Season is over - thoughts on 2019/2020

[LeafGrief]

Probably the most miserable season we've had in the last five years. Just about everything that could go wrong did go wrong. I had more fun riding the tank to last place.

Offense - C+
Matthews and Nylander were gods, everyone else was meh. Marner and Tavares were terrible this year. Depth dried up for long stretches of time.

Defense - C-
Completely ravaged by injuries. Rielly struggled all year and got hurt. Muzzin is amazing but was hurt a lot. Dermott was a disappointment, but looked promising at the end in an increased role. Holl was a pleasant surprise. Barrie... yuck. Neither of our star D prospects made an immediate impact (though I have high hopes for both, especially Sandin).

Goaltending - F
What the actual f***. Freddy was awful this year. Just completely garbage for long stretches of hockey, which we've never seen from him before. We couldn't get a backup to win a damn game until FEBRUARY.

Coaching - C
Babcock got an F for fired. Keefe has a B+ so far. Coaching, goaltending, and injuries form the triumvirate of trash that made this season so miserable.

Management - B-
Sat on the goaltending issue for too long, but made the right move. Sat on Babcock too long, but made the right move. Dubas is making the right moves, but I'd like him to be a little more proactive sometimes. He's not a sit-on-his-hands forever GM, but the patience did cost us some points. I had him at a C, but bumped him up to B- because the free agent signings like Barbanov and Lehtonen are huge. I consider the Marner contract to be last year, otherwise I'd push this back down to a C.

Biggest surprise - Hyman
What the hell? Zach Hyman is a star. That's a sentence I never thought I'd type. Might have been a career year, but I never thought he'd have 21g in 51 games in him. He was an absolute force of nature all year. Huge props to him and I hope he keeps it up.

Disappointment - Barrie
Oi vey. What a complete disaster. Aside from the brief moment of life when Keefe came in, Barrie has been a massive dud. I have never seen a defenseman so bad at playing two on one's. Kerfoot is probably my least liked forward as well, so that's a double whammy.

Because of the stakes and the long layoff, I expect the playoffs to be a completely different beast. The regular season won't have much of an impact on it and I think the boys can go all the way. The injuries are behind them, the coaching is behind them, and that means we're only worried about goaltending. I can live with that.

 

[Wafflewhipper]

I didn’t vote but they were not their best many nights. There was really good stretches and they brought their best when the highest competition was there but they needed to more consistency

 

[zeke]

Things on paper look like they're only going to get worse before they get better.

with both disappointments Barrie and Ceci pending UFAs and likely walking away.

Why is it bad that two "disappointments" are pending UFA exactly?

 

[Joey Hoser]

Matthews and Nylander were gods, everyone else was meh. Marner and Tavares were terrible this year. Depth dried up for long stretches of time.

Marner was on pace for 93 points... 1 less than last year.

If that's "terrible", what's "good"? Breaking Gretzky's records?

Remember this?



f***ing terrible!

 

[GardinerTheForward]

The performance after Babcock was fired proved he was a huge problem. "He was missing players" is a bad excuse considering Keefe lost even bigger players to injury on defence, which is a position we are weak on, and somehow kept us afloat. Looks like the Babcock defenders were incorrect, in thinking he wasn't given a good situation.

I hated Babs as the coach and honestly think we win the cup last year if we had someone competent. But Keefes last 20 games weren’t that much better than Bab’s. Keefe had the one Dream run then back to .500

 

[GardinerTheForward]

I’m looking onward. Not gonna focus on Babcock anymore

 

[ACC1224]

Marner was on pace for 93 points... 1 less than last year.

If that's "terrible", what's "good"? Breaking Gretzky's records?

Remember this?



f***ing terrible!

May have been the best live regular season game I've ever attended. Thanks for the memory!

 

[Mess]

In terms of the Leafs back to back games let's also remember Babcock had his rule where Andersen starts the first night and the back up starts the second night, no matter what.

On October 15, 2019 they played Minnesota and on October 16, 2019 they played Washington and lost. What if Hutchinson started against the Wild, could the Leafs still won that night? I ask because they lost that next game against the Capitals 4-3 and maybe Andersen could have been a difference.

Later that same month they played Columbus on October 21, 2019 and lost in overtime on a penalty shot with Andersen, than the night on October 22, 2019 they lost to the Bruins in Boston with Hutchinson in net. That was when the media like Dave Poulin was calling for Babcock to change his thinking to start Andersen against Boston since they were the better team compared to Columbus.

But things didn't change with the coaching change, just because they did things differently.

Case in point

Fri, Nov 29	@ Buffalo	L6-4	12-11-4	Hutchinson -
Sat, Nov 30	vs Buffalo	W2-1 OT	13-11-4	Andersen

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

Here Keefe played his backup goalie in 1st part of the back to back and lost game #1 and then Andersen won his game going 2nd.. Same result as if you flip that.

Sat, Feb 15	@ Ottawa	W4-2 -	31-20-8	Campbell -
Sun, Feb 16	@ Buffalo	L5-2	31-21-8	Andersen

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

So here Campbell got the 1st game and won and then Andersen lost the 2nd night which produced the same net results.

or

Tue, Mar 3	@ San Jose	L5-2	35-24-8	Campbell -
Thu, Mar 5	@ Los Angeles	L1-0 SO	35-24-9	Andersen
Fri, Mar 6	@ Anaheim	L2-1	35-25-9	Campbell

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

So Campbell starts the road trip and loses, then Andersen gets the 1st of back to back with Campbell getting the 2nd game and all were losses when the dust settled.

In all these back to back cases the same "What IF" the Leafs did it differently would it have produced better results could be 2nd guessed retrospectively?

Note: These are all non playoff teams here with not even a single decision to play a goalie based on a better opponent with Leafs still losing 5 of those 7 games regardless, against the weakest teams in the NHL when faced with back to back goalie decisions.

So how did Keefe do better?

 

[Dekes For Days]

But things didn't change with the coaching change, just because they did things differently.

Your response has nothing to do with his post. He's talking about facing a much more difficult opponent on one of the nights, and using Andersen there. You just posted a bunch of teams of similar quality.

 

[Rare Jewel]

In terms of the Leafs back to back games let's also remember Babcock had his rule where Andersen starts the first night and the back up starts the second night, no matter what.

On October 15, 2019 they played Minnesota and on October 16, 2019 they played Washington and lost. What if Hutchinson started against the Wild, could the Leafs still won that night? I ask because they lost that next game against the Capitals 4-3 and maybe Andersen could have been a difference.

Later that same month they played Columbus on October 21, 2019 and lost in overtime on a penalty shot with Andersen, than the night on October 22, 2019 they lost to the Bruins in Boston with Hutchinson in net. That was when the media like Dave Poulin was calling for Babcock to change his thinking to start Andersen against Boston since they were the better team compared to Columbus.

I see I agree he should've at least tried the other way, but unless you win both there will always be an element of hindsight being 20/20, especially here where every thing is gone over with a fine tooth comb.

I do also see the other side of it as well, where you put your strongest team out to give best chance at two points in the first game.

 

[stickty111]

I hated Babs as the coach and honestly think we win the cup last year if we had someone competent. But Keefes last 20 games weren’t that much better than Bab’s. Keefe had the one Dream run then back to .500

The struggles in the last 20 games was mainly because of bad goaltending. Our SV% was 7th worst in the league last 21 games. While our underlying numbers were average, they weren't bad enough to only have a 11-8-2 record in those games

 

[GardinerTheForward]

The struggles in the last 20 games was mainly because of bad goaltending. Our SV% was 7th worst in the league last 21 games. While our underlying numbers were average, they weren't bad enough to only have a 11-8-2 record in those games

Thats fair. I’m just keeping myself and hopefully some others realistic about the team. I think we are one step removed from being a genuine contender.

 

[LeafsNation75]

But things didn't change with the coaching change, just because they did things differently.

Case in point

Fri, Nov 29	@ Buffalo	L6-4	12-11-4	Hutchinson -
Sat, Nov 30	vs Buffalo	W2-1 OT	13-11-4	Andersen

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

Here Keefe played his backup goalie in 1st part of the back to back and lost game #1 and then Andersen won his game going 2nd.. Same result as if you flip that.

Sat, Feb 15	@ Ottawa	W4-2 -	31-20-8	Campbell -
Sun, Feb 16	@ Buffalo	L5-2	31-21-8	Andersen

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

So here Campbell got the 1st game and won and then Andersen lost the 2nd night which produced the same net results.

or

Tue, Mar 3	@ San Jose	L5-2	35-24-8	Campbell -
Thu, Mar 5	@ Los Angeles	L1-0 SO	35-24-9	Andersen
Fri, Mar 6	@ Anaheim	L2-1	35-25-9	Campbell

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

So Campbell starts the road trip and loses, then Andersen gets the 1st of back to back with Campbell getting the 2nd game and all were losses when the dust settled.

In all these back to back cases the same "What IF" the Leafs did it differently would it have produced better results could be 2nd guessed retrospectively?

Note: These are all non playoff teams here with not even a single decision to play a goalie based on a better opponent with Leafs still losing 5 of those 7 games regardless, against the weakest teams in the NHL when faced with back to back goalie decisions.

So how did Keefe do better?

I see I agree he should've at least tried the other way, but unless you win both there will always be an element of hindsight being 20/20, especially here where every thing is gone over with a fine tooth comb.

I do also see the other side of it as well, where you put your strongest team out to give best chance at two points in the first game.

At least Keefe was willing to change with how he handled which Goalie started the first night of a back to back and which one started the second night. Babcock thought his way was correct and it's one example of him not wanting to change his coaching decisions. That was one thing Kyle Dubas said in his press conference after last years playoffs when he announced Babcock was returning to change and I believe he used the words about Babcock and adapting.

 

[stickty111]

Thats fair. I’m just keeping myself and hopefully some others realistic about the team. I think we are one step removed from being a genuine contender.

I agree with this. I believe we have the talent. Do we have the mindset is the question.

 

[Rare Jewel]

At least Keefe was willing to change with how he handled which Goalie started the first night of a back to back and which one started the second night. Babcock thought his way was correct and it's one example of him not wanting to change his coaching decisions. That was one thing Kyle Dubas said in his press conference after last years playoffs when he announced Babcock was returning to change and I believe he used the words about Babcock and adapting.

Sure, but I wouldn't say either really are the correct way. It very much depends on what happens in the games.

Playing your back up in the first game which you deem the lesser team of the two doesn't exempt you from losing that game. In the scenario you mention with Columbus the first night, it's possible with Hutchinson in net they don't even get a point.

 

[LeafGrief]

Marner was on pace for 93 points... 1 less than last year.

If that's "terrible", what's "good"? Breaking Gretzky's records?

Remember this?



f***ing terrible!

Mitch Marner is one of the best players I've ever had the privilege of seeing play in a Leafs uniform. I love him to death. Don't for a second think that I'm saying he sucks or anything silly like that. He's incredible.

But I'm a little surprised that people are forgetting that he looked completely lifeless for massive stretches of this season. He pulled out the occasional performance like the one in the video you posted, but so rarely compared to last year. He put up 22g and 48a for a staggering 70 ES points last year. This year he managed just 10g and 32a in 59gp, which is a pace of 58 at ES. He was way more reliant on the powerplay than the all-situations superstar that he was last year. He had entire months where he was a non factor at even strength and was rarely the impactful play driver that he was in 18-19.

Marner is a franchise talent and I believe that much of his struggles this year is related to his contract and the fallout from that shit-show. He'll bounce back and continue being a game breaker for us.

In case you need a reminder, here are the discussions on Marner from earlier this season.
Tribute - Mitch Marner Discussion- the all talk edition

Mitch Marner Discussion Thread

You can go through and see what people had to say about him while the memories were fresh.

Here's an excerpt of a post I made in March.

Marner has the yips because of his contract and the fiasco surrounding it, same as Nylander did last year. It's a real shame that he's sucked this year, but he will likely settle down and dominate the league (again) next year. How lucky we are to have a guy who's garbage year is a 92 point pace!

 

[LeafsNation75]

Sure, but I wouldn't say either really are the correct way. It very much depends on what happens in the games.

Playing your back up in the first game which you deem the lesser team of the two doesn't exempt you from losing that game. In the scenario you mention with Columbus the first night, it's possible with Hutchinson in net they don't even get a point.

Yes there was a chance of that happening.

However there is something else to remember about Andersen playing the game against Columbus on October 21 and Hutchinson playing the game against Boston on October 22. The previous Saturday night which was October 19 Toronto had defeated Boston 4-3 in overtime with Andersen in net and he had 43 saves on 46 shots.

Boston Bruins at Toronto Maple Leafs Box Score — October 19, 2019 | Hockey-Reference.com

So at the very least Andersen would have given them a better chance to defeat the Bruins on the road in Boston instead of Hutchinson.

 

[Rare Jewel]

Yes there was a chance of that happening.

However there is something else to remember about Andersen playing the game against Columbus on October 21 and Hutchinson playing the game against Boston on October 22. The previous Saturday night which was October 19 Toronto had defeated Boston 4-3 in overtime with Andersen in net and he had 43 saves on 46 shots.

Boston Bruins at Toronto Maple Leafs Box Score — October 19, 2019 | Hockey-Reference.com

So at the very least Andersen would have given them a better chance to defeat the Bruins on the road in Boston instead of Hutchinson.

I mean possibly.

That game was at home on the 19th and with 40+ shots in that game, playing them tired and in their rink the second night, you might be throwing him to the wolves and may end up with a goalie change anyway if the score gets out of hand.

I think what you're looking for is the team find something extra because Andersen there isn't to bail you out.

 

[LeafsNation75]

I mean possibly.

That game was at home on the 19th and with 40+ shots in that game, playing them tired and in their rink the second night, you might be throwing him to the wolves and may end up with a goalie change anyway if the score gets out of hand.

I think what you're looking for is the team find something extra because Andersen there isn't to bail you out.

Even before that game there was this article on TSN written by Mark Masters and he basically says how Babcock didn't want to change how he played the Goalies on a back to back, because he mentions Columbus being 30th in goals per game at that time.

Mike Babcock sticks to goalie guns despite schedule - TSN.ca

In the Mike Babcock era, the Maple Leafs have consistently started Frederik Andersen in the first game of a back-to-back set with the No. 2 goalie always going on the second night. So, it will be Andersen facing the low-scoring Jackets (2.25 goals per game, 30th in NHL) on Monday while Michael Hutchinson will play in Boston on Tuesday.

This week the Leafs face a challenging schedule with two sets of back-to-back games, including Friday against San Jose and Saturday in Montreal. The second games, both against divisional opponents, would seem to be more important.

"Let's just do the math here," Babcock said of the goalie rotation, "because you guys ask me about this all the time. So, if you can imagine, if you lose game one and then went to game two tired (shrugs) I don't know. So, the investment makes no sense to me whatsoever."

But Babcock's rationale goes beyond just wanting to win that first game.

"Freddie gives us the best opportunity to win," Babcock told TSN during a pre-game interview last week. "I also believe it's important for him to play with our team while it's fresh. I think how he feels is real important for our group."

Down the hallway, that's a sentiment shared by Columbus coach John Tortorella.

"Goaltending basically determines a lot of the winning and losing of games," Tortorella said, "and how tall your team is, how short your team is at certain times ... the mindset of a club, it's worked off of that."

Also notice how Masters said Toronto also had a back to back that same weekend between San Jose and Montreal. Remember how during the Leafs third game of the regular season they blew that 4-1 3rd period lead against Montreal with Hutchinson in net and who he only started since that was their first back to back set of games, so that was the second night playing in a row for Toronto this year and they lost in the shootout. Did it make any sense to start Hutchinson again when playing Montreal knowing what happened the first time?

 

[Rare Jewel]

Even before that game there was this article on TSN written by Mark Masters and he basically says how Babcock didn't want to change how he played the Goalies on a back to back, because he mentions Columbus being 30th in goals per game at that time.

Mike Babcock sticks to goalie guns despite schedule - TSN.ca



Also notice how Masters said Toronto also had a back to back that same weekend between San Jose and Montreal. Remember how during the Leafs third game of the regular season they blew that 4-1 3rd period lead against Montreal with Hutchinson in net and who he only started since that was their first back to back set of games, so that was the second night playing in a row for Toronto this year and they lost in the shootout. Did it make any sense to start Hutchinson again when playing Montreal knowing what happened the first time?

Blowing a 4-1 lead I think is more indicative of the team no? To say "well because he was net for that means he shouldn't play Montreal again that season" I don't agree with that. Montreal isn't the most potent offensive team and you should be able to play your back up and think you have a reasonable chance to win.

This does seem to dance around the issue of the back up and if Hutchinson was the guy replace what Mcelhinney did. But yeah, that's another issue or discussion.

 

[Al14]

The 2019-2020 season is not over till the Stanley Cup has been awarded, or, the NHL cancels the entire season, including playoffs.

Yes, the regular season has been terminated. This was done short of playing the entire regular season games on the schedule.

Overall, to this point, I'm disappointed with how our team performed, especially those players earning more than $10.0M.

Here are my grades:

Offense - C
Matthews, Nylander and Hyman were okay, everyone else was underwhelming. I'm looking at you Marner and Tavares.

Defense - D
Injuries caused some of the problem, however, overall, a lot more improvement is required

Goaltending - D
Andersen was too inconsistent. Too many bad goals given up IMHO. Until Campbell arrived, our backup couldn't win games either.

Coaching - Babcock - F
Just couldn't get our team to compete. Likely due to his coaching methods and player misuse and favouritism.

Coaching - Keefe - B
Improved player usage. Still didn't get much better play from our D, which was likely injury related.

Coaching Overall - D
Mostly due to a very poor start to the season caused by Babcock and his coaching ways.

Management - D
Reaction to goaltending situation was ignored for far too long. Waited too long to fire Babcock. Gave out too much contract money with terms that were all too short IMHO. The Dubas trade of Kadri ended up being a failure. Barrie and Kerfoot weren't good enough. Some of Dubas's recent trades and signings kept it to be a D and not ending up being an F. Criket sounds coming from Shanahan's office, when the refereeing during Leaf games was horrendous also played into a near F rating from me.

JMHO.

 

[Menzinger]

Things on paper look like they're only going to get worse before they get better. [/B]

Journeyman 28 year old Justin Holl is the only signed RHD for next year other then rookie Liljegren, with both disappointments Barrie and Ceci pending UFAs and likely walking away.

With the pandemic going to put real downward pressure on the salary cap ceiling, and little room to move and breathe with a team already cap spent, not sure how expectations for next year are going to improve.

Though this sentiment may be a bit premature before we even see how free agency shakes out - there's a number of D man availible

 

[LeafsNation75]

Blowing a 4-1 lead I think is more indicative the team no? To say "well because he was net for that means he shouldn't play Montreal again that season" I don't agree with that. Montreal isn't the most potent offensive team and you should be able to play your back up and think you have a reasonable chance to win.

This does seem to dance around the issue of the back up and if Hutchinson was the guy replace what Mcelhinney did. But yeah, that's another issue or discussion.

Yes the whole team should get the blame for blowing that 4-1 lead, especially Kapanen since him throwing his stick is what gave Montreal that penalty shot and tied the game.

Now I only brought up that game because it was the second night of a back to back and I wonder if they blow that 4-1 lead with Andersen in net? Plus it was Babcock's stubbornness that lead him to start Hutchinson again against Montreal when they had another back to back after playing San Jose the night before. The difference is they lost that game 5-2 and he allowed 5 goals on 38 shots.

 

[Gabriel426]

But things didn't change with the coaching change, just because they did things differently.

Case in point

Fri, Nov 29	@ Buffalo	L6-4	12-11-4	Hutchinson -
Sat, Nov 30	vs Buffalo	W2-1 OT	13-11-4	Andersen

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

Here Keefe played his backup goalie in 1st part of the back to back and lost game #1 and then Andersen won his game going 2nd.. Same result as if you flip that.

Sat, Feb 15	@ Ottawa	W4-2 -	31-20-8	Campbell -
Sun, Feb 16	@ Buffalo	L5-2	31-21-8	Andersen

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

So here Campbell got the 1st game and won and then Andersen lost the 2nd night which produced the same net results.

or

Tue, Mar 3	@ San Jose	L5-2	35-24-8	Campbell -
Thu, Mar 5	@ Los Angeles	L1-0 SO	35-24-9	Andersen
Fri, Mar 6	@ Anaheim	L2-1	35-25-9	Campbell

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

So Campbell starts the road trip and loses, then Andersen gets the 1st of back to back with Campbell getting the 2nd game and all were losses when the dust settled.

In all these back to back cases the same "What IF" the Leafs did it differently would it have produced better results could be 2nd guessed retrospectively?

Note: These are all non playoff teams here with not even a single decision to play a goalie based on a better opponent with Leafs still losing 5 of those 7 games regardless, against the weakest teams in the NHL when faced with back to back goalie decisions.

So how did Keefe do better?

I think it had more to do with being flexible then with a lack of better word stubborn.

Hindsight is 20/20 and it can be argue back and forth, like back to back games, if the 1st game is against an easier opponent(not going to say records as teams can get hot in a stretch), like team lost 5of the last 6 games while the 2nd game is against a team who won 6 of the last 7 games. And Vice versa.
To me it makes sense to secure the easy 2 points and play the starting goalie in the 1st back to back to ensure 2 points and hope to get a point in the 2nd game. But some might argue, that's loser mentality, they should always go for 4 points.

I think as a Coach, he needs to read the situation and adjust accordingly to maximize the Team Success, ie Wins. I really don't understand why Babs sticks with my starter will play the 1st game regardless thing.

 

[Gabriel426]

Yes there was a chance of that happening.

However there is something else to remember about Andersen playing the game against Columbus on October 21 and Hutchinson playing the game against Boston on October 22. The previous Saturday night which was October 19 Toronto had defeated Boston 4-3 in overtime with Andersen in net and he had 43 saves on 46 shots.

Boston Bruins at Toronto Maple Leafs Box Score — October 19, 2019 | Hockey-Reference.com

So at the very least Andersen would have given them a better chance to defeat the Bruins on the road in Boston instead of Hutchinson.

Regardless of the Wins and Losses.
Would it make sense to have your goalie played on Oct 19 and Oct 22 instead of Oct 19 and Oct 21?
An extra day of rest might just be the edge for Andersen.