What to do with Barrie?

[LeafSteel]

Someone should tell Jeff he’s awful at evaluating what the Leafs needed to improve if he thinks we needed another PMD rather than a defender who could actually defend.

No one is crapping on Barrie and his offence. We are saying he can’t play defence worth a drop of donkey snot, which is what this team needed.

That is all...

 

[Dekes For Days]

Someone should tell Jeff he’s awful at evaluating what the Leafs needed to improve if he thinks we needed another PMD rather than a defender who could actually defend.

Actually, one of the biggest weaknesses of the team was puck moving ability and zone exits from the right side of the defense.

 

[stopclickbait]

Nothing you posted was a defensive stat.

I feel like you could post those kind of stats to "prove" Douglas Murray is good defensively lol

 

[Kiwi]

I'd say shelter the hell out of him so he can be the best offensive play driver he can be but how?

The bottom pair is made up of kids and Muzzin and Holl are doing a ton of donkey work already

We need Barrie to eat some tougher minutes but he's incapable of it and his pairing is looking worse every game they play

We're in some deep ****

 

[LeafingTheWay]

I'd say shelter the hell out of him so he can be the best offensive play driver he can be but how?

The bottom pair is made up of kids and Muzzin and Holl are doing a ton of donkey work already

We need Barrie to eat some tougher minutes but he's incapable of it and his pairing is looking worse every game they play

We're in some deep ****

It's tough because not only is Barrie struggling defensively taking more responsibility, Travis Dermott is also playing in the top-4 for the first time.

With Rielly out, it seems everyone's out of rank.

Muzzin - Holl (Shutdown pairing)
Rielly - Dermott* (Two-way pairing)
Sandin - Barrie (Shelter this pairing and play Barrie with Rielly as well)

Once Barrie shows he's playing better defensively, promote him again.

 

[LeafSteel]

Actually, one of the biggest weaknesses of the team was puck moving ability and zone exits from the right side of the defense.

Solution:

Get defence in RHD, pass it to LHD and let them get it out. RHD stays and defends.

Not perfect but better than what we have going on now.

 

[ToneDog]

Solution:

Get defence in RHD, pass it to LHD and let them get it out. RHD stays and defends.

Not perfect but better than what we have going on now.

Wasn't that the plan for the past two seasons? Bruins plan was to pressure our RHD and cause turnovers and it worked.

 

[yubbers]

Someone should tell Jeff he’s awful at evaluating what the Leafs needed to improve if he thinks we needed another PMD rather than a defender who could actually defend.

No one is crapping on Barrie and his offence. We are saying he can’t play defence worth a drop of donkey snot, which is what this team needed.

That is all...

his offense isn't anything special either. He's the 2A king

 

[LeafingTheWay]

Solution:

Get defence in RHD, pass it to LHD and let them get it out. RHD stays and defends.

Not perfect but better than what we have going on now.

That's a flawed plan.

1) Boston keyed onto that in both playoff series against us. Can't have only one D being effective puck-movers.
2) Keefe hockey is effective when every player is able to move the puck. Case in point: Codi Ceci against Florida last week. He tried to keep possession in his own zone to Rasmus Sandin, but f***ed up.

 

[LeafSteel]

Wasn't that the plan for the past two seasons? Bruins plan was to pressure our RHD and cause turnovers and it worked.

What we have now is better?

How is Barrie going to react with the Bruins pressuring him in the playoffs when the ding dong turns it over 4 times in his own zone on the freaking power play, with no one around him?

Yeah, we can’t replace that....

 

[ToneDog]

What we have now is better?

How is Barrie going to react with the Bruins pressuring him in the playoffs when the ding dong turns it over 4 times in his own zone on the freaking power play, with no one around him?

Yeah, we can’t replace that....

Not saying what we have is better but the plan was to make it better, Would be great to have a shot at the Bruins to find out.

 

[A1LeafNation]

I think Rielly can do everything Barrie can do. But if Rielly is out for season then yes. If he is coming back then Sandin can fill in fine in short term.

So why was it a problem last year...

You need the right handed shot. Barrie is the best on the defence.

Hide him if you have to when we are healthy but he is a weapon other teams will have a hard time stopping.

 

[CantLoseWithMatthews]

Someone should tell Jeff he’s awful at evaluating what the Leafs needed to improve if he thinks we needed another PMD rather than a defender who could actually defend.

No one is crapping on Barrie and his offence. We are saying he can’t play defence worth a drop of donkey snot, which is what this team needed.

That is all...

with Rielly missing two months, it's suddenly not a bad thing to have Barrie. The PP has also been a lot better since Barrie moved on to it. Just because Barrie isn't the player you want him to be doesn't mean he's not good or doesn't help the team. The rest of our defensemen have struggled offensively, and it would seriously hinder our forwards if they had to rely on those guys to move the puck

 

[LeafingTheWay]

his offense isn't anything special either. He's the 2A king

Were you saying the same thing about Morgan Rielly last year? Was Rielly the 2A king last year?

Last year:
Rielly's 0.63 G/60 VS Barrie's 0.49 G/60 (Advantage Rielly)
Rielly's 0.79 1A/60 VS Barrie's 0.99 1A/60 (Advantage Barrie)
Rielly's 0.85 2A/60 VS Barrie's 0.60 2A/60 (Advantage Barrie, i.e less 2nd assists)

This year:
Rielly's 0.16 G/60 VS Barrie's 0.25 G/60 (Advantage Barrie)
Rielly's 0.55 1A/60 VS Barrie's 0.65 1A/60 (Advantage Barrie)
Rielly's 0.65 2A/60 VS Barrie's 0.75 2A/60 (Advantage Rielly, i.e less 2nd assists)

Barrie's defense is below-average, but let's not pretend Barrie isn't fantastic offensively.

 

[Dekes For Days]

Solution:

Get defence in RHD, pass it to LHD and let them get it out. RHD stays and defends.

Not perfect but better than what we have going on now.

I don't think the opposition is just going to let us clear the zone the way we want. It didn't work last year. What we have now is fine.

 

[yubbers]

Were you saying the same thing about Morgan Rielly last year? Was Rielly the 2A king last year?

Last year:
Rielly's 0.63 G/60 VS Barrie's 0.49 G/60 (Advantage Rielly)
Rielly's 0.79 1A/60 VS Barrie's 0.99 1A/60 (Advantage Barrie)
Rielly's 0.85 2A/60 VS Barrie's 0.60 2A/60 (Advantage Barrie, i.e less 2nd assists)

This year:
Rielly's 0.16 G/60 VS Barrie's 0.25 G/60 (Advantage Barrie)
Rielly's 0.55 1A/60 VS Barrie's 0.65 1A/60 (Advantage Barrie)
Rielly's 0.65 2A/60 VS Barrie's 0.75 2A/60 (Advantage Rielly, i.e less 2nd assists)

Barrie's defense is below-average, but let's not pretend Barrie isn't fantastic offensively.

Reily had 20 goals last year. Barries on pace for like 9 :p Pretty big factor in not arguing his offense was great. Reily has been bad this year. Will happen when you get Ceci as your new partner.

 

[Jimmy Firecracker]

Changing my vote to trade. Not sure how or who for, but it needs to be for someone capable defensively, even if they are nowhere near as capable defensively.

 

[JT AM da real deal]

Changing my vote to trade. Not sure how or who for, but it needs to be for someone capable defensively, even if they are nowhere near as capable defensively.

I did same thing you did. Without some defenders who can defend we are going nowhere. We have to be able to hold leads in our push and in playoffs. We can't just say heh Freddy make 20 saves for us in the 3rd with 1 shot after another coming at you.

 

[LeafingTheWay]

I did same thing you did. Without some defenders who can defend we are going nowhere. We have to be able to hold leads in our push and in playoffs. We can't just say heh Freddy make 20 saves for us in the 3rd with 1 shot after another coming at you.

I think that's more of a testament to our forwards collapsing under pressure in the 3rd period, not our defense. Our forwards have become invisible in the 3rd period lately. Interesting to note though is that teams like Pittsburgh, Washington, Carolina have been worse than us with allowing goals against while leading in a game.

I did some more digging and this was really interesting:
- Under Keefe from 'Nov 20th - Jan 1st 2020' games ('Honeymoon' phase some people are referring to):
5th in goals against (per 60) while leading in games
-Under Keefe from 'Jan 1st 2020 - Now' games:
26th in goals against (per 60) while leading in games

That's an incredible difference. Leafs need to pull it together.

 

[likecheese]

I'd say shelter the hell out of him so he can be the best offensive play driver he can be but how?

The bottom pair is made up of kids and Muzzin and Holl are doing a ton of donkey work already

We need Barrie to eat some tougher minutes but he's incapable of it and his pairing is looking worse every game they play

We're in some deep ****

Shelter him with love. Apparently.

 

[Kiwi]

Shelter him with love. Apparently.

Sometimes I want to shelter him with a headlock, does that count?

 

[bonjovi0308]

Actually, one of the biggest weaknesses of the team was puck moving ability and zone exits from the right side of the defense.

So has our team's defense been better this year?

 

[Dekes For Days]

So has our team's defense been better this year?

Yes, it has. Our defensive metrics have improved, and our expected goals against has gone from 24th in the league to 16th.

Unfortunately, many believe that "defense" consists entirely of "stopping the cycle". While this is important, and something that the Leafs are probably below average at (though not to the extent that some people think), most teams struggle with this and defense is about so much more. It doesn't do you any good to stop the cycle, if when you get the puck, you can't get it out of the zone. An ability to maintain that possession, make crisp passes, and get the puck out of the zone is crucial.

We used to get stuck in our own zone for incredibly long stretches and bleed chances, because every time we'd get the puck back, we'd make a bad pass or throw it blindly up the boards, either for an icing, a penalty, or a turnover.

 

[Raym11]

I wouldn't trade him or re-sign him. If we are making the playoffs (which we should expect to) having a Barrie rental could be a difference maker. We need to be less concerned with his value as a trade asset and more about winning.

We need Barrie for powerplays at the very minimum in playoffs. Even if he's gonna lose the puck for a minute straight or do 3 spinoramas here and there.

 

[All Mod Cons]

Are we the only team that continually "use as their own rental" and then see players leave for nothing year after year?

With Dubas being the best GM at drafting in the league by a mile, you'd think he'd love those draft picks.