Line Combos: D pairing swap plus more

[ryno23]

I am sure this can go into the Babcock thread too.

Babs is a stubborn man. If by grace Dubas fired Babs I hope the next guy is more in tune to making changes to the lineup and especially D pairing and deployment.

I would break up Ceci and Reilly. Ceci reputation from Ottawa was well documented and yes there has been some Gardiner gaffes with lost coverage and getting outmanned but for the most part he has been decent from what the advance numbers say but the eyes might say something different caus of biases already brought with him from that tire fire in Ottawa

I would pair the D as followed

Muzzin and Ceci
- Shudtown pair. I think you need Muzzin's physical play and pair him with Ceci who can move the puck decent and from what other people are saying his advance numbers are better away from Reilly. I think this pair can work cause you got a guy in Muzzin who can break up cycles and the better players on opposition know they gotta keep their head up with Muz on the ice. Ceci gets a reliable guy in his own zone and allows him to make simple easy passes and even jump into the rush which he was doing in Junior when he was at his best.

Reilly - Barrie.
I know it seems weird but let's see if these 2 guys can run wild and push the pace jump into the rush and produce more offense. Keeping them away from the other teams top line might actually help their D zone game. They might realize that they are both offensive and need to get their D game in order. Yes it will be a soft pairing but that is the price for hopefully moving the puck up the ice and playing in the other teams zone.

Dermott - Holl.

Actually like this pair and if they start to play well then give them more minutes.

Now if the Reilly-Barrie combo is bad them it goes Dermott-Barrie and Reilly-Holl


Reilly and Barrie don't see any PK minutes let the other 4 play the PK and Barrie moves to PP #1 giving them a better shot at the point vs Reilly muffins. Reilly anchors PP #2

That is just the D. On the next episode we tackle the forwards lol.

Click to read more...

 

[MattySnipes]

I think these would be decent but Leafs need Barrie to be much more confident and comfortable than what he's currently shown under Babcock. I can't see Babcock pairing T-Boobs with Mo yet.

A majority of people consider Barrie a PP specialist, which is harsh imo. Even so, he hasn't been given much PP time. I think he's a really good player. It will seem weird to believe this because of what he's shown so far but I'm hoping the real Barrie will stand up.

We know Rielly and Barrie are both struggling though, right? So put them together, they're big boys I'd think they could be better for it.

Thing is, you need unconventional coaches to win chips in Sports.

 

[Joey Hoser]

Thing is, you need unconventional coaches to win chips in Sports.

I don't know about that.

What I do know, is that no coach has ever made the big plays that win a championship. Nick Nurse didn't win the NBA title by cutting Kawhi off at every pass and making him play the way he wanted. He let Kawhi lead the team to a championship because that's what Kawhi does.

Babcock probably would have benched Kawhi in the third round because series-winning game 7 buzzer beaters aren't in his playbook.

 

[MattySnipes]

I don't know about that.

What I do know, is that no coach has ever made the big plays that win a championship. Nick Nurse didn't win the NBA title by cutting Kawhi off at every pass and making him play the way he wanted. He let Kawhi lead the team to a championship because that's what Kawhi does.

Babcock probably would have benched Kawhi in the third round because series-winning game 7 buzzer beaters aren't in his playbook.

Big plays can be accomplished only when you take risks. Hate using basketball but Nurse changed up the entire system for an opponent and it worked. It was different, no one was expecting it.

Babcock is worried about his rep. Nurse had no rep. Know what I'm saying? No doubt your best players gotta show up.

 

[Buds17]

If Rielly's minutes are decreased, perhaps his offensive numbers will also decline regardless of the easier competition faced? If either Muzzin or Ceci receives a bump in minutes, it's possible there is a negative impact to that d-man's defensive numbers.

I wonder if there's also some longer term planning in mind with Rielly having the most minutes among the blueliners, particularly when considering his contract status compared to the others? He is the youngest out of that top four as well.

 

[Commander Clueless]

I think these would be decent but Leafs need Barrie to be much more confident and comfortable than what he's currently shown under Babcock. I can't see Babcock pairing T-Boobs with Mo yet.

A majority of people consider Barrie a PP specialist, which is harsh imo. Even so, he hasn't been given much PP time. I think he's a really good player. It will seem weird to believe this because of what he's shown so far but I'm hoping the real Barrie will stand up.

We know Rielly and Barrie are both struggling though, right? So put them together, they're big boys I'd think they could be better for it.

Thing is, you need unconventional coaches to win chips in Sports.

It doesn't help that Barrie was 27 years old last year, and somehow turned 40 this year.

 

[Fogelhund]

So you are asking Babcock to adapt?

 

[Hustlr]

I would love for this to work but it can’t with the way Barrie is playing right now. I don’t think either of those top pairings can handle sustained quality starts.

 

[usernamezrhardtodo]

It seems Babs likes the left side of his D to be the guys doing the puck moving and offense providing while the right side is support. Look at the pairing even last year...Dermott, Gards and Reilly were in the O-zone a lot compared to Zaitsev, Ozzy and Hainsey. So the question becomes...why do we need a Right handed puck mover when our "system" is set up to use the Left pairing guy in an offensive role? Why get Barrie at all? I am sure there could have been a UFA old dude that could play RD for peanuts that would actually be a good compliment to Reilly. Using Ceci who is neither good on offense or good on D seems to be crazy while being paired with Reilly.

Reilly is HORRIBLE defensively...we just never noticed it the last 2 years because old Hainsey covered up for him a lot more than we thought. The guy needs a solid guy who can make a pass and play actual Defense....that's it...let him roam around in the offensive zone all he wants if he has a good partner back there.

I think there is a major disconnect between the coach and GM...it just seems like they are looking at this team in totally different ways. I don't know which is better..but they need to figure this out soon.

 

[Rogue Leader]

I am not even sure changing the D would actually work. All I really wanted for a long time was for Babcock to try Matthews-Marner and it failed. I also wanted him to try Rielly-Zietsev and it also failed. I always wanted to see Kapanen promoted, but it turns out he isn't really more than a third liner. In the beginning I also disliked Hyman with Matthews, but it turned out that it works. Babcock has many weaknesses, but I truly believe that he knows more about the pairs than us (me especially). I always believed that Zaitsev will succeed without Gardiner, but he did not / has not. At this point I am not even sure that we don't have some secret plan to ruin Barrie's year and try to sign him to a dirt cheap long term contract and then use him on the PP. Also Babcock seems to be very hip the last few games and actually trying out new stuff, which is a great improvement. Really not sure how he has managed this.

 

[Hustlr]

Also Babcock seems to be very hip the last few games and actually trying out new stuff, which is a great improvement. Really not sure how he has managed this.

After he took Kap off that line in game 7(?) he has really shown a willingness to change. I think he’s got the year at least, now that he’s willing to make changes. Let’s see how far he can take this mentality.

 

[Zybalto]

Rielly/Barrie 5v5 this year:

TOI: 19:01
CF%: 37.09
SCF%: 26.40
HDCF%: 13.89
xGF%: 36.23
GF%: 30.08

You could say that its too small a sample but, yea, I've seen enough.

 

[KuleminFan41]

It seems Babs likes the left side of his D to be the guys doing the puck moving and offense providing while the right side is support. Look at the pairing even last year...Dermott, Gards and Reilly were in the O-zone a lot compared to Zaitsev, Ozzy and Hainsey. So the question becomes...why do we need a Right handed puck mover when our "system" is set up to use the Left pairing guy in an offensive role? Why get Barrie at all? I am sure there could have been a UFA old dude that could play RD for peanuts that would actually be a good compliment to Reilly. Using Ceci who is neither good on offense or good on D seems to be crazy while being paired with Reilly.

Reilly is HORRIBLE defensively...we just never noticed it the last 2 years because old Hainsey covered up for him a lot more than we thought. The guy needs a solid guy who can make a pass and play actual Defense....that's it...let him roam around in the offensive zone all he wants if he has a good partner back there.

I think there is a major disconnect between the coach and GM...it just seems like they are looking at this team in totally different ways. I don't know which is better..but they need to figure this out soon.

We need players who can move the puck while being right handed because Boston kept avoiding the left hand side when they would go on attack. They knew the weakness of the Leafs defence was the right side so they exploited it and it helped them. Having guys who can move the puck efficiently helps clearing the puck out of your zone faster. If your gameplan is to have the RHD always pass it to the LHD, you become very predictable , which isn't exactly what you want to be. Babcock works with what he has and he has had multiple good LHD who can move the puck, its more of a coincidence than anything else. In a perfect world,you have both defence partners capable of moving the puck efficiently , regardless if they favor being a shutdown or offensive defencemen

Rielly has played defence in the league for 4 years before Hainsey joined the team . No one ever called him "horrible" before Hainsey was his partner by any means. Also, its worth noting that he likely is playing through an injury, he skates like he's hurt, he doesn't look the same as previous years when he plays, not to mention he's missed multiple practices as well. Which is likely why he isn't as dominant as he was last year

 

[Trapper]

Well if Hainsey works with Rielly, trade to get him back. We are the ones trying to win the Cup not the lottery like Ottawa.
Then move out Barrie (not going to sign him anyway or use him to his strength) to get our Marleau 1st back plus young player and go from there.

 

[Zybalto]

We need players who can move the puck while being right handed because Boston kept avoiding the left hand side when they would go on attack. They knew the weakness of the Leafs defence was the right side so they exploited it and it helped them. Having guys who can move the puck efficiently helps clearing the puck out of your zone faster. If your gameplan is to have the RHD always pass it to the LHD, you become very predictable , which isn't exactly what you want to be. Babcock works with what he has and he has had multiple good LHD who can move the puck, its more of a coincidence than anything else. In a perfect world,you have both defence partners capable of moving the puck efficiently , regardless if they favor being a shutdown or offensive defencemen

Rielly has played defence in the league for 4 years before Hainsey joined the team . No one ever called him "horrible" before Hainsey was his partner by any means. Also, its worth noting that he likely is playing through an injury, he skates like he's hurt, he doesn't look the same as previous years when he plays, not to mention he's missed multiple practices as well. Which is likely why he isn't as dominant as he was last year

Zaitsev was our most effective dman against Boston over the two series. He destroyed them from the right side. If he was on the ice, the Leafs were almost never hemmed in. Main weakness with Zaitsev was he was poor against the rush those series.

 

[Ciao]

Rielly/Barrie 5v5 this year:

TOI: 19:01
CF%: 37.09
SCF%: 26.40
HDCF%: 13.89
xGF%: 36.23
GF%: 30.08

You could say that its too small a sample but, yea, I've seen enough.

I don't understand these stats, but that pairing doesn't compare for me. They don't complement each other very well.

 

[Zybalto]

I don't understand these stats, but that pairing doesn't compare for me. They don't complement each other very well.

I'll take the lowest one for example:

HDCF% (High Danger chances for %)

It just means that while the pairing was on the ice, the Leafs got 13.89 % of all High Dangers chances and the opponents got 86.11% of all the high dangers chances.

 

[ToemassCabriolet]

Ceci looks like a 6/7 d-man at best. The Leafs would likely be shooting themselves in the foot if they try to carry him into the playoffs, especially in a top 4 role.

How about unloading Ceci alongside some farm assets in a trade for/then make a trade for someone like Colin Miller or Calvin De Haan. Both belong to probable deadline sellers, and either should come at a reasonable price - just under what the Leafs gave up for Muzzin last year.