6 Maple Leafs observations and questions coming out of the All-Star break

[Notsince67]

And yet Nylander, who plays with the puck as much, and is leading the team in even strenght goals and points, has one of the lowest giveaways per 60.

you have proof of this because it is my understanding that this just isn't true

 

[Notsince67]

What site do you use for how long each player has the puck on their stick?

Or how many passes each player makes?

I'd be curious to see these stats.

Stats aren't publicly available as far as I know. The difficulty is the poor definition of giveaway and the interpretation of what it means. I would classify a missed shot as technically a giveaway. Deployment matters. William Nylander starts in the defensive zone only 7% of the time and missed the net 17 times more than Marner. Seems more contextual, no?

In any event, here are the top 20 in the league for giveaways. I've included takeaways. If the intent is to prove Nylander is just a better player, I would like to see his advocates argue the same thing for people on this list.
BTW, note the anomalous takeaway king of this bunch

Player	GIVE	TAKE
David Pastrnak	74​	34​
Evgeni Malkin	67​	50​
Mathew Barzal	65​	43​
Erik Karlsson	63​	46​
Darnell Nurse	60​	22​
Leon Draisaitl	60​	42​
Artemi Panarin	58​	20​
Nikita Kucherov	58​	35​
Johnathan Kovacevic	57​	27​
Mitch Marner	57​	63​
Connor McDavid	53​	46​
Trevor Zegras	53​	20​
Joel Edmundson	52​	7​
Ivan Provorov	51​	18​
Jack Hughes	50​	42​
MacKenzie Weegar	50​	20​
Brad Marchand	48​	18​
Victor Hedman	48​	31​
Thomas Chabot	47​	13​

 

[Notsince67]

Probably the same one other people use to say Marner and Pastrnak and so on are big puck handlers.

If you find it, let me know.

People actually watch the games so they are making claims based on observation. Saying the puck is on Willy's stick as much as Mitch is obviously untrue to those who do.

 

[LeafGrief]

1) Mitch Marner is Toronto’s MVP due to his two-way excellence
- Absolutely. Matthews is having an off year and Nylander is having a career year, but this year is still the Marner show. The great thing about our big guns is that when one takes a step back, another one steps in to fill the void. Now if only they can take that to the playoffs...

2) The concerns about Auston Matthews’ offensive production are exaggerated
- Yes and no. He's still the best player on the team and he's unlikely to stay cold all year, he could very easily bag 20g in 20gp to finish out the year. Even if it does turn out to be a bad year on the whole for him, he's still a top5 player in the league.

3) Will Morgan Rielly get his groove back?
- Absolutely. He's a warrior in the playoffs every year and he works his ass off every game. He hasn't had the offense this year to make up for his defensive shortcomings, but he's bled for the Leaf on his shirt for 10 years. I'll bet on him any day of the week, and I know I will be talking him up long after I should have stopped. He's a pillar of this team and he's one of the good ones.

4) Rasmus Sandin and Timothy Liljegren's internal development is a positive surprise
- Getting top4 quality out of two youngsters on cheap contracts is the sort of value that leads to big success. Liljegren is a revelation and will be a core player for us. I'm not sold on Sandin's long term fit, but he's established himself as a player of note and will provide us with big value either on the ice or in a trade.

5) Timo Meir has to be Toronto’s top trade target
- Not unless we're shipping out another one of the big4 to get him. He's a great player and would be a great fit, but we do not have the cap space to add him.

6) How do the Maple Leafs load-manage Ilya Samsonov?
- By playing Murray more. Murray has been great for a lot of this year. Samsonov is the hot hand right now, this could easily change by next week. This is kind of a silly question to ask about a goalie who is still entirely unproven.

 

[notDatsyuk]

People actually watch the games so they are making claims based on observation. Saying the puck is on Willy's stick as much as Mitch is obviously untrue to those who do.

Thanks. That was my point - watching the games let's you see that he does.

I suppose the next argument is that having so many takeaways shows that he has the puck less?

 

[Notsince67]

Thanks. That was my point - watching the games let's you see that he does.

I suppose the next argument is that having so many takeaways shows that he has the puck less?

I suppose he feels like he doesnt have it enough.

 

[notDatsyuk]

I suppose he feels like he doesnt have it enough.

Does any player?

 

[Notsince67]

Does any player?

Panarin gives plenty and hardly takes

 

[diehardleafsfan9878]

Stats aren't publicly available as far as I know. The difficulty is the poor definition of giveaway and the interpretation of what it means. I would classify a missed shot as technically a giveaway. Deployment matters. William Nylander starts in the defensive zone only 7% of the time and missed the net 17 times more than Marner. Seems more contextual, no?

In any event, here are the top 20 in the league for giveaways. I've included takeaways. If the intent is to prove Nylander is just a better player, I would like to see his advocates argue the same thing for people on this list.
BTW, note the anomalous takeaway king of this bunch

[TABLE=collapse]
[TR]
[TD]Player[/TD]
[TD]GIVE[/TD]
[TD]TAKE[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]David Pastrnak[/TD]

[TD]

74​

[/TD]

[TD]

34​

[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Evgeni Malkin[/TD]

[TD]

67​

[/TD]

[TD]

50​

[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Mathew Barzal[/TD]

[TD]

65​

[/TD]

[TD]

43​

[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Erik Karlsson[/TD]

[TD]

63​

[/TD]

[TD]

46​

[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Darnell Nurse[/TD]

[TD]

60​

[/TD]

[TD]

22​

[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Leon Draisaitl[/TD]

[TD]

60​

[/TD]

[TD]

42​

[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Artemi Panarin[/TD]

[TD]

58​

[/TD]

[TD]

20​

[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Nikita Kucherov[/TD]

[TD]

58​

[/TD]

[TD]

35​

[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Johnathan Kovacevic[/TD]

[TD]

57​

[/TD]

[TD]

27​

[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Mitch Marner[/TD]

[TD]

57​

[/TD]

[TD]

63​

[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Connor McDavid[/TD]

[TD]

53​

[/TD]

[TD]

46​

[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Trevor Zegras[/TD]

[TD]

53​

[/TD]

[TD]

20​

[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Joel Edmundson[/TD]

[TD]

52​

[/TD]

[TD]

7​

[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Ivan Provorov[/TD]

[TD]

51​

[/TD]

[TD]

18​

[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Jack Hughes[/TD]

[TD]

50​

[/TD]

[TD]

42​

[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]MacKenzie Weegar[/TD]

[TD]

50​

[/TD]

[TD]

20​

[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Brad Marchand[/TD]

[TD]

48​

[/TD]

[TD]

18​

[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Victor Hedman[/TD]

[TD]

48​

[/TD]

[TD]

31​

[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Thomas Chabot[/TD]

[TD]

47​

[/TD]

[TD]

13​

[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]

+6 differential definitely makes him king. Meanwhile Nylander is at +27 and Kampf, who starts even more of his shifts in the defensive zone then Marner does is at +17.

None of this was my point though. You want to call Marner the Leafs MVP, fine go ahead, but do not do it because of his so called two-way play. That is the joke.

 

[Notsince67]

+6 differential definitely makes him king. Meanwhile Nylander is at +27 and Kampf, who starts even more of his shifts in the defensive zone then Marner does is at +17.

None of this was my point though. You want to call Marner the Leafs MVP, fine go ahead, but do not do it because of his so called two-way play. That is the joke.

Don't forget Willy was chosen for the all star game...oh wait!

 

[Captain Crunch]

I think Meier would produce. He is a big physical winger, but I do fear the cost will be huge and I see no way how they can resign him.

Unless they plan to trade Nylander

But then wouldn’t our #1 need switch to top 6 RW? And on and on it goes. Lol

 

[ACC1224]

+6 differential definitely makes him king. Meanwhile Nylander is at +27 and Kampf, who starts even more of his shifts in the defensive zone then Marner does is at +17.

None of this was my point though. You want to call Marner the Leafs MVP, fine go ahead, but do not do it because of his so called two-way play. That is the joke.

His 'two way play' isn't the sole reason he's the Leafs MVP but it's certainly one of the reasons.

 

[TakeTheBody]

1. Agree

2. Agree again. Matthews has brought out the scorer in Willie. His stats as center are less Cy Young like. Good for the team overall. Especially with Marner making JT more effective.

3. Not sure about Rielly. I always felt Muzzin was out best defenseman. Adding a guy like Muzzin would benefit the Leafs a lot.

4. It's great. Love these two. The Leafs showed a lot of patience with Lily who in my eyes has now surpassed Sandin. I hope Sandin isn't traded at the deadline. But sometimes you have to give to get. We will see.

5. Doubtful. Seems really tricky to do. Dubas hasn't made big splashes in the past at the deadline. He just gives away number 1 picks. lol.

6. Hopefully The Brick Woll era starts to emerge. I don't think it matters much. Leafs bolts first round seems unavoidable. Play Samsonov the way a little more than every other game. Bring on the bolts.

7. Intercourse The Bruins.