hunwick he boasts a shot differential well over 50%.
In other words, when Hunwick is on the ice, the Leafs are usually in their own end. Bad things occur when you are in your own end.
Mismanagement of ice time and defensive lineups
Unfortunately for the Leafs, the ice time distribution has not always reflected strong play by defensemen. Against Winnipeg, Hunwick finished fourth in ice time (20:19) with Carrick and Gardiner following having played under 14 mins.
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Against the Hawks, Polak and Hunwick finished second (23:13) and third (22:16) respectively. Once again, Gardiner and Carrick finished last playing under 19 minutes.
Gardiner and Carrick lead defensemen in shot differential at over 55%. In addition, Gardiner also leads defensemen in points with four in five games, but that stuff might not be important in hockey anymore, I’m not sure.
Lastly, Martin Marincin has been played on his opposite side which could be the reason for some shakiness on the puck, especially in his own end. Scratching Hunwick and adding in Polak could balance this out and allow Marincin to move back.
Ideally Corrado would be the best option, but I can’t see Babcock going with that many kids on his blue line. Marincin is still a very good shot suppressor, and moving him into his correct position should limit his turnovers.
Going forward the ice time for both Hunwick and Polak needs to be managed better by Babcock and company especially late in games. Zaitsev, Rielly, Gardiner and Carrick need to lead defensemen in ice time if this team is going to be successful this year. Their play has been exceptional and should have had a “takeaway” in this article of its own.
Kadri needs help.
Nazem Kadri is showing his worth this year and has been a production driver despite being played with Michalek and Komorov. Kadri would benefit playing with one more puck carrier instead of Michalek.
This would allow Kadri to play more of his game instead of having to chase the puck every time his line mates are given the task to enter the zone. I think Connor Brown has shown he is an offensive threat and would benefit being promoted to the Kadri line.
Komorov can move to the other wing and Griffith/Leivo could take Brown’s spot on the fourth line.While writing this article Michalek did get waived. Hopefully Brown/Griffith get to take this spot.
Balanced forward lines are the way to go
After five games, the Leafs sit fourth in the league in 5v5 goals-for per 60 minutes. Having three lines that can score on any given shift has done wonders for the team’s offence.
The Bozak , Matthews and Kadri lines have all produced at a good level and the team’s offensive production has reflected that.
All three lines pose different types of threats and it is fun to watch. The Bozak line is dangerous on the rush, the Kadri line is able to pin the opposition into their own end and the Matthews line can kind of do both. The offence is clicking and it will only get better as these players build more chemistry.
Goaltending
It is no secret that Andersen has had a rough start as a Leaf. It is the biggest problem facing the team right now. Right now, the team is 24th in 5v5 team save percentage and as a result, has one win in 5 games.
In addition, it is pretty clear that the Leafs will not be scoring four games a game every game for the rest of the season. Therefore, the Andersen/Enroth tandem has to be better.
With the current team in place, our goaltenders don’t need to steal the show every night, but they have to give their team a chance to win, especially when they are scoring more than three goals a game.
It has been a positive start overall for the Leafs. They look quicker, more skilled and more organized than last year. Unfortunately, mistakes have lead to goals more often than not which has lead to a few losses. The team is still young and those mistakes will be limited as time goes on.
Do you agree with these takeaways? What would you add in? Comment below!
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