TSN: Toronto home to NHL’s most productive power-play unit

[deletethis]

Its Babs master plan to stick Matthews on the 2nd pp with Hyman to suppress his production so hel get a cheaper contract, of course.

Hyman doesn't play on the 2nd PP unit.

 

[tom leafers]

Hyman doesn't play on the 2nd PP unit.

Brown then?

 

[The CyNick]

After reading this it is crystal clear we better get rid of JVR and Bozak as quick as possible. I might even recommend just putting them on waivers.

Imagine how much better that unit would be with a bunch of 2nd round picks in there instead.

 

[Nithoniniel]

It's weird for Marleau cause this is the lowest amount of PP points he's gotten since 2001-2002. He's averaged 20.4 powerplay points a year the last 5 years. Maybe it's the way they're deploying Marleau, I'm not sure how they used him in San Jose but I guess having Joe Thornton on the team helps a lot.

I'm pretty sure he played net front a lot.

It'll be interesting to see what they do next year.

 

[CantLoseWithMatthews]

I don't see how that swap doesn't change the dynamic of our unit. I'd say give the unit more minutes, and keep feeding Matthews and Nylander even strength minutes.

We'll likely see Matthews on that unit next year. They'll have to figure out a different kind of scheme without JvR though.

it does change the dynamic, which is fine. I don't think Bozak brings that much, and JVR/Rielly/Marner are the driving forces of the success. All Matthews has to do is let them do their thing, and finish at a higher rate than Bozak

 

[Albi34]

I saw a stat earlier in the year that showed the Leafs having the highest scoring defense in the league...anyone know where you can find this stat? I've looked around but no success.
Thanks

 

[Nithoniniel]

it does change the dynamic, which is fine. I don't think Bozak brings that much, and JVR/Rielly/Marner are the driving forces of the success. All Matthews has to do is let them do their thing, and finish at a higher rate than Bozak

I'm surprised I didn't answer this.

Here's the problems I see with that:

1) If Marner and Rielly gets the puck in their usual spots and now have Matthews on the other side, do you really think they won't be looking to him? You can't put a guy like that on a unit and think it won't affect how the unit plays.

2) Bozak doesn't bring much because his role is small. He retrieves pucks on his side, moves them to Rielly, and crashes the net looking for tap-ins. We can put Matthews there, but that's overkill. It's a simple job, so he won't be improving upon it by a lot. It only serves to pad his stats instead of Bozak.

3) We have a second unit that desperately need skill and threats to the net. It's a huge job, that we now are asking of Bozak instead of Matthews. As a result, we suddenly put absolutely everything on Willy on that line, and sink it even more.

No offense, but I feel like the motivations for this line of thinking can only be that Matthews doesn't get a lot of PP production, so people want to do something about that to give him some gaudy numbers to brag about. And I don't think that's a good reason for change.

 

[CantLoseWithMatthews]

I'm surprised I didn't answer this.

Here's the problems I see with that:

1) If Marner and Rielly gets the puck in their usual spots and now have Matthews on the other side, do you really think they won't be looking to him? You can't put a guy like that on a unit and think it won't affect how the unit plays.

2) Bozak doesn't bring much because his role is small. He retrieves pucks on his side, moves them to Rielly, and crashes the net looking for tap-ins. We can put Matthews there, but that's overkill. It's a simple job, so he won't be improving upon it by a lot. It only serves to pad his stats instead of Bozak.

3) We have a second unit that desperately need skill and threats to the net. It's a huge job, that we now are asking of Bozak instead of Matthews. As a result, we suddenly put absolutely everything on Willy on that line, and sink it even more.

No offense, but I feel like the motivations for this line of thinking can only be that Matthews doesn't get a lot of PP production, so people want to do something about that to give him some gaudy numbers to brag about. And I don't think that's a good reason for change.

well the PP has really caught fire from the time I was really criticizing the set up, so I don't really feel as strongly. All I want is a powerplay that can make the opposition pay, and I don't care who makes it up. In my mind though, Matthews is a better choice than Bozak

 

[PromisedLand]

Jinx thread

 

[Joey Hoser]

Leafs PP#1 is a stats padding machine based on their productivity and success.

What happens next year when JVR and Bozak are gone?

Marner will bounce pucks off someone else.

 

[Mickey Marner]

Last time I checked, the JVR-Marner-Kadri-Bozak foursome were 1, 2, 3, 4 in xgfxgf/60 on the PP dating back to their formation last season and all four were in the top-20 in gf/60 on the PP.

Edit. They're still top 4 in xgf/60, except now they're 2, 4, 10 & 11 in gf/60.