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News Flash - Babcock Meeting with Matthews in Arizona

Frank E said:
According to nhl.com, Matthews was 6th on the team in the playoffs, and 9th during the regular season, in PP TOI.
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TOI might not be the way to go since he missed 20 regular season games.

On a per game basis Matthes was 5th in the regular season. 2 seconds behind Bozak, 3 seconds behind Rielly and Marner, and 8 seconds behind JVR. So, virtually even.

In the playoffs the difference was bigger, yes. Matthews was roughly 15-30 seconds behind the guys on the other unit. But the other unit proved to be the much more effective one over the course of the regular season.
 
He also played 20 fewer games than most. PP TOI per game is 4th amongst forwards, with the top three (JvR, Marner, and Bozak) getting 8, 3, and 2 seconds more, respectively.
 
marnemi97
matthau97


Hockeyviz

Both units were generally good, with Marner's actually getting results.

Marner's relied on three things: Marner's creative seam passes, JvR's net front presence, and everyone else's hustle and jam. Funnel the puck to the front either directly from Marner, or off Marner to generate rebounds, high tips, or other generic havoc. Marner's passing is basically automagic, and JvR's net front game is also pretty sustainable.

Matthews' relied on two things: Matthews, and Nylander. And if either weren't feeling the puck, or getting clean shots (from a distance) off and through, it's a no go. Matthews' first injury knocked him down from a great otherwordly producer down to a good one.
 
CarltonTheBear said:
But the other unit proved to be the much more effective one over the course of the regular season.
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Just curious. How long was Komarov or Brown  on the Matthews pp? Personel could have a moajor impact on it's effectiveness. We know the Matthews pp unit improved when Johnsson was put on it. Hoping Kapenan gets some time next year.
 
Guilt Trip said:
CarltonTheBear said:
But the other unit proved to be the much more effective one over the course of the regular season.
Click to expand...
Just curious. How long was Komarov or Brown  on the Matthews pp? Personel could have a moajor impact on it's effectiveness. We know the Matthews pp unit improved when Johnsson was put on it. Hoping Kapenan gets some time next year.
Click to expand...

Pretty sure at least one of Komarov/Brown was with the Matthews unit all season long, and I've posted a bunch about how that wasn't ideal. But swapping that one spot for Kapanen or Johnsson probably wouldn't have automatically made the Matthews unit as good as the Marner one. You can make a legitimate case that Kadri-Bozak-JVR-Rielly-Marner was the best 5-man PP unit in the league this season.
 
https://twitter.com/3rdPeriodSuits/status/996005450620469249

"The Babcock family and the Matthews family share a nice, quiet dinner" somehow turned into "Mike and Auston hate each other".

The tweets went on to say that Babcock also met with Kapanen who is Denmark too of course. Kappy is clearly upset over his 4th line ice-time this season and wants out.
 
CarltonTheBear said:
https://twitter.com/3rdPeriodSuits/status/996005450620469249

"The Babcock family and the Matthews family share a nice, quiet dinner" somehow turned into "Mike and Auston hate each other".

The tweets went on to say that Babcock also met with Kapanen who is Denmark too of course. Kappy is clearly upset over his 4th line ice-time this season and wants out.
Click to expand...

Obviously I think the media blew things out of proportion, however I think Babcock wanted to meet Matthews early to ensure there was nothing wrong with their relationship.  After Kypreos went wild with the speculation, Babcock probably wanted to "nip it in the bud" so to speak in case there was anything there with Matthews and bad feelings towards Babcock.  He's trying to be proactive rather than reactive.
 
I know it's a lot about nothing but to be honest Matthews playoff line mates and PP time didn't really put him in a position to succeed. Yes, it's up to him to earn and make the most of opportunities but Matthew's didn't look good and the team lost so maybe he should be given a bigger role since everyone on the planet seems to think he's the Leafs best player. He acknowledged frustration with how the playoffs went, is that rift with the coach? No, but he was frustrated and it seemed he wasn't helped by the coach to break out of his slump.

It feels like the Leafs move dreadfully slow with developing players sheltering them and basically giving players more responsibility little bits at a time but I think we should relax and try to believe in the process. Long gone our the days of finishing second last with no first round draft picks for the next two drafts. We are heading in the right direction.
 
Again the T.O. media has to create news, and of course it has to be centred in negative controversies that are completely manufactured so these 'experts" can stay in our faces and make a living.
Everything that has happened since Shannahan entered the scene have been more than positive steps to ensure we keep getting better and better.  I would rather keep a smile on my face choosing to let things unfold as they will and more than likely should, rather than waste a minute worrying about the tabloid speculations of whether Austin and Babs are on friendly terms.
 
https://mapleleafshotstove.com/2018/05/14/mike-babcock-when-i-was-hired-lou-lamoriello-wasnt-there-right-we-had-a-plan-then-we-have-a-plan-now/

Looks like the Leafs are targeting more D free agents.
 
herman said:
https://mapleleafshotstove.com/2018/05/14/mike-babcock-when-i-was-hired-lou-lamoriello-wasnt-there-right-we-had-a-plan-then-we-have-a-plan-now/

Looks like the Leafs are targeting more D free agents.
Click to expand...
When speaking about the D:

"We?ve got more coming to be announced."

OOOOOOOHHHHH!

What do you think is coming? The Russian kid? I hope it's a little bit more exciting then that but what I would like to see happen cannot happen right now.
 
herman said:
https://mapleleafshotstove.com/2018/05/14/mike-babcock-when-i-was-hired-lou-lamoriello-wasnt-there-right-we-had-a-plan-then-we-have-a-plan-now/

Looks like the Leafs are targeting more D free agents.
Click to expand...

"I met with Zaitsev yesterday. It was good to see Z. He didn?t come to the tournament last year. Two years ago, when I saw him, he was a good player. Now he?s a dominant player."
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Awwww yeah Babs pumping up that trade value!
 
They publicly really really like Zaitsev. I can see why (i.e. he does exactly what they're asking of him), but I also see why a lot of people outside of the front office are not really into the way he's been playing. Same thing with Polak and Hainsey, I think there was a game plan there that they intended but it sucked.
 
So Babcock admitted the only reason he met with Matthews again was due to the media speculation of a rift.  He wanted to make sure there was nothing there so he met with him early on before anything could fester with Matthews.  Thanks Kypreos!
 
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