2017-18 Toronto Maple Leafs - General Discussion

[Frank E]

If Matthews returns (he will), it'll put both Josh and Sosh in the pressbox, i.e. two players on the roster that are better options than Matt Martin, rather than just one.

Somebody post that gif of the beating of the dead horse.

 

[bustaheims]

If Matthews returns (he will), it'll put both Josh and Sosh in the pressbox, i.e. two players on the roster that are better options than Matt Martin, rather than just one.

Somebody post that gif of the beating of the dead horse.

Nope.

 

[herman]

I was going to write about the Powerplay this week during the break, but Leafs Geek Podcast got Gus Katsaros on to talk about exactly that, so now I don't know what to do with my life.

https://theleafsnation.com/2017/11/14/leafs-geeks-podcast-pp-analysis-with-gus-katsaros/

 

[herman]

TIL: the Leafs have a fantasy football league.
TIAL: the one participant who is not currently a Leaf is Cody Franson.

https://theathletic.com/154543/2017/11/14/poor-drafting-collusion-and-one-vocal-rookie-gm-inside-the-leafs-fantasy-football-league/

 

[hockeyfan1]

Chart (from Hockey Viz) showing the Leafs taking most of their shots up close.

[tweet]930805074657284096[/tweet]

 

[CarltonTheBear]

https://twitter.com/kristen_shilton/status/930829645561389057

Back to our regular lines.

 

[ZBBM]

This has absolutely nothing directly to do with this thread but I am going to post the link here for 2 reasons:

1.  Leafs fans can relate to the Apocalypse stuff
2.  It reminds us of Renberg's crack about diving being like Italian soccer

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/14/world/europe/italy-world-cup.html

The Ikea joke is priceless.

 

[Highlander]

This has absolutely nothing directly to do with this thread but I am going to post the link here for 2 reasons:

1.  Leafs fans can relate to the Apocalypse stuff
2.  It reminds us of Renberg's crack about diving being like Italian soccer

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/14/world/europe/italy-world-cup.html

The Ikea joke is priceless.

Know this is not the place, but one cannot help to think that the Atomic Ant may have been useful to that team.

 

[disco]

Must... have... Leafs hockey... can't... Auston... losing... will... Matthews...

 

[herman]

http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/31-thoughts-carey-price-canadiens-page/

More on Rielly's gamechanger:

Nineteen games into the season, Morgan Rielly has 16 points ? almost halfway to his career high of 36. One reason? He?s given up the slap shot.

?I just want to get [the puck] through,? he said last week. ?The slap shot takes too long.?

Then he imitated one at his stall.

?When you start coming down, you can?t adjust. I like to be able to change what I?m doing.?

I?ve counted at least five assists off shots he got through defenders from the point. Rielly added he worked on an Erik Karlsson-style half-slapper, because he can adjust that move.

20. Another coach understood completely why Mike Babcock kept William Nylander on the wing when Matthews was injured, rather than moving him to centre: ?Nylander is excellent at hiding. He knows how to get lost and find the holes in a defence. Very dangerous. At centre, it?s much harder to hide.?

William Nylander: Milford man.

 

[Coco-puffs]

I was going to write about the Powerplay this week during the break, but Leafs Geek Podcast got Gus Katsaros on to talk about exactly that, so now I don't know what to do with my life.

https://theleafsnation.com/2017/11/14/leafs-geeks-podcast-pp-analysis-with-gus-katsaros/

And now Dellow comes with the thunder... you have absolutely nothing left to say.

https://theathletic.com/155800/2017/11/15/dellow-maple-leafs-in-a-whole-different-league-than-rest-of-the-nhl-on-the-power-play/

TL;DR version
- Shortest average shot distance in a decade as a team (over 2 ft shorter than the best team in the last decade)
- PP1 with JvR-Bozak-Marner-Kadri-Rielly:

scoring 14.9 GF/60. The average 4F1D is scoring something like 7.5 GF/60. So that's pretty good. The shot volume they're generating is nuts: both 86.2 SF/60 and 144.2 CF/60 are wild numbers.

Rielly's share of the shot attempts isn't particularly low. It's about average for a 4F1D, which makes the low shot distance all the more remarkable.

21.5 rebounds per 60 and rebound percentage of 30.2 per cent.  That 30.2 per cent leads the NHL amongst five-man units that have been on the ice for at least 20 saved shots. Only four such groups are above 20 per cent.

Toronto's PP1 is ... producing rebound volumes like we haven't seen this decade and producing goals at a phenomenal level. When you watch the video of some of the goals they've scored, you just see the same things happening over and over. Find a way to get a rebound. Collapse to the net. Win the battle.

BTW, alot of what was discussed in Dellow's piece is also described on the podcast.  While they are in a 1-3-1 formation, they are essentially just trying to create an overload situation at the net.  Get it on net and bang in rebounds.

 

[herman]

Like seriously, they just broke my Mjolnir.

I know I've talked about exactly those things the last year, just without numbers, and the defensemen being used as blue line bumpers for recycling opportunities, rather than low percentage slappers.

 

[Frank E]

Sounds unsustainable, no?

 

[herman]

Sounds unsustainable, no?

They've done it two years straight... mostly with players we're already casting off the team.

 

[Frank E]

Sounds unsustainable, no?

They've done it two years straight... mostly with players we're already casting off the team.

Fair enough, I didn't/can't read the article, but today our PP% sits at 6th in the league.

So I'm not sure you'd say they're "producing goals at a phenomenal record"...sounds more like cherry picking certain stats to try and exaggerate the PP's overall effectiveness. 

 

[Coco-puffs]

Sounds unsustainable, no?

They've done it two years straight... mostly with players we're already casting off the team.

Well, had great results on the PP yes (I think they were 2nd in the NHL).  Not quite these results last year though.  Is it sustainable- depends on what part you are talking about.  Can they continue to generate that many shots, rebounds, etc from in close?  Maybe.  Philly's top PP unit last year had something crazy like 130 CF/60.  If they do, then yeah, maybe the scoring will remain sustainable if they keep shooting from so close.  Otherwise, a dip in attempts will surely lead to a dip in GF/60.

 

[herman]

Sounds unsustainable, no?

They've done it two years straight... mostly with players we're already casting off the team.

Well, had great results on the PP yes (I think they were 2nd in the NHL).  Not quite these results last year though.  Is it sustainable- depends on what part you are talking about.  Can they continue to generate that many shots, rebounds, etc from in close?  Maybe.  Philly's top PP unit last year had something crazy like 130 CF/60.  If they do, then yeah, maybe the scoring will remain sustainable if they keep shooting from so close.  Otherwise, a dip in attempts will surely lead to a dip in GF/60.

The only thing that might keep them from continuing to generate like this is getting stymied at the blue line and not getting set up on time. The rest of PP1's strategy is not really stoppable.

And right now, PP2 hasn't really got going yet. The theory behind their strategy is the same, but the methodology is almost completely different.

 

[Coco-puffs]

Sounds unsustainable, no?

They've done it two years straight... mostly with players we're already casting off the team.

Fair enough, I didn't/can't read the article, but today our PP% sits at 6th in the league.

So I'm not sure you'd say they're "producing goals at a phenomenal record"...sounds more like cherry picking certain stats to try and exaggerate the PP's overall effectiveness.

The team overall is 6th in the league.  The Kadri unit has most of their success though (10 PP goals).  The article specifically talks about how the Kadri unit is "producing goals at a phenomenal record".

The Matthews unit has 4 PP goals, with almost the same icetime.  The reason why they don't have as many goals, despite having an avg shot distance that's actually closer than the Kadri unit?  73.7 CF/60 and 45.5 SF/60.  They aren't generating enough- and I think much of that problem is they aren't getting set up in the zone quite as often (and starting their PP shifts on the fly)

 

[Frank E]

Sounds unsustainable, no?

They've done it two years straight... mostly with players we're already casting off the team.

Fair enough, I didn't/can't read the article, but today our PP% sits at 6th in the league.

So I'm not sure you'd say they're "producing goals at a phenomenal record"...sounds more like cherry picking certain stats to try and exaggerate the PP's overall effectiveness.

The team overall is 6th in the league.  The Kadri unit has most of their success though (10 PP goals).  The article specifically talks about how the Kadri unit is "producing goals at a phenomenal record".

The Matthews unit has 4 PP goals, with almost the same icetime.  The reason why they don't have as many goals, despite having an avg shot distance that's actually closer than the Kadri unit?  73.7 CF/60 and 45.5 SF/60.  They aren't generating enough- and I think much of that problem is they aren't getting set up in the zone quite as often (and starting their PP shifts on the fly)

Ahh...I stand corrected then.

What is the stated PP% of the Kadri unit?

 

[disco]

https://twitter.com/LeafsMaz20/status/930832061920931840