Last year’s NHL season opened with two teams in almost identical positions. Both were franchises on the rise, playoff contenders once again after years of mediocrity with plenty of youth and talent. When this year’s season opens on October 8, the two squads that face off will be in different spectrums: a surprising season for one would be a trip to the cup final, for the other it would be claiming a playoff berth at all.
Maple Leafs Offence Needs Better Depth in 2014-15
In both games the teams are the same: the Montreal Canadiens and the Toronto Maple Leafs, but what a difference a year has made. In 2013-14 the Leafs completely soured a reputation that previously saw them as one of the Eastern Conference’s up and coming teams. They are now essentially back to square one, but this time with a fanbase that has had a long awaited taste of better times in the recent past, thus adding extra pressure to perform.
But if there is any solace for the Leafs it comes from the aforementioned Canadiens, and their quick transition to success. The Leaf’s rivals seemed to have chosen the correct path between the two, wandering all the way to the Conference Finals.
The Leafs can learn plenty from observing their far more successful Canadian brethren. But one element of the Habs game is the most applicable: their ability to play four lines of solid skill and offensive talent. In an Eastern Conference where depth is hardly plentiful, this turns out to be a huge difference maker. The Leafs would do well to add it to their arsenal.
The primary pieces are already there. Statistically, Phil Kessel is the fourth best forward in the Eastern Conference. The cast around him is also highly talented: James Van Riemsdyk, Nazem Kadri and Joffrey Lupul to name a few.
But last season, when it came to depth in this position, it was painfully non-existent. Only 6 leafs forwards had more than 20 points, the aforementioned four plus Tyler Bozak and the departed Mason Raymond. Using the Canadiens as a comparison, this doesn’t stand up: the Canadiens had three full lines, or nine players, with more than 20 points. The same is true for the other two titans of the Atlantic: the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Boston Bruins.
To their credit, Toronto did address this during the offseason. Daniel Winnik and Mike Santorelli are two 20+ point players who will fill positions in the bottom six nicely. David Booth can definitely get to 20, and certainly has the raw potential to double that number. Matt Frattin also has potential, although he has yet to make it tangible in the NHL. The surprise star of the Leafs pre-season has been Brandon Kozun, though his place on the team, and in the lineup, is not yet assured.
The biggest issue, however, is whether or not the Leafs will effectively use this newly acquired depth. In many ways, the stalling point for the offense last year was Randy Carlyle’s steadfast refusal to spread the wealth. Toronto’s top six played far too many minutes, their bottom six too few.
To cite the Canadiens comparison again, the average Leafs top six forward played 1:14 more per games than a top six forward on the Habs. While the following is a somewhat flawed statistic, that adds up to 93 more minutes over a full 82 games NHL season. Add in the games the Phil Kessel and James van Riemsdyk played in the Olympics; no wonder the Leafs offense was non-existent during the final stretch.
Another major criticism of the Leafs, their horrible possession statistics, can also be partly attributed to this reasoning. Having tired forwards almost always leads to the same thing: plenty of time chasing in the defensive zone. It also leads to penalties, something the Leafs did not deal well with last season. They essentially had the same amount of penalty minutes as the Canadiens, but they allowed 15 more goals while a man down.
The team played what was essentially a three line system where the fourth line became a rare sighting. This largely seemed to be a way to condone the consistent inclusion of tough guys like Frazer McLaren and Colton Orr. It was also at the expense of more talented players like Carter Ashton and Peter Holland.
A large part of the attachment to goons within the Toronto organization tends to be a byproduct of idea that they won in 2012-13 because they were “intimidating”. That theory is not altogether ridiculous, it is the personification where people stumble: the intimidation stemmed more from a guy like Leo Komarov than it did from Orr. This attachment has crippled the team, and cannot continue.
Simply stated, Orr and McLaren no longer should have a consistent place on this team, especially together. The Leafs should instead focus on the talent they have acquired during the offseason, and the promising youth in the system.
Before continuing, the idea of embracing a promising youth system doesn’t exactly mean the obvious action either: letting William Nylander stay with the big team this year. The whispered comparisons between Nylander and Nazem Kadri stem from pure skill, but they could also be representative of development. The Swede may well need some time in the AHL before his boundless talent translates effectively to the NHL level.
Instead it is players like Frattin, Booth, Holland, Leo Komarov, Josh Leivo and Brandon Kozun that fit the bill. To borrow the Habs again, guys who are like Brandon Prust and Michael Bournival instead of Jay Mclement and Mclaren.
All of these players will be able to play more minutes, and more importantly more effective minutes where they will actually be an offensive threat to the opposition. This will take a lot of the pressure off of the overworked top two lines. Heck, it might even translate into a bigger share of time of the puck for the Leafs this season. In fact, that can be counted upon.
So when Toronto faceoff against the Montreal Canadiens in a couple of days time they would be well served to try to beat them at their own offensive game. If they can replicate it effectively, everyone else in the conference will once again find them an intimidating opponent.
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