Line Combos: Is BABCOCK really putting the BEST LINES OUT??

Jimmy Firecracker

Fire Sheldon.
Mar 30, 2010
35,559
34,104
Mississauga
As long as Polak plays over Borgman, Carrick, and Holl, no he’s not. The forwards however he seems to have figured out, though they could still be optimized better imo.
 

Irish

Registered User
Jun 15, 2016
16
33
Why the F was Nylander, JVR and Zaitsev on the ice at the same time in OT?
 

firstemperor

Registered User
May 25, 2011
8,755
1,445
As long as Polak plays over Borgman, Carrick, and Holl, no he’s not. The forwards however he seems to have figured out, though they could still be optimized better imo.

Holl I would agree with......but not sure about Borgman...and definitely not Carrick based on what I've seen. I still don't know why Holl wasn't giving an extended look though, do we not have a roster spot for him after dealing Sosh?
 

Leaf4Life

Registered User
Feb 8, 2010
2,566
1,994
Definitely should've put Dermott out there over Zaitsev. All Zaitsev did was chase the puck the whole time and when he finally got it, he handed it to the other team.

That was an ugly turnover by Zaitsev. TB had the puck for nearly 2 minutes straight after that brutal play.
 

BlueForever75

Registered User
Oct 4, 2017
5,691
2,303
I believe Babcock can still maximize our potential with some further tweaks. I agree that Polak being in there is a head scratcher at times, but I understand his logic for some games. But yesterdays game against TB should have had Carrick in. TB isn't a big team on the forecheck, although they can be lethal on the PP which is probably why Polak was in and not Carrick.

The only argument I really have with how Babcock plays his players is on the PP, and the amount of ice time given to his skilled players. There is no reason why Marner and Nylander weren't on the ice for the 5 on 3 PP last night. Sorry they are your most skilled players and they were non-existent. To me Matthews, Nylander and Marner should be leading your team in ice time. If you saw how much Stamkos played last night, although it was due to injuries.....our players should be playing 20+ minutes a night and be fixtures on the PP for as much as possible.

This part of Babcock's reasoning I do not get.
 

v00d00daddy

Registered User
Oct 9, 2007
2,299
1,240
I hope that Matthews being out for a bit can be a bit of an eye opener about a couple players.

1. Hyman does (and will continue to) look like he has less of an impact without Auston on his line.

2. Kapanen on the first line with Nylander will hopefully connect and show that he can play Hymans role when Matthews returns. Kap has shown he can forecheck like a mofo, skates like the wind and can shoot.

3. Hyman would be an awesome momentum building, wake up boys, hard working line addition to play with with Plekanec and Komarov.
 

hotpaws

Registered User
Nov 21, 2009
21,484
6,062
I hope that Matthews being out for a bit can be a bit of an eye opener about a couple players.

1. Hyman does (and will continue to) look like he has less of an impact without Auston on his line.

2. Kapanen on the first line with Nylander will hopefully connect and show that he can play Hymans role when Matthews returns. Kap has shown he can forecheck like a mofo, skates like the wind and can shoot.

3. Hyman would be an awesome momentum building, wake up boys, hard working line addition to play with with Plekanec and Komarov.
Hyman will never leave Mathews side.
 

namttebih

Registered User
Dec 11, 2010
4,778
912
East York
I've thought of something a little different for the remainder of the year.

JVR Matthews Brown
Marleau Nylander Kapanen
Hyman Kadri Marner
Komorov Plekanek/Bozak

3 very threatening lines. 4th line D-zone start specialists. Our two best F/O guys in Plek and Bozak share C duties dependent on strong side.
 

GoldenGOOSE

Registered User
Jan 14, 2018
828
400
Holl was outstanding, a real head scratcher.

Big, can headman the puck, and took the man well. Skates smooth as well. Sheesh, what kind of message does that send to the guys on the farm?

All we had to do to get McDonagh, was to surrender Kapanen, and the New York captain was ours.

SO maybe, we can put kapanen up on the first line where he belongs and drop Hyman down to a line where guys with no hands, hang out.

I know tough love works, but Babcock love? Ughh. He sure has the team playing well and such, but some of his moves are beyond perplexing, it has to be some occult mind screw stuff.
 

thewave

Registered User
Jun 17, 2011
39,884
9,723
Hyman Nylander Marner - Was nothing short of phenomenal together. He got rid of that in a single game for no reason other than, well, no reason.
 
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david999

Registered User
Jan 21, 2011
1,197
331
Tonight it looks like Kapenen is going to be placed on the 4th line, Leivo out, and Pleks centering Nylander and Hyman. Why?
Babcock does not want to give Willy a chance at center for an extended look with Kappy or Marner. Two games with Willy at center and the Leafs have 3 out of 4 points. It’s not like they were blown out of in any matches. I realize Babcock worries about being overmatched against Barkov, but when the Leafs were spinning their wheels for 2 months it was because he had the lines setup to play defensive hockey versus using their talent and speed to beat teams ( like in the last 16 games).
 

MattySnipes

Registered User
Jan 26, 2018
12,457
12,447
'Mecca' of Hockey
Hey guys, take this with a grain of salt. My good friend at work went on a mini-vacation this past week in Florida/Miami with a couple of friends. They ended up going to see the back-to-back against Tampa Bay & Florida.

After the Tampa game they were just hanging out on the street and they spotted a "Maple Leafs fan" wearing a Toronto Arenas cap, smoking a cigarette. My friend hollers at him saying "Hey!! Are you a Leafs fan?", the man replies "Yeah man I am from Toronto, I am Mitchell Marner's older brother, Chris!"

My friend George goes "No way!! What are you doing here?", he says "My brother got the whole family tickets to the game, so we're all up here."

They ended up sparking a small conversation, George asks him why he never ended up in the NHL? Chris says he never had the skill or determination along with some bad habits - none of which apply to Mitch. Chris Marner then leads into lineups and coaching decisions. Chris mentions that a bunch of the players are not happy with where they are slotted (4th line, etc), and that a lot of them don't like the way Babcock handles the lineups and decisions.

I don't have an issue with Babcock or the way he comes up with his lineups, after all he is the coach and only he can make those decisions. I just know a lot of fans on here tend to voice their displeasure with Babcock, so it was very interesting to hear this.
 

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