Pre-Game Talk: Sens @ Leafs pre-season - 7PM EST

[notbias]

OEL will be the new PP quarterback imo, Rielly’s going to be replaced in that regard imo………

OEL struggled on the PP in the playoffs from what I recall, he isn't a sure thing.

Not sure he is a better distributor either.

Definitely open to trying other options, but I don't think he is a sure thing.

I want them to go 5F honestly, they have the players for it.

Something like:

Net: Knies
Bumper: Tavares
Wings: Matthews and Nylander
Point: Marner

Big body in front with good hands
The bumper has a great shot and good hand-eye for deflections up high
One timer on either side
Best puck distributor and decision-maker at the top, I am more worried about people getting sticks on the puck than a shot hard enough to go through shinpads.

The season is long, try some things.

 

[crump]

Looking at the sens line up it might end up being a complete route for the Leafs tonight

I guess both teams keeping their strongest roster for home games

https://x.com/i/web/status/1837855136292786227

A few ex Leafs in that lineup. Is that the same Gaudette? Gregor, Amadio, Kulemin.

 

[ULF_55]

OEL struggled on the PP in the playoffs from what I recall, he isn't a sure thing.

Not sure he is a better distributor either.

Definitely open to trying other options, but I don't think he is a sure thing.

Sounds like Montour struggled ... not sure it got any better, but it wasn't an Ekman-Larsson issue.

Ekman-Larsson ready to make impact for Panthers in Game 6 of Cup Final | NHL.com

Defenseman who will move up to top power-play unit has 'unbelievable feeling' 1 win from title

www.nhl.com

Ekman-Larsson could play a pivotal role for Florida in its biggest game of season. With the Panthers power play struggling through the first five games of the series, Ekman-Larsson will replace Brandon Montour at the point on the top power-play unit.

Florida is 1-for-16 with the man-advantage during the Cup Final and allowed a short-handed goal in losing each of the past two games. The short-handed goals put the Panthers in a 1-0 hole early in each game, with Mattias Janmark scoring 3:11 into an 8-1 loss in Game 4, and Connor Brown scoring 5:30 into a 5-3 loss in Game 5.

Montour's errant pass led to Brown's breakaway goal in Game 5, so Florida is hoping Ekman-Larsson's experience can help eliminate such mistakes.

"I'm ready for it," Ekman-Larsson said. "I played [on the power play] a little bit in the beginning of the year. Just happy for that opportunity if that happens. Obviously, 'Monty,' he's been moving the puck well and the power play has been really good, winning us some big games. We've just got to keep sticking with it and keep having good looks and keep working hard at it."

 

[notbias]

Sounds like Montour struggled ... not sure it got any better, but it wasn't an Ekman-Larsson issue.

Ekman-Larsson ready to make impact for Panthers in Game 6 of Cup Final | NHL.com

Defenseman who will move up to top power-play unit has 'unbelievable feeling' 1 win from title

www.nhl.com

Ekman-Larsson could play a pivotal role for Florida in its biggest game of season. With the Panthers power play struggling through the first five games of the series, Ekman-Larsson will replace Brandon Montour at the point on the top power-play unit.

Florida is 1-for-16 with the man-advantage during the Cup Final and allowed a short-handed goal in losing each of the past two games. The short-handed goals put the Panthers in a 1-0 hole early in each game, with Mattias Janmark scoring 3:11 into an 8-1 loss in Game 4, and Connor Brown scoring 5:30 into a 5-3 loss in Game 5.

Montour's errant pass led to Brown's breakaway goal in Game 5, so Florida is hoping Ekman-Larsson's experience can help eliminate such mistakes.

"I'm ready for it," Ekman-Larsson said. "I played [on the power play] a little bit in the beginning of the year. Just happy for that opportunity if that happens. Obviously, 'Monty,' he's been moving the puck well and the power play has been really good, winning us some big games. We've just got to keep sticking with it and keep having good looks and keep working hard at it."

They went 0-5 in the final two games with OEL.

I though OEL was who got scored on a lot but, guess that was Montour, my mistake.

Florida had an 18.5% PP last year in the playoffs.

If you want to find his isolated stats on the PP, that's fine, but the last two games, are bad when he was the #1 PPQB.

 

[weems]

 

[Mess]

Would love to see the Leafs new PP formation today.

PP#1

Net front : Knies
High Bumper : Tavares
Boards: Matthews and Nylander
Point: OEL

Matthew Knies plays the role of a Zach Hyman net front crease presence and OEL replacing Reilly as the teams PPQB on unit #1

 

[TMLeafer]

Nice to see a full lineup in the first game. Can't wait!

 

[notbias]

View attachment 908634

Just for reference, McCabe had the best numbers across both teams of anyone who purposely saw PP time.

Not against OEL on the 1st PP unit, I just don't think he is a sure thing.

 

[Spargon]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1837847214506340532

That's only a few pieces off a potential opening night roster.

 

[weems]

Just for reference, McCabe had the best numbers across both teams of anyone who purposely saw PP time.

Not against OEL on the 1st PP unit, I just don't think he is a sure thing.

We should be trying alot of things this regular season.
We are most likely good enough that we can experiment with stuff like line combos, 2 stacked vs 3 balanced, PP units, PK units, Nylander at C and still make the playoffs without much worry.

 

[Stephen]

Pretty strong lineup tn.

Think preseason home lineups are usually stronger than the stuff they send on the road.

 

[Sypher04]

LMAO what a freakin' JOKE this PP unit is....

The one time the unit was HOT where they got goals on PP on a consistent basis was when....

A) It was Bert instead of Tavares in front of the net
B) Lily was running the point instead of Rielly
C) Marner was in and out of line up

Still no point shot, and still not strong shots from forwards except Nylander and Matthews

The insanity continues.....

SERENITY NOW

They have proven to be productive as a group many times over the last few years. I wanted them to do split units just to get more people involved but I don’t blame them trying this first.

The powerplay needed new tactics more than personnel.

OEL struggled on the PP in the playoffs from what I recall, he isn't a sure thing.

Not sure he is a better distributor either.

Definitely open to trying other options, but I don't think he is a sure thing.

I want them to go 5F honestly, they have the players for it.

Something like:

Net: Knies
Bumper: Tavares
Wings: Matthews and Nylander
Point: Marner

Big body in front with good hands
The bumper has a great shot and good hand-eye for deflections up high
One timer on either side
Best puck distributor and decision-maker at the top, I am more worried about people getting sticks on the puck than a shot hard enough to go through shinpads.

The season is long, try some things.

He did not.
I do agree however that he should not be considered a sure thing.

 

[Magic Man]

They only have 6 pre-season games this year as well so they may want to jump ahead with less games to prepare. There might not be as many AHL guys used in pre-season this year.

 

[Sypher04]

Just for reference, McCabe had the best numbers across both teams of anyone who purposely saw PP time.

Not against OEL on the 1st PP unit, I just don't think he is a sure thing.

I mean to be fair you’ve been talking down on him pretty much every opportunity that has come up since his signing.

 

[notbias]

He did not.
I do agree however that he should not be considered a sure thing.

As the #1 option, he was 0-5 unless you can show me otherwise.

We should be trying alot of things this regular season.
We are most likely good enough that we can experiment with stuff like line combos, 2 stacked vs 3 balanced, PP units, PK units, Nylander at C and still make the playoffs without much worry.

Agreed, I want to see a PP of 5F personally, but we shall see.

I mean to be fair you’ve been talking down on him pretty much every opportunity that has come up since his signing.

OEL? Show me where.

He was a #5 in sheltered minutes who has a lot of potential but should not be guaranteed as a top 4 option.

Not sure stating facts is talking down about him.

He did very well in a bottom pairing role.

 

[Burnie97]

I'm thinking he main guys who are on the team are probably playing at least 3 games each. There's a couple less pre season games this year.

I don't mind that. Let's get the real show going.

 

[Dayjobdave]

Playing a strong lineup to get off on the right foot. Hoping we don’t toy with the opposition this year.

 

[TheBeastCoast]

We really talking about a 2 game sample right now?

 

[Stephen]

Sounds like Montour struggled ... not sure it got any better, but it wasn't an Ekman-Larsson issue.

Ekman-Larsson ready to make impact for Panthers in Game 6 of Cup Final | NHL.com

Defenseman who will move up to top power-play unit has 'unbelievable feeling' 1 win from title

www.nhl.com

Ekman-Larsson could play a pivotal role for Florida in its biggest game of season. With the Panthers power play struggling through the first five games of the series, Ekman-Larsson will replace Brandon Montour at the point on the top power-play unit.

Florida is 1-for-16 with the man-advantage during the Cup Final and allowed a short-handed goal in losing each of the past two games. The short-handed goals put the Panthers in a 1-0 hole early in each game, with Mattias Janmark scoring 3:11 into an 8-1 loss in Game 4, and Connor Brown scoring 5:30 into a 5-3 loss in Game 5.

Montour's errant pass led to Brown's breakaway goal in Game 5, so Florida is hoping Ekman-Larsson's experience can help eliminate such mistakes.

"I'm ready for it," Ekman-Larsson said. "I played [on the power play] a little bit in the beginning of the year. Just happy for that opportunity if that happens. Obviously, 'Monty,' he's been moving the puck well and the power play has been really good, winning us some big games. We've just got to keep sticking with it and keep having good looks and keep working hard at it."

Bruce Boudreau made an off hand but insightful comment about OEL last week on TSN. He had him in Vancouver where he famously struggled... and he basically said OEL was used a lot on RD where he was beat to the outside more frequently, whereas on LD, he was able to utilize his active stick to defend the outside. For a rangy, positional, active stick guy in the classic Swedish style that makes a lot of sense.

 

[thusk]

LMAO what a freakin' JOKE this PP unit is....

The one time the unit was HOT where they got goals on PP on a consistent basis was when....

A) It was Bert instead of Tavares in front of the net
B) Lily was running the point instead of Rielly
C) Marner was in and out of line up

Still no point shot, and still not strong shots from forwards except Nylander and Matthews

The insanity continues.....

SERENITY NOW

If you warched leafs pp in playoff, you will see than #1 issue was not leafs with the puck but without...

When you in PP and always #2 on puck, i never see any PP having succes without puck. If every time you taking a shot = losing rhe puck... you will not score a lot of goal. If of 2min pp you got the puck 20 sec on your stick in the offensive end, good luck to score.

Everything started by winning battle

 

[crump]

Well, looks like the PP will get a new chance under the new coaching staff. Fair enough. On paper you would think it would dominate and be in the top 5 of the NHL in PP %. If it disappears again you have options.

 

[Sypher04]

As the #1 option, he was 0-5 unless you can show me otherwise.

Why are we focusing on just 5 powerplays and not the body of work? He had easily the best powerplay results on the team in the playoffs; that isn’t struggling.

OEL? Show me where.

He was a #5 in sheltered minutes who has a lot of potential but should not be guaranteed as a top 4 option.

Not sure stating facts is talking down about him.

He did very well in a bottom pairing role.

No shade intended but the comments were there imo. You can review the OEL signing thread for yourself for the examples.

Sometimes stating something you think is fact is in fact talking down.

Such as continually downplaying the job he did for months at the start of the year playing in the Panthers top 4 when they were missing multiple top 4 guys from their lineup

He certainly wasn’t sheltered then. And even if he was sheltered in the playoffs that’s a function of a deep, quality D not really a reflection of what OEL was offering to the team

 

[notbias]

We really talking about a 2 game sample right now?

Do you have a larger sample size?

I'd love to see a large sample of him being the QB for PP1 but I think that's all we have...

May as well not discuss OEL being on PP1 then I guess.

Why are we focusing on just 5 powerplays and not the body of work? He had easily the best powerplay results on the team in the playoffs; that isn’t struggling.

Do you have a large sample size of his work on PP1?

You can review the OEL signing thread for yourself for the examples.

Sometimes stating something you think is fact is in fact talking down.

Such a continually diminishing the job he did for months at the start of the year playing in the Panthers top 4 when they were missing multiple top 4 guys from their lineup

He certainly wasn’t sheltered then. And even if he was sheltered in the playoffs that’s a function of a deep, quality D not really a reflection of what OEL was offering to the team

Not doing your work.

He was sheltered.

He played well in the regular season in top 4 and excelled as a #5 in the playoffs in a sheltered role.

I continually say he is a wild card and could be great for us.

 

[Stephen]

If you warched leafs pp in playoff, you will see than #1 issue was not leafs with the puck but without...

When you in PP and always #2 on puck, i never see any PP having succes without puck. If every time you taking a shot = losing rhe puck... you will not score a lot of goal. If of 2min pp you got the puck 20 sec on your stick in the offensive end, good luck to score.

Everything started by winning battle

I don't agree with that. The biggest time waster on the Leafs PP were the Leafs themselves when they had the puck. Sluggish retrievals in their own end, aimless and unhurried transition up the ice like there's no game clock. Lack of game plan for distributing the puck, pace and work rate is not up to par.

But part of the problem may also have been from the previous regime's philosophy of wanting to take an extra beat to make a play vs just playing a cleaner, quicker game.

 

[TheBeastCoast]

Do you have a larger sample size?

I'd love to see a large sample of him being the QB for PP1 but I think that's all we have...

May as well not discuss OEL being on PP1 then I guess.



Do you have a large sample size of his work on PP1?



Not doing your work.

He was sheltered.

He played well in the regular season in top 4 and excelled as a #5 in the playoffs in a sheltered role.

I continually say he is a wild card and could be great for us.

Regardless of having or not having a larger sample....that sample is literally useless lol