Offense from the back end (is it possible to be the top 3 team)

[MJ65]

There is no question that our forward lines can rack up points, we probably have 6 -7 forwards that are probably going to accumulate 50+ points this season (Mathews, Nylander, Marner, JVR, Kadri, Marleau and probably Bozak). What we forget is Toronto’s threat on the back end that our opponents can not ignore.

We have only played nine games this season, and the sample size is small, but defense is supplying a remarkable support to our league leading offence. Four of our defensemen have racked up five or more points so far

Morgan Rielly 9 points
Ron Hainsey 6 points
Jake Gardiner 5 points
Nikita Zaitsev 5 points

The fact is only 23 of the NHL’s other teams either have zero or one defenseman with 5 plus points. Only Chicago has 3 defenseman with 5 points.

it is too early but we are leading in this department early in the season. My questions would be

- Can Haisey keep up the pace
- Are we going to see a 50 point season from one of Rielly / Gardiner / Ziatsev
- Is it possible to have two 40 points scorer beside one 50 point or 3 40 point defenseman
- Is it possible for our bottom pair to rack up 25 - 30 points (Borgman, Carric, Polak)
- Is Toronto defense capable of generating 160 - 180 points from it's defense, in 2016- 17 our defense generated 144 points

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[Kubus]

I doubt we keep this pace up. We have just been scoring in bunches so most of the guys on the ice are reaping the personal rewards(points).

Our D moves the puck well, points will come with that, but they do not need to produce at star levels for us to do well.

 

[zeke]

It will be impossible, only because we only use 2 guys on the PP, when many other teams use 4, and dman points come mostly from the PP.

 

[MJ65]

It will be impossible, only because we only use 2 guys on the PP, when many other teams use 4, and dman points come mostly from the PP.

I think with the addition of Polak, Zaitsev is going to see less time on PK and will be used on PP as well

 

[zeke]

I think with the addition of Polak, Zaitsev is going to see less time on PK and will be used on PP as well

He might, but the leafs still only use 1 dman on each PP unit, so he'll only be taking PP time away from one of jake or mo, so that won't increase our dman scoring either.

Now more and more teams are using 1-dman PPs, but there are still enough out there using 2-dman PPs that they'll inevitably score more.

 

[MJ65]

He might, but the leafs still only use 1 dman on each PP unit, so he'll only be taking PP time away from one of jake or mo, so that won't increase our dman scoring either.

Now more and more teams are using 1-dman PPs, but there are still enough out there using 2-dman PPs that they'll inevitably score more.

I agree

 

[Menzinger]

Hainsey hasn't been above 20 points in almost a decade, so doubtful he's able to keep up his current pace

 

[MJ65]

Hainsey hasn't been above 20 points in almost a decade, so doubtful he's able to keep up his current pace

I understand but I believe with the offense we have and playing top pairing he should produce more

 

[stickty111]

I understand but I believe with the offense we have and playing top pairing he should produce more

At most he likely gets a 5 point increase from his career high. It doesnt matter though. As long as he continues to be a stablizing presence, I dont care how many points he gets.

 

[MJ65]

At most he likely gets a 5 point increase from his career high. It doesnt matter though. As long as he continues to be a stablizing presence, I dont care how many points he gets.

No question - so far he has been pretty consistent and logging very important

 

[bluumax]

I think you're looking at 35 per player for the top 3, and 40 combined for the bottom 3.

So no, 160-180 i don't think is achievable but it would only take one of the top 3 having a great year and some continued strong play by Hainsey to get us pretty close. But i wouldn't bank on it.

 

[Menzinger]

I understand but I believe with the offense we have and playing top pairing he should produce more

I can see him getting a few extra points compared to last year, but he's not really being used for offensive production.

His scoring so far is likely more down to the fact that he's on the ice alongside some stellar offensive talents