Pietra will solve a lot of problems for the Leafs, but he was not the one piece that Leafs needs to still be playing now nor would win the Cup.
Their problem is they could not score nor defend.
Leafs is built to score but they couldn't for pretty much 3 of the 5 games. Stacking the lines is one thing, but the playoffs is about balance and the top 4 need to play on THREE different lines. Their individual stats might not be as good but I think the team will be better. If you look around the league, there are only a few teams with their top 4 players outscoring our top four. But having 6pts among your top 3 players in a game might only mean 2 goals scored bc they all played on the same line.
Being making any trades. Keefe needs to figure out how to split the Big 4 and which pieces he has on the team that would be the most productive playing with Marner, JT, Willie or AM. Part of having elite talents like our Big four is to spread them out in order to take advantage of opposing bottom pairings and 3/4th lines. Jones and Werenski might play 30 mins, and PLD might play another 20mins, but that still leave 10mins in a game where(if the Big 4 is split into 3 lines) for one of those lines to take advantage.
IF the optimal is AM, Hyman and Marner, then find out who fits best with JT and do the same for Willie. This might need a camp or a few months in but at the same time Keefe coached all of them either with the Marlies or the Leafs. He should have a pretty good idea how each piece could fit. Since Dubas needs to trade at least 2 of the supporting cast-Engvall, Kerfoot, Soup, Kap, and AJ for Dman, Keefe wont be able to have a trail and error approach.
As for defense, they just need someone who is not a liability in the back.
Most importantly, they vets who can come in and calm the team and give confidence to the team.
Their problem is they could not score nor defend.
Leafs is built to score but they couldn't for pretty much 3 of the 5 games. Stacking the lines is one thing, but the playoffs is about balance and the top 4 need to play on THREE different lines. Their individual stats might not be as good but I think the team will be better. If you look around the league, there are only a few teams with their top 4 players outscoring our top four. But having 6pts among your top 3 players in a game might only mean 2 goals scored bc they all played on the same line.
Being making any trades. Keefe needs to figure out how to split the Big 4 and which pieces he has on the team that would be the most productive playing with Marner, JT, Willie or AM. Part of having elite talents like our Big four is to spread them out in order to take advantage of opposing bottom pairings and 3/4th lines. Jones and Werenski might play 30 mins, and PLD might play another 20mins, but that still leave 10mins in a game where(if the Big 4 is split into 3 lines) for one of those lines to take advantage.
IF the optimal is AM, Hyman and Marner, then find out who fits best with JT and do the same for Willie. This might need a camp or a few months in but at the same time Keefe coached all of them either with the Marlies or the Leafs. He should have a pretty good idea how each piece could fit. Since Dubas needs to trade at least 2 of the supporting cast-Engvall, Kerfoot, Soup, Kap, and AJ for Dman, Keefe wont be able to have a trail and error approach.
As for defense, they just need someone who is not a liability in the back.
Most importantly, they vets who can come in and calm the team and give confidence to the team.
