How good is T. Bozak?

[Skobel24]

He's a strong #2 center. I don't think he's a true #1 though.

 

[The Nuge]

Elite #3C, or a good #2C when paired with Kessel

 

[Dallas Eakins*]

He's a total passenger that only puts up numbers (A)When Phil is (B)Almost entirely on the power play and C) This one applies to the entire first line: when he doesn't have to worry about entering the defensive zone. He doesn't drive play he's Phil's 4 million dollar carry on and his possession numbers are horrible.

The past twenty games have proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that Bozak is not a number one centre.

Yet the "Tyler Bozak is becoming a legit number one centre" thread that sprung up 30 games into the season hit about twenty pages so come on folks there's enough crow here for everyone!

 

[Dallas Eakins*]

Seriously. I don't know where this myth that Bozak is good defensively comes from. He is constantly turning the puck over in his own zone. Leafs fans are really fed up with this guy from what I can tell by reading their forum.

People think he's "good defensively" because he goes out on the kill to take face-offs on account of being our best face-off man. That is seriously the only thing to his credit(also note Leafs are a bad face-off team in general) he is invisible anywhere before the other teams blue line. Another myth is that Kadri has become a great 2 way C… but that's an entirely different can of worms.

 

[tucker3434]

Once separated from Kessel and JVR, he'd probably be very average offensively, and he isn't good defensively. What's the cut of for a good 2C? I think it's probably higher than a ~40 point player that isn't good in his own end.

 

[HSF]

Another stajan or antropov for the leafs imo

He gets a lot of Mins with good players but with less ice time and lesser linemates I expect him to fall off

 

[hfdshdh]

Although it's pretty rare for either of them to actually pick up the trailer, Kessel is often back into the play before Bozak is.... if that paints a picture of his 'defensive prowess' for you.

Basically he's a mediocre bottom six player that won the Kessel lottery and was hyped by the Toronto media as some sort of two-way stabilizing presence because of his faceoff percentage and re-signed at a ridiculous cap hit because Nonis.

 

[HanSolo]

I can't remember the last player to need this many re-evaluations of talent this close to each other.

 

[Tie Domi Esquire]

^ won the Kessel lottery? Lol pretty sure Kessel's and him are great friends. Huge reason why he's in the role he is. How is that a lottery.

 

[NHLPaul]

It's actually hilarious some people think he is good.

 

[eklunds source]

^ won the Kessel lottery? Lol pretty sure Kessel's and him are great friends. Huge reason why he's in the role he is. How is that a lottery.

Him and Kessel are great friends because they played a lot together.

In 2009-2010, Bozak's rookie year, he played 395 minutes with Kessel (80% of all his 5v5 ice time), and scored 27 points - an excellent amount of points that was driven by a massive on-ice shooting percentage.

Because they found initial success, the myth was born that they have "chemistry" (despite overwhelming evidence that Bozak is parasitic, leeching off Kessel), and continued to get a lot of minutes together.

Bozak's first 395 minutes with Kessel: 4.10pts/60min
Bozak's next 3763 minutes with Kessel: 1.67pts/60min

First impressions last a long time.

 

[KrisLetAngry]

for only 5m a season and with his consistent production, i'd take him on my team's 2nd line in a heartbeat

Closer to 4 then 5.

And for his salary what he brings is great

 

[Purity*]

Seriously. I don't know where this myth that Bozak is good defensively comes from. He is constantly turning the puck over in his own zone. Leafs fans are really fed up with this guy from what I can tell by reading their forum.

And for a good reason. I'm so sick of seeing this guy get all of the premium offensive minutes/#1 PP time and all the minutes with our best offensive wingers. He cannot make plays in the offensive zone AT ALL, it's actually quite remarkable to see. I seriously don't think there's another top-6 forward in the league who possesses the puck as little as Bozak does.

When they re-signed this guy, it was my dearest hope that they didn't plan on continuing to feed him those minutes. Unfortunately that's exactly what's happened

 

[nobuddy]

Not very good.

 

[KrisLetAngry]

And for a good reason. I'm so sick of seeing this guy get all of the premium offensive minutes/#1 PP time and all the minutes with our best offensive wingers. He cannot make plays in the offensive zone AT ALL, it's actually quite remarkable to see. I seriously don't think there's another top-6 forward in the league who possesses the puck as little as Bozak does.

Malkin line mates.

But seriously the only issue with Bozak for me is how he gets #1 PP time. I'm a huge Bozak fan.

I think if Kari was on the first line the first line would score more. But the second line would score less with Bozak.

Bozak knows were to be to shoot. Some players who have great shots can't. Bozak knows give the puck to the puck carrying player. Get in a prime spot to defend shoot or pass.
For 4.2 he brings a lot

 

[bobbyt911]

His WOWY stats are brutal, not sure how he can be said to be a low-end #1 or good #2. Doesn't drive possession or cycle well, and he doesn't really play like a center in the offensive zone IMO.

He does have a good knack for getting open and taking high percentage shots, but Kessel is the one ultimately driving the bus. Take away Kessel and he produces at the rate of a 3rd liner.

Maybe it's not his fault he was cast into the 1C role, but pretty much every advanced stat or analysis involving possession, zone entries, defensive zone exits, suggest that he is in over his head. Being on a 4M contract though and putting up points due to Kessel will cause some to overlook this.

the whole team's #'s are bad, it would be more telling if the rest had good #'s but they all have bad wowy #'s. Usually the amount of ice time factors in to this as well plus if they count PK stats it will also factor in

IMO Bozak is a solid 2 way 2nd line C who can go from 40-60+ points depending bad yr to good yr.

 

[buttman*]

Leafs fans don't seem to like him very much. How good is he really? He seems to be producing a lot of points.

2012-13 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 46 12 16 28
2013-14 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 58 19 30 49
2014-15 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 40 13 17 30

Last two years he's gotten 79 pts in 98 games (that's 66 pts over a full season).

Is he a legit 1st line center? He's got good size, I think he's solid defensively and has decent speed.

Why exactly hasn't there been more talks about him? He's put up a lot of points lately while dealing with injuries in 2012-13 and 2013-14.

He's not a number one centre and every Leaf fan knows this. They know he is there by default.

He's a decent number 2 guy. Good on draws, can play D, can play PP (lots of guys suck on the PP) and PK, and is good in shootouts. There's some value there but he is not a number 1 guy.

 

[luiginb]

A below average NHL-er, who should be a good 3C on a decent team. He's forced to be a 1C, and it shows.

 

[leafs in five]

maybe a bit better than Stephane Da Costa

 

[AINEC*]

He's a nothing player who has Kessel to thank for his career as a top-line center.

 

[AD1066]

the whole team's #'s are bad, it would be more telling if the rest had good #'s but they all have bad wowy #'s. Usually the amount of ice time factors in to this as well plus if they count PK stats it will also factor in

Are you thinking of corsi? WOWY is relative, as in most Leafs players perform relatively worse when on the ice with Bozak. And the numbers are at 5v5 ES.

Kessel on the other hand produces at a relatively fixed rate regardless of whether Bozak is centering him. It's evident that Bozak is a passenger.

IMO Bozak is a solid 2 way 2nd line C who can go from 40-60+ points depending bad yr to good yr.

60+ ? He's never broken 50 points in his career, despite playing with a PPG+ winger and receiving 1st unit PP time.

If he can hardly produce at a 2nd line rate with two Olympic wingers, what's it going to look like when he's expected to drive the offense on his own line?

 

[Man Bear Pig]

Average player, probably suited as a third line center. Not terrible offensively, not great either. Always came off as a jack of all trades, master of none. Can do a little bit of everything but not overly impressive. On a contender he's a third liner, on the Leafs he's a top 6 because we're bad.

 

[bobbyt911]

Are you thinking of corsi? WOWY is relative, as in most Leafs players perform relatively worse when on the ice with Bozak. And the numbers are at 5v5 ES.

Kessel on the other hand produces at a relatively fixed rate regardless of whether Bozak is centering him. It's evident that Bozak is a passenger.



60+ ? He's never broken 50 points in his career, despite playing with a PPG+ winger and receiving 1st unit PP time.

If he can hardly produce at a 2nd line rate with two Olympic wingers, what's it going to look like when he's expected to drive the offense on his own line?

the 60 is the extreme high end of his potential

 

[Crazy_Ike]

A fourth line center of mediocre talent able to command an unrealistic payday because Toronto's center depth is so awful. On a real team Bozak would be struggling to get to 30 points on the year. And a defensive nobody.

 

[Diatomic]

Right now? He's wonderful and totally a top 6 center

---------- once he's traded and out of the leafs organization -----------

Woohoo the undrafted free agent leech floater is gone!!! And we actually got assets for him!!! Hahaahhaha