Why bother when the first line and second line are both scoring?
Shouldn't the question be whether the team is better with Bozak somewhere else and Kadri on the first line not just whether or not the first line is better?
Kadri wasn't that great last night but he has definitely improved on his face-offs. Right now I wouldn't touch anything as both lines seem to be clicking.
Kadri wasn't that great last night but he has definitely improved on his face-offs. Right now I wouldn't touch anything as both lines seem to be clicking.
As a team concept sure, but we are debating the merits of Kadri vs Bozak. I think Bozak should be on the top line at the moment. Both lines are scoring and in reality the Kadri line is getting the most TOI anyways. My big issue is the hesitance to try Kadri on the 1st line when things do go dry. The Leafs have shown resistance to the very thought of trying it and that's what baffles me.
Conspiracy theorist here, but I bet Kadri is on the 1st line next year after we lock him up at 2nd line money.
I recall Kadri getting time alongside Kessel and JVR in prior seasons. What resistance are you talking about?
Does anyone ever stop to think that Bozak's corsi numbers could be poor because of someone like Kessel? His sample size away from Kessel is too small to judge because the majority of of it is when hes in the defensive zone to take a draw.
Kadri has had more icetime than Bozak in each of the last two games.
both wins, of course.
Vs. NYR
Kadri: 18:08es, 1:38pp, 0:00sh, 19:46tot ---- 50.0fo%
Bozak: 14:48es, 2:43pp, 0:27sh, 17:58tot --- 66.7fo%
Vs. COL
Kadri: 16:30es, 3:45pp, 0:00sh, 20:15tot ----- 68.8fo%
Bozak: 13:46es, 5:21pp, 0:36sh, 19:43tot ---- 57.7fo%
The second line has been awesome, and our best ES line, and Randy has started to give them the bulk of the ES icetime as a result. The Kadri line already HAS been our 1st line at even strength the past two games. Not sure we need to change anything there.
The better question here might be on the PP - because Kadri certainly should be on the #1 PP unit. It's pretty incredible that he's been a top-30 scoring centre in his first two full nhl seasons...WITHOUT getting 1st unit PP time.
The question isn't whether or not the first line is working with Bozak. They are clearly getting their points. The question is whether it would work better with Kadri.
Yes we have. The short of it is that it's not just that Bozak's Corsi is bad, a number of other metrics are too. For example, last year he was one of the worst forwards at defensive zone exits, barely better than the goons. And he was also one of the worst forwards at offensive zone entrances. Meanwhile, Kessel was the top forward on the Leafs at both. A player can't possibly fare so poorly at moving the puck and be a strong possession force on the line.
I'm not saying Kessel is a good possession player in his own right though. There's a lot more to driving possession than zone exits and entrances. I'd say that overall, Bozak and Kessel are both pretty mediocre at driving possession and when you put them together you get a line that's continuously hemmed into it's own zone. They are an elite line at scoring on the rush though.
Secondly, if Bozak was a good driver of possession you'd see some sign of it even without Kessel. But the WOWY stats over his career show that he makes almost all of his teammates WORSE in terms of possession when playing with them. And there are zone adjusted versions of the stats to account for unfavorable zone starts. So sure, without Kessel last year he was out in defensive situations with guys like Kulemin and McClement. Nobody expects his production or Corsi to be good in those situations. But a first line center ought to be able to make third liners better, not worse. We can't blame it all on his linemates or zone starts without Kessel.
Also, remember, there were several games two years ago and maybe even last year where Kadri played with Colton Orr. He made Frattin look like an NHL player. Kozun looked great with him. Now Winnik does. Pretty much the only players he hasn't made look better are Kessel-JVR last year, but I'd love to see what he could do with them when we actually have healthy NHL-calibre players on the other three lines.
Edit: I'm with everyone saying don't put all your eggs in one basket though. If we're going to experiment I'd rather see Santorelli on the first line just to see what he can do with skilled linemates.
I didn't think Kadri was very good last night.
Because of a couple bad shifts in the third?
That line was good again
Kadri has had more icetime than Bozak in each of the last two games.
both wins, of course.
probably because that idiot Ferraro said in the third that Kadri hadn't had a good game, so that's what fans now think.
Because of a couple bad shifts in the third?
That line was good again
probably because that idiot Ferraro said in the third that Kadri hadn't had a good game, so that's what fans now think.
Bozak has the healthy lead in scoring right now either way.
Tyler Bozak - 3 goals
Nazem Kadri - 2 goals
That's healthy as ****.