Leafs @ Blue Jackets - Oct. 4th, 7:00pm - TSN4, Fan 590

[CarltonTheBear]

@

1-0-0, 2 points | 0-0-0, 0 points

Projected Lines

Kapanen-Tavares-Marner Johnsson-Matthews-Nylander Mikheyev-Kerfoot-Moore Petan-Spezza-Gauthier Rielly-Ceci Muzzin-Barrie Sandin-Holl Andersen ​

Texier-Dubois-Atkinson Foligno-Jenner-Anderson Nyquist-Wennberg-Bjorkstrand Lilja-Nash-Bemstrom Murray-Jones Werenski-Savard Harrington-Nutivaara Korpisalo​

Scratches

Nick Shore Dmytro Timashov Martin Marincin ​

Sonny Milano Vladislav Gavrikov Dean Kukan ​

Game Notes

TOR
?Andersen will likely start for the Leafs
?Babcock likes to give his starter the first game of the back to back, so we'll have to wait for that to be confirmed
?Some shuffling at the bottom of the line-up for the Leafs, as Shore, Timashov, and Marincin come out for Spezza, Petan, and Holl
?Jason Spezza will make his long awaited Maple Leafs debut exactly where every little boy dreams of doing so: Columbus, Ohio

CBJ
?Joonas Korpisalo will start for the Blue Jackets
?After a very exciting playoff run Panarin, Bobrovsky, Duchene, and Dzingel all left the team over the summer and look to be a group that will struggle offensively this year

Injuries

?Travis Dermott - Shoulder - Injured Reserve ?Zach Hyman - Knee - Injured Reserve​

?Brandon Dubinsky - Wrist - Out indfinitely​

Stream Options

https://www.reddit.com/r/NHLstreams
​

 

[Zee]

Surprised Andersen doesn't get the start against the division rival Montreal?  Would have thought Hutch would play tonight.

 

[CarltonTheBear]

Surprised Andersen doesn't get the start against the division rival Montreal?  Would have thought Hutch would play tonight.

The Leafs also play on Monday so if Andersen gets this start it gives him an extra day of rest before that one.

 

[WAYNEINIONA]

It's early in the season. If they have an easy night against the Blue Jackets maybe he will play both games and take Monday off.

 

[Bullfrog]

That Texier kid looks promising.

 

[Frank E]

So, from what I've read (briefly, because it's me), Columbus is probably in a little bit of trouble because of the deals they did with Ottawa to take a run.

They don't have much of a prospect pipeline at this point, and they no longer have their 2nd and 3rd round picks for this year's draft.  They also do not have their 2nd rounder for 2021.

I'd bet that Jones isn't going to be worth any more than he is today, given there are another 2 years on his $5.4m AAV deal.  They've also got $8m in cap space.

I'd expect them to make some interesting moves this season.

 

[CarltonTheBear]

https://twitter.com/JacketsInsider/status/1179481844137496582

Torts then looked over to management and said "we do have a back-up though, right?".

 

[azzurri63]

Surprised Andersen doesn't get the start against the division rival Montreal?  Would have thought Hutch would play tonight.

The Leafs also play on Monday so if Andersen gets this start it gives him an extra day of rest before that one.

You guys forgotten? Babcock plays Andersen every time on the front end of a back to back. Never understood why. You think he would put some thought into it. Who you're playing, where etc. Doesn't make any sense.

 

[herman]

Babcock plays Andersen every time on the front end of a back to back. Never understood why. You think he would put some thought into it. Who you're playing, where etc. Doesn't make any sense.

I think he did put some thought into it.

100% Team + 100% starter followed by 85% Team + 100% backup
vs
100% Team + 100% backup followed by 85% Team + 100% starter

The 85% is a whatever number I just pulled out of the air. You can probably similarly guesstimate the drop in quality from starter to backup goalie. Let's say the backup is about 80% the quality of the starter. The actual numbers here are irrelevant.

100% team + 100% starter followed by 85% team + 80% starter
vs
100% team + 80% starter followed by 85% team + 100% starter

One option gives you your best chance to bank 2 pts. The other gives you less than your best chance for both games.

Also: Babcock does not really care for sentimentality (unless it's Marleau's iron man streak apparently).

 

[ZBBM]

Somebody (Friedman?) said the other day that he expects Andersen to play at least 60 games again.  That would be a big mistake IMO.  They need to see if giving him more rest in the regular season will make a difference in the playoffs.

How they parse it, especially at the beginning of the season when he's just come off months of rest, is not nearly as important as how they manage his Feb and March.

FWIW I think it's fine to go 31/30/31 the next 3 games.  If they play 31 all 4 ... then Babcock should be cashiered.

 

[CarltonTheBear]

https://twitter.com/sunhornby/status/1180157767039848448

 

[Guilt Trip]

Somebody (Friedman?) said the other day that he expects Andersen to play at least 60 games again.  That would be a big mistake IMO.  They need to see if giving him more rest in the regular season will make a difference in the playoffs.

How they parse it, especially at the beginning of the season when he's just come off months of rest, is not nearly as important as how they manage his Feb and March.

FWIW I think it's fine to go 31/30/31 the next 3 games.  If they play 31 all 4 ... then Babcock should be cashiered.

It may have been Burke, same show, I think but whoever it was said the Leafs schedule in Feb, March would allow for it because of spacing between games. They have 5 back to backs in the final 41 games, 4 in the last 39 starting in Jan. I think it will all depend on Hutch or whoever the backup is. Have to make the dance first.

 

[lamajama]

I hope Spezza retained the intensive training in the PK he received in the last two days.

 

[OldTimeHockey]

Surprised Andersen doesn't get the start against the division rival Montreal?  Would have thought Hutch would play tonight.

The Leafs also play on Monday so if Andersen gets this start it gives him an extra day of rest before that one.

You guys forgotten? Babcock plays Andersen every time on the front end of a back to back. Never understood why. You think he would put some thought into it. Who you're playing, where etc. Doesn't make any sense.

If he does it every time does that not say to you that he has given it some thought?

 

[OldTimeHockey]

FWIW I think it's fine to go 31/30/31 the next 3 games.  If they play 31 all 4 ... then Babcock should be cashiered.

Really? You think Andersen playing a game October 5th has an effect on him playing a game in mid April?

 

[Zee]

My thought on goalie was less to do with load management and more to do with who we're facing.  I think the game against a divisional opponent means a bit more than one out of the division as you're fighting for the top 3 spots.  So Andersen against the Habs gives us the best chance of keeping 2 points out of their hands.

 

[ZBBM]

FWIW I think it's fine to go 31/30/31 the next 3 games.  If they play 31 all 4 ... then Babcock should be cashiered.

Really? You think Andersen playing a game October 5th has an effect on him playing a game in mid April?

It wouldn't, but my point was that any coach that would play him all 4 games in 6 nights to open the season when there is no reason whatsoever to do so is the kind of coach who doesn't know how to manage his workload when it counts.

Now I see we have confirmation that he won't, which is what I expected anyway.

 

[ZBBM]

Somebody (Friedman?) said the other day that he expects Andersen to play at least 60 games again.  That would be a big mistake IMO.  They need to see if giving him more rest in the regular season will make a difference in the playoffs.

How they parse it, especially at the beginning of the season when he's just come off months of rest, is not nearly as important as how they manage his Feb and March.

FWIW I think it's fine to go 31/30/31 the next 3 games.  If they play 31 all 4 ... then Babcock should be cashiered.

It may have been Burke, same show, I think but whoever it was said the Leafs schedule in Feb, March would allow for it because of spacing between games. They have 5 back to backs in the final 41 games, 4 in the last 39 starting in Jan. I think it will all depend on Hutch or whoever the backup is. Have to make the dance first.

I heard him talking about that too, but I couldn't grasp the point he was trying to make.

 

[Highlander]

I think Fredo will play both games and have Monday off.  I am a bit worried about our back up situation.

 

[princedpw]

Surprised Andersen doesn't get the start against the division rival Montreal?  Would have thought Hutch would play tonight.

The Leafs also play on Monday so if Andersen gets this start it gives him an extra day of rest before that one.

You guys forgotten? Babcock plays Andersen every time on the front end of a back to back. Never understood why. You think he would put some thought into it. Who you're playing, where etc. Doesn't make any sense.

If he does it every time does that not say to you that he has given it some thought?

One possibility is that Babcock wants to avoid psychological signals to the rest of the team that say ?this is a tough/important game? and ?this is a less tough/important game? because he wants his skaters to play hard every game, knowing there is a lot of parity in the league and effort is a big component.