News Article: Five ways Toronto Maple Leafs have changed their culture this off-season

[Tyler Biggs*]

http://sports.nationalpost.com/2014...s-have-changed-their-culture-this-off-season/

1. They hired Kyle Dubas

Nice to start thinking outside the box. Most teams are still in the mindset of hiring old crusty guys with old crust ideas straight from the old boys club...

Click to read more...

 

[highslot]

one thing wrong with the article is that they almost always take skill at the draft in the higher rounds. the exceptions are biggs and maybe schenn (who still might have had a projected offensive development).

kadri, tlusty, percy, kulemin, finn rask, etc. it's just that we don't have any first or seconds.

 

[Mess]

Good article.

Its about turning the page on the previous rebuild, changing the culture and changing the way this team now operates, thinks and goes about business.

Hard not to be optimistic that this change isn't for the good and long overdue.

Hopefully this finally allows the Leafs to start having success again, as Leafs fan base has suffered long enough.

 

[SeaOfBlue]

Why does every article say Nylander is 5'9" but Ehlers is 5'11"? It's the other way around. Nylander is almost 6'0", Ehlers is not even close to Nylander's height but he's taller than him? Makes no sense. The article also failed to mention we drafted Nikolai Kulemin in that draft also, so technically it was Kulemin, not Tlusty, who was the last European we drafted in the first two rounds.

 

[Peasy]

http://sports.nationalpost.com/2014...s-have-changed-their-culture-this-off-season/



Nice to start thinking outside the box. Most teams are still in the mindset of hiring old crusty guys with old crust ideas straight from the old boys club...

Not really... Shanny wanted to wait until next year to hire Dubas but he heard other teams were interested in him this off season so he had to go for it now.

 

[Tyler Biggs*]

Signing these 3rd and 4th line players to create competition is great. The next thing that needs to happen is Carlyle needs to actually play those lines. I think the players we have on those lines now will be an upgrade and he shouldn't have any issue putting them out there to take the load off the top 2 lines, hopefully keeping them fresh.

 

[nuck]

http://sports.nationalpost.com/2014...s-have-changed-their-culture-this-off-season/



Nice to start thinking outside the box. Most teams are still in the mindset of hiring old crusty guys with old crust ideas straight from the old boys club...

Are any other teams hiring 28 year olds for senior jobs? A huge gamble on their part. Instead of learning and making his mistakes at a lower level he is on the job training in the show. At least no cap implications with management contracts. I will admit to the wisdom of the hire once we see what his input is to be. Maybe the outgoing duo were proponents of the Clarkson signing. It will be interesting to see how an "analytics" guy looks at the Gunnar trade. I doubt we will ever get his 2 cents on that.

 

[Pyrophorus]

It will be interesting to see how an "analytics" guy looks at the Gunnar trade. I doubt we will ever get his 2 cents on that.

I think his advanced stats, speak volumes about Carl.

 

[BlueBaron]

Not really... Shanny wanted to wait until next year to hire Dubas but he heard other teams were interested in him this off season so he had to go for it now.

So he wasn't thinking outside the box because he wanted the guy a little later ? Seems to me he still wanted the guy and the new direction that suggests. I really don't understand your statement.

By the way, can you show a link to where he states he wanted to wait a year ? And why would he want to wait a year ?

 

[rrc1967]

Are any other teams hiring 28 year olds for senior jobs? A huge gamble on their part. Instead of learning and making his mistakes at a lower level he is on the job training in the show. At least no cap implications with management contracts. I will admit to the wisdom of the hire once we see what his input is to be. Maybe the outgoing duo were proponents of the Clarkson signing. It will be interesting to see how an "analytics" guy looks at the Gunnar trade. I doubt we will ever get his 2 cents on that.

the leafs have a huge management staff - it's not as if they can't shelter him and really just include him into one of the core collective of the management group.

IMO - people are making him out to be a bigger deal than he is. he's a part of the management team - but it's certainly still a team with Nonis over top of them all and Shannahan in charge of hockey operations and all the financial and administration of the corporation.

as far as the article. meh.

hard to say that they created a good forth line because we have no idea who'll be on that line at the start of the season. also with the leafs hard up against the cap, not going to have too much competition for jobs when you can't sit players.

wait and see how this team looks on the ice versus on paper. we've been pretty good on paper for 5+ years now apparently.

 

[Peasy]

So he wasn't thinking outside the box because he wanted the guy a little later ? Seems to me he still wanted the guy and the new direction that suggests. I really don't understand your statement.

By the way, can you show a link to where he states he wanted to wait a year ? And why would he want to wait a year ?

I was referring to teams only wanting to hire "old crusty men"

It was from a tweet, it would explain why the whole thing happened so suddenly, I know Florida was interested in him.

 

[Stats01]

Signing these 3rd and 4th line players to create competition is great. The next thing that needs to happen is Carlyle needs to actually play those lines. I think the players we have on those lines now will be an upgrade and he shouldn't have any issue putting them out there to take the load off the top 2 lines, hopefully keeping them fresh.

This is so true. Our 4th line the past years has been pretty much an AHL line consisting of bruisers who can't play more than 3-4 mins a night. You can't play an 82 game schedule with basically 3 lines..there's no wonder we have collapses when our top lines are gassed by the 60 game mark. Having a 4th line that can actually play like 10-14 mins a night will give some much needed rest to our top lines.

Instead of making Kessel play 25-30 mins a night he can draw back a bit and play 20-23 mins a night. That's a difference of 3-5 mins a game..multiply that by 82 you're saving Kessel and the top line 328 mins of ice-time over the course of the season.

 

[Mess]

Kyle Dubas is the biggest culture change with the greatest potential to have a significant impact.

Maple Leafs’ hiring of Kyle Dubas adds legitimacy to stats game

Dubas’s hiring appears to signal the Leafs’ abandonment of their “horse and buggy†approach to running a hockey team, which is reason enough for fans to rejoice.

If there was any sense among the hockey cognoscenti that advanced statistics were a fringe idea or passing fad, the Maple Leafs’ hiring of Kyle Dubas makes that view look even more ridiculous than it did two weeks ago.

Since the bombshell announcement, there has been plenty of speculation in the mainstream press and the analytics blogosphere about what the young executive will do to fix the team’s problems.

How will a “new age†analytics guru work with a coach and GM who have gone on the record as being among the league’s most vocal skeptics? How long will it take to revamp a lineup that has prioritized size and truculence into one that’s focused on skill and puck possession? Will this finally be the end of dump-and-chase hockey in Toronto?

Full Story: http://www.thestar.com/sports/leafs...kyle_dubas_adds_legitimacy_to_stats_game.html

 

[Dreakmur]

Instead of making Kessel play 25-30 mins a night he can draw back a bit and play 20-23 mins a night. That's a difference of 3-5 mins a game..multiply that by 82 you're saving Kessel and the top line 328 mins of ice-time over the course of the season.

How many times did Kessel break the 25 minute mark last year? He has averaged about 20 minutes per game since becoming a leaf, which is about right, considering how top-heavy the line-up has been. With our deeper roster this year, I would hope his line drops closer to the 18 minute mark - cutting out completely any defensive assignments.

 

[Deebo]

Some stats are better than others, We’re just opening the door. There are a lot out there. Right now it’s pretty primitive. Shots for and shots against isn’t really ground-breaking stuff.

 

[Deebo]

How many times did Kessel break the 25 minute mark last year? He has averaged about 20 minutes per game since becoming a leaf, which is about right, considering how top-heavy the line-up has been. With our deeper roster this year, I would hope his line drops closer to the 18 minute mark - cutting out completely any defensive assignments.

He broke 25 minute 4 times.

 

[bunjay]

The Leafs have been "changing the culture" year after disappointing year for some time now...

 

[The Winter Soldier]

Some stats are better than others, We’re just opening the door. There are a lot out there. Right now it’s pretty primitive. Shots for and shots against isn’t really ground-breaking stuff.

I agree completely, even Dubas has said this, he also values old time toughness and character. Really the guy is going to be learning a lot this year, he's a rookie NHL exec where contacts are so necessary at the NHL level.

I don't blame fans with calling him boy wonder, but one has to keep their heads on straight, he is not running the team. Way too much credit coming his way, that if we fail he will also get a lot of the blame.

He's just one voice, this team is being run by Shanny, and even he is not sure where he is going yet, from my observations. It's his first year also as a NHL Exec. A lot of inexperience in the front office right now.

 

[ShaneFalco]

Good article.

Its about turning the page on the previous rebuild, changing the culture and changing the way this team now operates, thinks and goes about business.

Hard not to be optimistic that this change isn't for the good and long overdue.

Hopefully this finally allows the Leafs to start having success again, as Leafs fan base has suffered long enough.

Amen!
And it's better for hockey when the Leafs do well

 

[34]

Starts with shipping Phaneuf out. Everything else is just an excuse to deflect the real problem.

 

[kihei]

Yup, I'd say that article got it spot on.

 

[Stephen]

The Nylander pick brings to mind the internal debate the Leafs had when they were picking between Luke Richardson and Joe Sakic at the 1987 draft. That was one of those big franchise defining moments since they passed up on an all time great to draft for immediate need.

 

[DeathToAllButMetal]

The Nylander pick brings to mind the internal debate the Leafs had when they were picking between Luke Richardson and Joe Sakic at the 1987 draft. That was one of those big franchise defining moments since they passed up on an all time great to draft for immediate need.

Why? What is there to suggest that Nylander is some potential great? Even if you think a lot of his skill, he had some black marks against him regarding size and character. The idea that there's this massive gulf between the skilled Euro and the big, dumb Canadian alternative (Nick Ritchie) that the Leafs would usually pick is just not realistic.

I'm one of the naysayers who didn't like the pick, and who believe that Nylander will be a pretty big-time bust. But even still, even if I accepted the idea that Nylander would hit his ceiling and turn into a solid top-three forward, it's ludicrous to think that he's ever going to be so good that this pick will be looked back on as some kind of franchise-defining moment.

Too many people here are making way, way too much out of signing Nylander. It's pathetic, really, the straws that Leafs fans grasp at. Even this summer, it's sad how so many here are buying that the Leafs have made big changes to the team simply by shuffling the deck with a couple of d-men and the bottom six. This team will never win anything because of serious deficiencies in the character and skill-set of its core players, namely the likes of Phaneuf, Kessel, Kadri, and Lupul. Roman Polak and LOL Leo are not going to suddenly vault the Leafs into contender status.

 

[Holymakinaw]

I'm one of the naysayers who didn't like the pick, and who believe that Nylander will be a pretty big-time bust. But even still, even if I accepted the idea that Nylander would hit his ceiling and turn into a solid top-three forward, it's ludicrous to think that he's ever going to be so good that this pick will be looked back on as some kind of franchise-defining moment.

Hmmm.......I wonder what it is that you know, that all those scouts, GM's and analysts don't?

 

[Morguee]

Why? What is there to suggest that Nylander is some potential great? Even if you think a lot of his skill, he had some black marks against him regarding size and character. The idea that there's this massive gulf between the skilled Euro and the big, dumb Canadian alternative (Nick Ritchie) that the Leafs would usually pick is just not realistic.

I'm one of the naysayers who didn't like the pick, and who believe that Nylander will be a pretty big-time bust. But even still, even if I accepted the idea that Nylander would hit his ceiling and turn into a solid top-three forward, it's ludicrous to think that he's ever going to be so good that this pick will be looked back on as some kind of franchise-defining moment.

Too many people here are making way, way too much out of signing Nylander. It's pathetic, really, the straws that Leafs fans grasp at. Even this summer, it's sad how so many here are buying that the Leafs have made big changes to the team simply by shuffling the deck with a couple of d-men and the bottom six. This team will never win anything because of serious deficiencies in the character and skill-set of its core players, namely the likes of Phaneuf, Kessel, Kadri, and Lupul. Roman Polak and LOL Leo are not going to suddenly vault the Leafs into contender status.

From what I have read(because I haven't seen much of either player) Nylander seems to have the highest potential. He also seems to be the riskier player, he is top 6 or bust. This is where the culture change is coming into play.

In the past, the Leafs would take the safer pick, the guy more likely to make the NHL. Gauthier is an example of this, they drafted a guy who is a third line center. Part of this mentality may have been driven by lack of draft picks but the result was no big home runs. What this summer has proven is that you can sign a lot of good 3/4 liners in free agency but the big guys are expensive or not available.

Nylander may just bust along with every other draft pick this year but the culture change was there. Instead of getting 2 or 3 serviceable NHL players in a draft the Leafs may only get 1 really good player every 2-3 years and fill out the roster with the likes of players they signed this year.