Is it just me, or is Jake McCabe pretty bad?

[ponder]

When we acquired him, everyone was talking about him being a quality top 4 dman, and a big upgrade over Sandin. I just do not see it, on either front.

I like his physical edge, but that’s about it. IMO he’s our worst defensive dman (yes, including Klingberg), bad gap control and constantly caught chasing the play. Not much in the way of puck skills either. He was decent against Tampa, but Florida were absolutely hunting him to great success, and so far this year he’s been a complete sieve.

Are other people seeing this? Or do others like his game, see him as a legit top 4 dman, and it’s just me? He looks like a mediocre 6D to me.

EDIT: have started to review some tape, vs. just watching live, for example this game: Is it just me, or is Jake McCabe pretty bad?

This has made me think Klingberg is actually the bigger problem defensively, but I still don’t like McCabe’s game, still a lot of issues IMO

Click to read more...

 

[Leafs at Knight]

He was our best defenceman from when we got him up until the Florida series. So he's been bad for like 8 games. I think he'll bounce back. I don't get all the hot takes 3 games in, reminds me of people whining about Matthews last year when he had 1 goal in the first like 4 games.

 

[LEAFANFORLIFE23]

It's just you

 

[Fogelhund]

When we acquired him, everyone was talking about him being a quality top 4 dman, and a big upgrade over Sandin. I just do not see it, on either front.

I like his physical edge, but that’s about it. IMO he’s our worst defensive dman (yes, including Klingberg), terrible gap control and constantly caught out of position. Not much in the way of puck skills either. He was decent against Tampa, but Florida were absolutely hunting him to great success, and so far this year he’s been a complete sieve.

Are other people seeing this? Or do others like his game, see him as a legit top 4 dman, and it’s just me? He looks like a mediocre 6D to me.

McCabe has;

no points, tied for last in D.
3 hits, tied for last in D.
2 blocked shots, tied for last in D
On Ice Corsi 42% - worst of the D
On Ice goals 12.5% - by far the worst of the D
One Ice expected goals 37%, all others above 50%
On Ice shots against/60 - last of the D
High danger shots against/60 - last of the D
-5, worst on the Leafs.

He has had a incredibly bad start to the year, and is clearly the worst of the D right now. It's only a few games, so hopefully he pieces it together.

 

[TMLBlueandWhite]

I don't know how anyone can watch Jake McCabe play and think "Gee, the Leafs have done a real good job assembling a Stanley Cup winning defense".

McCabe stinks.

Through three games he's been one of the worst defensemen in the league. He's a useless turd. He was a bad defenseman when they traded for him.

And he's still a bad defenseman today.

It's not like McCabe has ever been good either. He's never had a full season with above average stats. At this point it's safe to say McCabe is just another example of Dubas overrating, and overpaying for, another team's trash players.

Another bad trade added to the long list of smelly trades Dubas made during his tenure here.

 

[mjd1001]

He's "Ok".

McCabe is an NHL defenseman but not one who's going to make the team better by being on the roster. He's going to plug a hole.

Most teams have guys who are acceptable 3rd pair guys that the fan bases convince themselves they are potentially good 2nd pair guys. (But they aren't) That's McCabe.
He's acceptable as a 16 to 18 minute, 3rd pair role with time on the PK. Ask him to do more than that and you're asking for trouble.

 

[ACC1224]

McCabe has;

no points, tied for last in D.
3 hits, tied for last in D.
2 blocked shots, tied for last in D
On Ice Corsi 42% - worst of the D
On Ice goals 12.5% - by far the worst of the D
One Ice expected goals 37%, all others above 50%
On Ice shots against/60 - last of the D
High danger shots against/60 - last of the D
-5, worst on the Leafs.

He has had a incredibly bad start to the year, and is clearly the worst of the D right now. It's only a few games, so hopefully he pieces it together.

Yeah he hasn’t looked that great but there is no way he’s had only 3 hits. Those stats are wildly inconsistent.

 

[Ianturnedbull]

I don't think he's bad, but maybe he's miscast for a top 4. He's maybe a number 5 D on most NHL teams. We are thin in places and we certainly cannot trade McCabe and hope to improve our D.

 

[Aashir Mallik]

Need to get another top 4 dman to slot him in the bottom pair for gio

 

[Buds17]

I agree with a previous post about McCabe possibly being miscast as a top four blueliner (particularly on a team with Cup aspirations).

 

[Ziggdiezan]

I think he would be fine on the 2nd pairing if he wasn't the guy having to carry the pairing. If he was the #4 beside a #3 I don't think there would be any problems.

 

[The Iceman]

Klingberg IMO is easily the worst (Small sample) defensive defenceman on the team.

Always up ice, out of position, poor decisions, wrong side, not covering guys.
BRILLIANT offensively-magic feet in the offensive zone, great vision.

BUT he needs to be paired with a solid defensive guy in sheltered minutes....welcome to the 3rd pair Mr Klingberg, and please meet Mark GIO your new partner

 

[Maple Leaf]

Need some real defense to win a cup

 

[WTFMAN99]

I don't think McCabe is so stellar defensively that he can make up for Klingberg. Lindell had a hard time doing that in Dallas.

I'd likely do this;

Rielly-Brodie
McCabe-Liljegren
Gio-Klingberg

 

[IPS]

Becoming more and more clear that he's not a top-4 D. We really don't have enough legit top-4 D on this team .

 

[supermann_98]

It’s not just you. Me and my friends cant stand him.

His pedigree is being on tire fire teams, and watching him play you can understand why they were a tire fire to begin with. He’s not a stay at home guy but he sucks offensively too. He stands around watching instead of anticipating the plays so by the time he reacts it’s too late.

i said it in the game thread yesterday, if we ever make a trade to “improve the defense” it HAS to include this guy going the other way in the deal or move him into a 7th D role because he’s pretty useless for us, but for a team rebuilding his salary and contract don’t look half bad

 

[Fogelhund]

It’s not just you. Me and my friends cant stand him.

His pedigree is being on tire fire teams, and watching him play you can understand why they were a tire fire to begin with. He’s not a stay at home guy but he sucks offensively too. He stands around watching instead of anticipating the plays so by the time he reacts it’s too late.

i said it in the game thread yesterday, if we ever make a trade to “improve the defense” it HAS to include this guy going the other way in the deal or move him into a 7th D role because he’s pretty useless for us, but for a team rebuilding his salary and contract don’t look half bad

I thought we'd target Murphy as the D from Chicago... I was kind of surprised that we got McCabe.

The challenge of course, would be finding someone better, at the same cap hit.... It's probably a move for later in the year, and we should give him a bit more runway to settle in. It also depends on how teams do this year... but if they struggle, I could see a deal later in the year, where we swap McCabe for Zadorov @ 50%... Zadorov has an expiring contract, and I can see Calgary and him parting ways. Calgary might be happy to have a few years of control, on a low contract too. But if Calgary has a good season, that wouldn't work.

 

[shaner8989]

All 6 D suck. All of them. Putrid. Better fix it or another first round exit is a lock.

 

[RunItBackAgain]

Rielly - xxxx
xxxx - xxxx
McCabe - Liljegren

There, we've got about 14 million next year to fill those with the cap projected to rise another 4. And Rielly needs a very specialized partner or just to be the #2 on his line. Not sure how you fill that. Then we have to talk about the goaltending issue.

 

[Fogelhund]

All 6 D suck. All of them. Putrid. Better fix it or another first round exit is a lock.

The sky isn't falling man. The D don't all suck.

 

[shaner8989]

The sky isn't falling man. The D don't all suck.

I beg to differ but we all have our own opinions.

 

[RunItBackAgain]

The sky isn't falling man. The D don't all suck.

Everyone is just miscast, as has been the issue for I don't even know how long at this point.

 

[Fogelhund]

I beg to differ but we all have our own opinions.

Everyone is just miscast, as has been the issue for I don't even know how long at this point.

5v5 The two pairings of Rielly/Brodie, and Gio/Liljegren are 4 goals for 1 against. xGF% tells the same story. It's only three games, but it's been pretty consistent. If they maintained that through out the year, those would be excellent results. Brodie and Rielly pairing have had very good results, and expected results so far.

On the other hand, McCabe/Klingberg are 1 goal for, 5 against. Again, xGF% tells the same story.

McCabe/Klingberg is a mess, that needs addressing.

 

[Budz]

He’s not a good # 3 - like he is being asked to be.

He is a solid #4, with a good #3 partner, or a really good #5.

 

[myleafs]

I thought we'd target Murphy as the D from Chicago... I was kind of surprised that we got McCabe.

The challenge of course, would be finding someone better, at the same cap hit.... It's probably a move for later in the year, and we should give him a bit more runway to settle in. It also depends on how teams do this year... but if they struggle, I could see a deal later in the year, where we swap McCabe for Zadorov @ 50%... Zadorov has an expiring contract, and I can see Calgary and him parting ways. Calgary might be happy to have a few years of control, on a low contract too. But if Calgary has a good season, that wouldn't work.

I think he is our new Holl. Can be serviceable in the right situation but being played like he is better than he is. Lots of high expectations for a 2 milly player.