2018-19 Toronto Maple Leafs - General Discussion

[Zee]

I know a lot of it was due to Andersen being injured, but the Leafs have gotten 15 games out of the backup position already this season, last year total there was only 19 games (18 for McBackup and 1 for Pickard).  Well on their way to getting 20+ games for the backup and more rest for Freddie.

Edit: 14 decisions, 8-5-1 with non Freddie goalies.

Including tonight's game, there's only 7 more B2B starts on the schedule for Sparks. If Andersen starts every other game he'll still end up with 61 starts. Hopefully Babcock reconsiders Sparks' starting schedule in the second half (which he has talked about potentially doing) but Andersen will still likely have a very heavy workload.

Ideally you'd like to see backup starts get into the mid 20s so Andersen only plays 55-57 games.  We'll see.

I hear a lot of talk such as this, but is there anything to back this up?

I don't have the stats in front of me but I'm pretty sure the last few Cup winners didn't have goalies playing 60+ regular season games

 

[princedpw]

If like to see Marner with Matthews and Nylander with Tavares.  Try to get both those guys ( Matthews and Nylander) going.

I was thinking the same thing.

 

[Bullfrog]

2018: Washington:	Braden Holtby (50)	Philipp Grubauer (31)
2017: Pittsburgh:	Matt Murray (49)	Marc-Andre Fleury (38)
2016: Pittsburgh:	Marc-Andre Fleury (58)	Matt Murray (13)	Jeff Zatkoff (14)
2015: Chicago:	Corey Crawford (57)	Scott Darling (14)	Antti Raanta (14)
2014: LA:	Jonathan Quick (49)	Martin Jones (19)	Ben Scrivens (19)
2013: Chicago:	Corey Crawford (30)	Ray Emery (21)
2012: LA:	Jonathan Quick (69)	Jonathan Bernier (16)
2011: Boston:	Tim Thomas (57)	Tuukka Rask (29)
2010: Chicago:	Cristobal Huet (48)	Antti Niemi (39)
2009: Pittsburgh:	Marc-Andre Fleury (62)	Dany Sabourin (19)
2008: Detroit:	Chris Osgood (43)	Dominik Hasek (41)
2007: Anaheim:	Jean-Sebastien Giguere (56)	Ilya Bryzgalov (27)
2006: Carolina:	Martin Gerber (60)	Cam Ward (28)

 

[Bullfrog]

Average is 55 games (excluding 2013, Chicago).

 

[herman]

Average is 55 games (excluding 2013, Chicago).

55 is the average a lot of teams are striving for according to Cat Silverman.
Babcock is one of the holdouts here.

As Bullfrog aptly demonstrated, the last handful of Cup winners did it with split duties, even during their specific runs. A game-warm average backup is better than a super cold good backup.

 

[Bates]

Average is 55 games (excluding 2013, Chicago).

55 is the average a lot of teams are striving for according to Cat Silverman.
Babcock is one of the holdouts here.

As Bullfrog aptly demonstrated, the last handful of Cup winners did it with split duties, even during their specific runs. A game-warm average backup is better than a super cold good backup.

Weren't many of those splits the result of injuries or bad play rather than an actual plan? Same result but not because of philosophy.

 

[Bullfrog]

Weren't many of those splits the result of injuries or bad play rather than an actual plan? Same result but not because of philosophy.

I think that's a good point. I just posted the numbers, but it'd be interesting to see a more in-depth look at the numbers. Some of them are definitely the result of injury.

 

[bustaheims]

Weren't many of those splits the result of injuries or bad play rather than an actual plan? Same result but not because of philosophy.

I?d say the reasoning is largely immaterial. Regardless of why, there evidence strongly suggests that ~55 starts is roughly what you should be asking from your starting goalie.

 

[Zee]

Weren't many of those splits the result of injuries or bad play rather than an actual plan? Same result but not because of philosophy.

I?d say the reasoning is largely immaterial. Regardless of why, there evidence strongly suggests that ~55 starts is roughly what you should be asking from your starting goalie.

Yeah it doesn't matter why they started under 60 games, there's evidence to suggest the fewer regular season games you play,the better it might be for a long playoff run for a goalie. You would think with all the sports science stuff and trying to get peak performance from athletes they would be more strict in getting guys more rest. NBA seems to be ahead of the curve here as they regularly sit out players during the regular season even if they're not injured.

 

[Guilt Trip]

I think NHL teams do it to an extent with their maintenance days where guys don't practice. We tend to forget that these guys are on the ice almost every day and for a goalie facing shots all the time, it can get not only physically, but mentally tiring as well.

 

[herman]

Something I think I'll be keeping an eye out for is Nikita Zaitsev: Unleashed.

This isn't anything to do with Gardiner being out at the moment nor does it have anything to do with the goal he just scored last night (although that is the result). This looks like Zaitsev is now being given the green light to play his game on the offensive side now, after getting the matchup/PK treatment for 1.5 seasons similar to how Reilly was swamped with defensive assignments when Babcock came aboard, and how Dermott (and now Liljegren) received the same on the Marlies.

Lately, Zaitsev has looked more like himself out there with the puck. Dude can skate well, even if it's not zipzip fast, and dude can really shoot the puck (KHL highlights). There are still a couple of hand grenade passes once in awhile for icings (that has a lot to do with the forwards not facing the defense when they stretch out, limiting options), but I've started to see him carrying it at times and charging a low-high pass back down into the dirty ice for good chances.

 

[L K]

Something I think I'll be keeping an eye out for is Nikita Zaitsev: Unleashed.

This isn't anything to do with Gardiner being out at the moment nor does it have anything to do with the goal he just scored last night (although that is the result). This looks like Zaitsev is now being given the green light to play his game on the offensive side now, after getting the matchup/PK treatment for 1.5 seasons similar to how Reilly was swamped with defensive assignments when Babcock came aboard, and how Dermott (and now Liljegren) received the same on the Marlies.

Lately, Zaitsev has looked more like himself out there with the puck. Dude can skate well, even if it's not zipzip fast, and dude can really shoot the puck (KHL highlights). There are still a couple of hand grenade passes once in awhile for icings (that has a lot to do with the forwards not facing the defense when they stretch out, limiting options), but I've started to see him carrying it at times and charging a low-high pass back down into the dirty ice for good chances.

I do feel like that was something noted as a positive in his game when he started here with the team.  It got curbed quite a bit as the team transitioned into doing more stretch passes rather than carrying the puck up the ice.

 

[Highlander]

Ya Z looks a lot more comfortable recently and boy do we need all our D to step it up. Last night was a very good effort all round.

 

[Bender]

Ya Z looks a lot more comfortable recently and boy do we need all our D to step it up. Last night was a very good effort all round.

Just to throw some water on that, I couldn't believe how bad his coverage was on Backstrom. He got pseudo body position on him but didn't keep his stick in the lane or take away Backstrom's stick/ability to shoot. I saw that and though you couldn't have been a bit heavier on that play?

 

[L K]

So the Leafs don't play for 9 days but then play 3 games in 4 nights when coming back.  What is the point of having an off week if you just cram the schedule right after.

 

[Bates]

So the Leafs don't play for 9 days but then play 3 games in 4 nights when coming back.  What is the point of having an off week if you just cram the schedule right after.

My rec league does a better job of scheduling than the NHL.

 

[L K]

So the Leafs don't play for 9 days but then play 3 games in 4 nights when coming back.  What is the point of having an off week if you just cram the schedule right after.

My rec league does a better job of scheduling than the NHL.

The big saving grace might be that they play Detroit - Pittsburgh - Anaheim.  Pittsburgh is also playing a back to back.

 

[Bates]

So the Leafs don't play for 9 days but then play 3 games in 4 nights when coming back.  What is the point of having an off week if you just cram the schedule right after.

My rec league does a better job of scheduling than the NHL.

The big saving grace might be that they play Detroit - Pittsburgh - Anaheim.  Pittsburgh is also playing a back to back.

I just don't understand at tgi6s time when science is so important why teams would ever play without appropriate rest??

 

[L K]

So the Leafs don't play for 9 days but then play 3 games in 4 nights when coming back.  What is the point of having an off week if you just cram the schedule right after.

My rec league does a better job of scheduling than the NHL.

The big saving grace might be that they play Detroit - Pittsburgh - Anaheim.  Pittsburgh is also playing a back to back.

I just don't understand at tgi6s time when science is so important why teams would ever play without appropriate rest??

Oh I agree, and I understand that scheduling can be difficult because you are factoring in travel and 31 (soon to be 32 teams) with a lot of different parameters based on division, conference and inter-conference play, arena availability, etc.

But I find it hard to imagine that they could program in something to say "no 3 in 4 nights" and still find a way to make it work.

 

[Kin]

The NHL doesn't just get to decide unilaterally when to hold games. Arenas have other commitments and pretty frequently, the hockey teams aren't the primary tenants.