While I admit that some of Babcock's decisions are questionable from outside the organization, I have no idea what the organization wants to achieve with this developing team. This team is not a finished product. There will be changes and I suggest that there is a purpose to the madness which we are not privy to. I would also suggest that we look at the roster and examine how the players are playing before we start throwing stones at Babcock. Your views may vary.
Elite: Andersen, maybe, save for the first month and determine for yourselves.
Very Good: Matthews (injury and not presently firing on all cylinders Imo). Rielly, our best D by far, including mistakes.
Good: Hainsey, Marleau, JVR, Hyman...they've all exceeded my expectations in areas, but have issues that hinder their overall grade.
Not meeting expectations, but talented and acceptable: Nylander, Marner, Borgman (could say he's good as he's a rookie, but like every rookie mistakes are made), Brown, Kadri (Kadri could be a candidate for the next category)
Talented but not acceptable: Gardiner, Bozak, Zaitsev (possibly Kadri, the last 20 games not acceptable, the first 20 quite good). I include Zaitsev here because of the number of zone entries he allows and his consistent record of not working well with his partner. Last year with Rielly, this year Gardiner.
Mediocre talent, acceptable: Martin, Komarov (pk), MacElhinny (how the heck do you spell his name?)
Mediocre talent, unacceptable: Komarov (es), Moore, Carrick
It ain't there: Polak
Not graded due to the number of games played: Freddy the Goat, Sosh, Dermott, Leivo
If you take the 50/50 gradings of Kadri and Komarov and add them together to create 1 acceptable and 1 unacceptable, the Leafs by my way of looking at things have 7 players riding an unacceptable or worse streak. That's a third of your roster. Awfully difficult to consistently win when this number of players are not playing up to their capabilities. One can argue that Babcock's usage of these players is contributing to their underperforming grades.
Nylander and Marner need to play better regardless of where they are in the line-up (a case of the sophomore slump?). Kadri has to get on the score sheet. Bozak and Gardiner...frustrations abound with these two. The point being for all 5, it's up to them to perform better.