Leafs powerplay simply unacceptable given the amount of money on it

[Fogelhund]

If it works for Edmonton TB and Washington why not try it.

Ovi is always in the same spot teams know this and can't stop him

Draisaitl always in the same spot teams know this can't stop it Hyman causing havic in front of the net and McDavid skating around looking for a lane

Kucherov in the same spot teams know this can't stop it. Same with Stammer when he was with TB

If it works for them why not us

Use the TB model
Nylander at the left dot
Mathews at the right dot
JT in the bumper
Marner skating around looking for a lane

Are we passing to much not shooting
Simplify it

The question is, 5 forwards, or 4... I'd say Knies should be net front causing havoc... whether that puts JT in the bumper, and Marner skating around or... a D???

We move the puck too slow, to predictable... get the puck moving more, more skating, harder to predict, and Knies needs to be that net front beast, requiring a D man to cover him, and then a 4 on 3 with the rest of the guys. Yes, we look for the perfect shot too much, but with a better, more aggressive net front, you don't always need that perfect shot.

Knies is the guy who can make a big difference here.. teach him to be the net front guy... guy is big and strong... and has a decent set of hands.

 

[HockeyVirus]

Another game, same story. This time after a practice dedicated to the PP AND a timeout called mid PP to give them the full 2 minutes.

Not a serious team

 

[Americanadian]

The top 3 PP's in the league are Winnipeg (31.33M), Detroit (37.21M) and NJ (34.88M). Leafs are spending 54.15M on their most common top PP unit and they sit at 18th. That is awful return on investment.

 

[hamzarocks]

Our PK sucks come playoffs

Our PP sucks come playoffs

We suck at 2 of the main 3 situations of hockey

You cant win a series by just being ~5% better than a team at EVS when your special teams are 30-40% swing

The core 5 guys just suck at executing and finishing plays on the PP come playoffs

 

[Stephen]

They need to come up with an overall agenda and to create some internal rivalry.

-Set an agenda for % of time you want to spend in the Ozone as a benchmark for how quickly you have to move through the neutral zone.

-Limit puck on stick time.

-Track number of passes and passes completed like it’s FIFA.

-Have a strategy to get the D moving east west, and establish shot 1, backdoor, kill shot.

-Split up PP unit based on Marner and Nylander together. And isolate Matthews on another unit. Make them compete for ice time against one another.

-Alleviate Rielly of all PP duties due to lack of performance.

 

[ITM]

Just need a refresher for my own sanity having not read through the entire thread:

Early on wasn’t OEL showing signs of being able to run the PP?

How did it do while AM was out for his longest stretch?

(I’m not angling btw - sincerely trying to recall)

 

[Gabriel426]

I would split the PP to two units and each unit gets a minute.
They are over passing way too much.

 

[wingman75]

I would split the PP to two units and each unit gets a minute.
They are over passing way too much.

This has been the answer for some time I believe.

If you split M&M at 5-on-5, they put them on the same unit.

I don't even care who is out there, but for the love of God, try something, ANYTHING!

 

[Martin Skoula]

For a bunch of high skill elite vision guys they sure seem to keep passing pucks 2-3 feet off target. The amount of times someone is in a good shooting lane only to get a pass they have to take a second to corral and give the goalie time to move is getting comical at this point. Passes getting on target 1 second faster and 1 foot more accurate would fix the PP as much as it can be fixed without a point shot.

 

[ACC1224]

I would split the PP to two units and each unit gets a minute.
They are over passing way too much.

They over pass because they move the puck too slow.

 

[Stephen]

For a bunch of high skill elite vision guys they sure seem to keep passing pucks 2-3 feet off target. The amount of times someone is in a good shooting lane only to get a pass they have to take a second to corral and give the goalie time to move is getting comical at this point. Passes getting on target 1 second faster and 1 foot more accurate would fix the PP as much as it can be fixed without a point shot.

They miss a natural facilitator and connector type guy in the mix. Not a spectacular vision guy who is wowing you necessarily. But just a quick, smooth passing player who shares it and distributes it around the ice without having to do a little extra deke and twirl. Like a Kaberle. Might even settle for a Jake Gardiner. Or even an Ian White.

 

[Martin Skoula]

They miss a natural facilitator and connector type guy in the mix. Not a spectacular vision guy who is wowing you necessarily. But just a quick, smooth passing player who shares it and distributes it around the ice without having to do a little extra deke and twirl. Like a Kaberle. Might even settle for a Jake Gardiner. Or even an Ian White.

Fair but thinking back to their rookie year, that Nylander to Matthews cross seam pass feels like a distant memory now. Whenever they try something like that, the pass is slower and needs to be settled. It’s really apparent when you watch the Avs play, even if you take away MacK and Makar’s skating, their puck movement is almost violent in how fast and precise it is. Posts aside, this should have been a 2-2 or 3-2 game going into the third if they were moving the puck like they used to. It’s the same issue in the playoffs, there’s so many 1 or 2 goal games we lose because there’s a half second bobble on the pass that needs to be settled. Ovi isn’t flirting with 1000 if every time the puck came into his office he needed to take it off his foot or reach back for it.

 

[Stephen]

Fair but thinking back to their rookie year, that Nylander to Matthews cross seam pass feels like a distant memory now. Whenever they try something like that, the pass is slower and needs to be settled. It’s really apparent when you watch the Avs play, even if you take away MacK and Makar’s skating, their puck movement is almost violent in how fast and precise it is. Posts aside, this should have been a 2-2 or 3-2 game going into the third if they were moving the puck like they used to. It’s the same issue in the playoffs, there’s so many 1 or 2 goal games we lose because there’s a half second bobble on the pass that needs to be settled. Ovi isn’t flirting with 1000 if every time the puck came into his office he needed to take it off his foot or reach back for it.

Yeah I agree with your assessment too. They don’t do things with pace, cleanly. They don’t work quickly, with focus, urgency. I suspect that’s a mental sharpness and concentration problem. There should be no excuse between Matthews, Marner and Nylander.

Tavares is a little different. He’s a unique combination of having elite and stone hands at the same time and more like a deke you out one on one or in a confined space or make grinder jam plays than elegant puck sharing.

Rielly is sluggish AF. Everything he does is just slow and laboured unless he’s on a Lone Ranger rush. The best thing he does on a PP is keep it in at the line.

 

[Martin Skoula]

Yeah I agree with your assessment too. They don’t do things with pace, cleanly. They don’t work quickly, with focus, urgency. I suspect that’s a mental sharpness and concentration problem. There should be no excuse between Matthews, Marner and Nylander.

Tavares is a little different. He’s a unique combination of having elite and stone hands at the same time and more like a deke you out one on one or in a confined space or make grinder jam plays than elegant puck sharing.

Rielly is sluggish AF. Everything he does is just slow and laboured unless he’s on a Lone Ranger rush. The best thing he does on a PP is keep it in at the line.

Yeah Tavares should be a force multiplier like a JVR/Holmstrom. Someone else does the heavy lifting and you throw him in the middle of the chaos to increase your conversion rate on tips/rebounds, plus he’ll keep you in the zone longer working the boards to let you pile up more created offense for him to raise the conversion rate on. If he comes back at a discount I’d really hope he embraces that role into his later years and puts on 10-15 pounds on the wing + whatever piss Pacioretty started putting in his cornflakes every morning. I don’t know if they make anger enhancing amulets but if so then that.

 

[thewave]

The only unacceptable thing here is that it is apparent that yet another coach is not able to coach these "stars". Line changes would be made by now, things would be done. It's not working.

 

[notDatsyuk]

A couple of things I've noticed:

- JT tends to stands just off to the side, looking for a tip or rebound, rather than screening the goalie.
- Willy is the best at carrying the puck into the zone, but he seems to be the only one doing it, which makes it predictable.
- when Mitch is at the blueline his passes to Matty and Willy are often just a bit too far back for a good one-timer, so they have to handle the puck, and it often ends up back with Mitch.
- JT is losing the puck too often, resulting in clearing.
- no bombs from the point.

What I would like to see:

- JT off PP1. Let Knies play the net-front, and focus on screening the goalie. Matty can take faceoffs (and currently has a better % on the PP than JT).
- Matty and Willy or Mitch on the sides for one-timers, but they have to move around a bit more to keep the passing lanes open.
- two players back at the points, at least one with a hard shot and a willingness to use it (which should also spread the D and make for easier cross-ice passes for one-timers).
- rather not have Mitch at the blueline as his shot isn't the hardest and he is too much of a 'pass first' type.
- much faster puck movement.
- instead of a couple of drop passes until Willy gets going, have him moving up the wing and pass it forward to him!

 

[Stephen]

A couple of things I've noticed:

- JT tends to stands just off to the side, looking for a tip or rebound, rather than screening the goalie.
- Willy is the best at carrying the puck into the zone, but he seems to be the only one doing it, which makes it predictable.
- when Mitch is at the blueline his passes to Matty and Willy are often just a bit too far back for a good one-timer, so they have to handle the puck, and it often ends up back with Mitch.
- JT is losing the puck too often, resulting in clearing.
- no bombs from the point.

What I would like to see:

- JT off PP1. Let Knies play the net-front, and focus on screening the goalie. Matty can take faceoffs (and currently has a better % on the PP than JT).
- Matty and Willy or Mitch on the sides for one-timers, but they have to move around a bit more to keep the passing lanes open.
- two players back at the points, at least one with a hard shot and a willingness to use it (which should also spread the D and make for easier cross-ice passes for one-timers).
- rather not have Mitch at the blueline as his shot isn't the hardest and he is too much of a 'pass first' type.
- much faster puck movement.
- instead of a couple of drop passes until Willy gets going, have him moving up the wing and pass it forward to him!

Willie, Auston, Mitch (and Mo) really struggle with spacing at times. They do those useless touch pass-offs, skate into each others spots, get jumbled up and don’t seem to have good instinctive sense of triangulating between puck carrier, pass target one pass target two. They each like to do a little extra touch or useless twirl and the extra beat throws everyone else off two because they’re all pirouetting around without set marks where they need to be and what they want to do. There’s a certain level of systems, but to a certain point their instincts are just off at times.

 

[Maple Leaf]

Willie, Auston, Mitch (and Mo) really struggle with spacing at times. They do those useless touch pass-offs, skate into each others spots, get jumbled up and don’t seem to have good instinctive sense of triangulating between puck carrier, pass target one pass target two. They each like to do a little extra touch or useless twirl and the extra beat throws everyone else off two because they’re all pirouetting around without set marks where they need to be and what they want to do. There’s a certain level of systems, but to a certain point their instincts are just off at times.

You ever heard of too many cooks in the kitchen?

 

[Nineteen67]

A couple of things I've noticed:

- JT tends to stands just off to the side, looking for a tip or rebound, rather than screening the goalie.
- Willy is the best at carrying the puck into the zone, but he seems to be the only one doing it, which makes it predictable.
- when Mitch is at the blueline his passes to Matty and Willy are often just a bit too far back for a good one-timer, so they have to handle the puck, and it often ends up back with Mitch.
- JT is losing the puck too often, resulting in clearing.
- no bombs from the point.

What I would like to see:

- JT off PP1. Let Knies play the net-front, and focus on screening the goalie. Matty can take faceoffs (and currently has a better % on the PP than JT).
- Matty and Willy or Mitch on the sides for one-timers, but they have to move around a bit more to keep the passing lanes open.
- two players back at the points, at least one with a hard shot and a willingness to use it (which should also spread the D and make for easier cross-ice passes for one-timers).
- rather not have Mitch at the blueline as his shot isn't the hardest and he is too much of a 'pass first' type.
- much faster puck movement.
- instead of a couple of drop passes until Willy gets going, have him moving up the wing and pass it forward to him!

Oftentimes the pass to Matthews and Nylander is not where they can one-time a shot. Then they have to handle the puck and set it up again which wastes valuable time.

Last was perfect example of Matthews teeing up for Marner and he was able to get away a couple of shots ( no one in front though) but Marner couldn’t tee up Mathews

 

[Stephen]

You ever heard of too many cooks in the kitchen?

You’re not wrong. It was addition by subtraction just getting rid of Matthews earlier on in the season. The whole flow was different.

 

[Stephen]

Oftentimes the pass to Matthews and Nylander is not where they can one-time a shot. Then they have to handle the puck and set it up again which wastes valuable time.

Last was perfect example of Matthews teeing up for Marner and he was able to get away a couple of shots ( no one in front though) but Marner couldn’t tee up Mathews

Matthews also drifts out of shooting position at times so it’s a coordination problem. The longer someone else handles the puck the extra beat, the more Matthews will fade in and out of his spot and by the time the pass is made he can be way out of position. Matthews is also pretty bad at holding the puck. Seems like he’ll look off a B chance and go down the side wall and or drift back and the shooting options get worse and worse with the D set. Sometimes it’s just over complication, sluggish puck movement, bad overthinking and passing and just poor sharing the puck.

 

[indigobuffalo]

While I would like the PP to be working, when it is working the refs tuck their whistles away.

We had a stretch there earlier in Matthews’ career where the PP was around 33% and the Leafs were consistently the lowest penalty drawing team in the league.

If the PP is working the game management gets working too.

 

[mclaren55]

I'm over watching the drop pass zone entry. I get we don't have bangers in our lineup to play the dump and chase on the PP game, but holy hell do other teams have our number. They just stack 4 guys on their blueline and deny what seems to be 50% of the entries every PP. Why does every coach we have seem to run it the same way?

Also, please get Marner off the point. I get that Rielly has a muffin shot, but why are we replacing it with another muffin shot? Why not spread out our talent so PP2 generates more chances? Loading up PP1 seems like a waste given the results.

 

[Stephen]

I'm over watching the drop pass zone entry. I get we don't have bangers in our lineup to play the dump and chase on the PP game, but holy hell do other teams have our number. They just stack 4 guys on their blueline and deny what seems to be 50% of the entries every PP. Why does every coach we have seem to run it the same way?

Also, please get Marner off the point. I get that Rielly has a muffin shot, but why are we replacing it with another muffin shot? Why not spread out our talent so PP2 generates more chances? Loading up PP1 seems like a waste given the results.

I don’t understand the why they drop pass it like they're the Russian Five. If the initial puck carrier leading the rush comes to the blueline with 4x opponents stacking, how is it better to drop it 25-50 feet and have the next guy come to the blueline with a traffic jam of 8 guys standing around?

It’s not a no to the drop pass. But it’s a no to when it’s used as a default.

 

[Racer88]

The top 3 PP's in the league are Winnipeg (31.33M), Detroit (37.21M) and NJ (34.88M). Leafs are spending 54.15M on their most common top PP unit and they sit at 18th. That is awful return on investment.

Heads should roll over that