Line Combos: Leafs Power-Play

[SHANNYPLAN]

Current Units
#1
JVR - Bozak - Kadri
Rielly - Marner
#2
Marleau - Nylander - Brown
Matthews - Gardiner

Not impressed with the Matthews unit, he needs more to work with as Brown and Marleau haven't been great on the PP

The other unit could also be better

What we should try:
#1
Nylander - Matthews - Kapanen
Rielly - Marner
#2
VanRiemsdyk - Bozak - Marleau
Gardiner - Kadri​

Click to read more...

 

[Suntouchable13]

I still don't get why our best player does not get to play with the best players on the PP. We must be the only team that does that.

 

[CantLoseWithMatthews]

Our pp blows and a change is long overdue. We aren't getting past Boston/Tampa with such a bad powerplay. Time to stack a unit

 

[zeke]

JVR/Kadri

Nylander - Matthews - Marner

Rielly
​

play them the whole PP.

 

[SHANNYPLAN]

JVR/Kadri

Nylander - Matthews - Marner

Rielly
​

play them the whole PP.

JVR with Matthews would be incredible, imagine the assists he would have with a guy like JVR in front of the net

 

[leafsfuture]

I still don't get why our best player does not get to play with the best players on the PP. We must be the only team that does that.

Because our guys have been together the last two years and the results have been positive on the whole.

The big practical advantage is this: If one unit is on for a long shift, you can play the rested unit to start the powerplay

 

[PuckMagi]

Matthews and Marner are just magic together. They need to play together 5vs5 and on the PP.

 

[rent free]

who woulda ever thought our pp would be this bad.

 

[HamiltonNHL]

I see no Matthews !

Babcock could do better here.

 

[HamiltonNHL]

That being said

Even Strength Goals
1. Nikita Kucherov • TBL 26
2. Auston Matthews • TOR 25
3. Michael Grabner • NYR 24
Alex Ovechkin • WSH 24
5. Sean Couturier • PHI 23
William Karlsson • VEG 23
7. Connor McDavid • EDM 22
8. Vladimir Tarasenko • STL 20
Sean Monahan • CGY 20
Evgeni Malkin • PIT 20
Anders Lee • NYI 20
Anze Kopitar • LAK 20
13. John Tavares • NYI 19
Tyler Seguin • DAL 19
James Neal • VEG 19
Patrick Kane • CHI 19
Jack Eichel • BUF 19
18. Jordan Eberle • NYI 18
Taylor Hall • NJD 18
20. Mark Stone • OTT 17
Eric Staal • MIN 17
Patrick Marleau • TOR 17
Alex DeBrincat • CHI 17
Kyle Connor • WPG 17
Brock Boeser • VAN 17
Jon Marchessault • VEG 17
Jason Zucker • MIN 17

The only top guy from this list on the other list is Ovechkin.

 

[Ziggdiezan]

That being said

View attachment 99157

Even Strength Goals
1. Nikita Kucherov • TBL 26
2. Auston Matthews • TOR 25
3. Michael Grabner • NYR 24
Alex Ovechkin • WSH 24
5. Sean Couturier • PHI 23
William Karlsson • VEG 23
7. Connor McDavid • EDM 22
8. Vladimir Tarasenko • STL 20
Sean Monahan • CGY 20
Evgeni Malkin • PIT 20
Anders Lee • NYI 20
Anze Kopitar • LAK 20
13. John Tavares • NYI 19
Tyler Seguin • DAL 19
James Neal • VEG 19
Patrick Kane • CHI 19
Jack Eichel • BUF 19
18. Jordan Eberle • NYI 18
Taylor Hall • NJD 18
20. Mark Stone • OTT 17
Eric Staal • MIN 17
Patrick Marleau • TOR 17
Alex DeBrincat • CHI 17
Kyle Connor • WPG 17
Brock Boeser • VAN 17
Jon Marchessault • VEG 17
Jason Zucker • MIN 17

The only top guy from this list on the other list is Ovechkin.

Says a lot about how much Laine produces at 5 on 5... Lol

 

[Warden of the North]

I hate the 1-3-1

Leaving the points exposed is stupid.

 

[Welsh Maple Leaf]

The stubborn old crow must change this soon.

Even I can tell that this isn't right and could be better

 

[CantLoseWithMatthews]

our PP is 23rd in the league since December 1st. 26th since January 1st. How that's acceptable to our coaches is beyond me, but they have to change it up

 

[Liminality]

I'm not sure if it's Babcock trying to manage the players minutes a bit more but yeah, the powerplay is definitely not as effective as late.

Leafs on the year are smack dab in the middle at 15th place with 20.2% for the PP. That might not seem that bad but since the start of the new year, the Leafs are 26th in the league with 16.4%. Has anything really changed since then? Either way, I think it could also be better considering the players we have on the team.

Not exactly sure how to fix Matthews line but maybe they could have him battle it out in front of the net to use his top tier hand eye coordination for rebounds or redirections. Just don't want him getting hit with stray shots. My only issue with that is it would take away his shot in or around the slot which would be a waste.

 

[Pi]

our PP is 23rd in the league since December 1st. 26th since January 1st. How that's acceptable to our coaches is beyond me, but they have to change it up

Even when it got results, it was mainly because of JvR and Kadri's work in close. It was never a PP that moved the puck efficiently.

Babcock is a slow learner but he should learn from the Pittsburgh PP and realize that in an advantage situation you put your best players out there.

Sullivan doesn't try to split Kessel, Malkin, Crosby etc.

If you can't learn from the back to back champs who have almost the exact same strengths and weakness as us, what are we even doing?

 

[Hockey Crazy]

The Babcock hate on this board is insane. I doubt that he is the one running the power play. Special teams are usually managed by an assistant coach.

Matthews is a spectacular player but that unit has been very out of synch while gaining the zone and Matthews does make some questionable decisions on the PP. The coaches should probably tweak the system for that unit.

 

[HamiltonNHL]

our PP is 23rd in the league since December 1st. 26th since January 1st.

Pretty telling.

 

[PromisedLand]

Our PP is way to predictable it needs to change a bit. Bozak is not going to make plays and doesn't have a lethal shot to play outside; he should swap places with Kadri; with Marner on the LW and Kadri on the RW both ready to either make a pass on their forehand or one time the shot/take a wrister.

2nd PP unit; Nylander and Matthews need to stop looking for each other or Gardiner all the time. More importantly, Gardiner should stop shooting the damn puck on oppositions' shin pads only to be blocked. On the PP; friggen move the puck fast and open the lane to shoot ffs.

We hold the puck too long on the PP IMO

 

[Battle Lin]

1
jvr matthews bozak

rielly nylander


2
marleau kadri kapanen

gardiner marner

 

[TOGuy14]

I’d like to see Kapanen get some PP looks.

His speed could really be a factor with the additional space out there

 

[AustrianHockeyfan]

I have another issue with our PP. Is it just me or are you guys also afraid everytime we get a PP, that we will give up a good scoring chance to the opponent? This happens way to often imo.

 

[kk87]

It seems like night in, night out, our opponent always has a better structured, more cohesive PP than we do, which makes no sense given the talent we have. Having players like Bozak, Komarov, Brown, etc getting extended looks with our top players makes our PP way less potent.

JVR (net front)-Matthews-Nylander
Rielly/Gardiner-Marner

Run that unit for about 90 seconds every power play like most high-end teams do. That still leaves guys like Kapanen, Kadri, Marleau, Rielly/Gardiner, etc to man the second unit. The lineup changes we've seen in the past month have been of huge benefit - not sure why Babcock wouldn't make similar adjustments with special teams given how pitiful they've been recently