The Leafs Special Teams Has Been Dreadful

[Stephen]

Ebbs and flows of the regular season, especially with their top PP/PKer out .. I'm more concerned about playoffs and if they can make the needed adjustments.

Odds are they can't.

Yeah. Some people like to think all this regular season stuff is meaningless but I tend to think of stretch drive like a plane getting ready to take off. Leafs are stalling out on the runway and just full of worrisome signs. Don’t think they’ll just “figure it out” when things are even more difficult.

Really don’t love the character make up of this core group.

 

[Gallagbi]

Matthews actually has the best PPGA/60 on the team, 3x better than Marner last I checked but doesn’t play half as much.

I'm betting part of that is quality of competition. Matthews is usually getting late time vs PP2

 

[LeafSteel]

We’ve seen this show too often.

They aren’t coasting because they are waiting for the playoffs and Keefe isn’t line juggling to prepare either.

Time and again Keefe shows he’s incapable of outclassing the other coach and this core doesn’t outplay the other team in the playoffs.

Already looking to the offseason and seeing what Treliving does to improve our defence, to be honest.

Now it just feels like waiting for things to and this season.

 

[authentic]

I'm betting part of that is quality of competition. Matthews is usually getting late time vs PP2

That likely explains the gap over Marner, but he still has an edge over everyone else on the team who faces PP2

We’ve seen this show too often.

They aren’t coasting because they are waiting for the playoffs and Keefe isn’t line juggling to prepare either.

Time and again Keefe shows he’s incapable of outclassing the other coach and this core doesn’t outplay the other team in the playoffs.

Already looking to the offseason and seeing what Treliving does to improve our defence, to be honest.

Now it just feels like waiting for things to and this season.

Actually they have very often.

 

[DarkKnight]

The PP will fix itself, but the PK really worries me come playoffs. Let’s just hope Edmundson can make a difference, Brodie is spent. Jarnkrok is decent, hopefully Dewar can bring more, he is a PKer, but the Wild weren’t exactly world beaters there.

 

[WTFMAN99]

You can maybe survive in the playoffs with an average PP

You better be amazing on the PK though.

 

[Arzak]

They need to simplify the powerplay. No one is asking for the Harlem Gloebtrotters and yet I can see the Guy Boucher markers all over the ice in transition. Like this guy criss crosses and leaves the puck in position for that guy to zig zag into the slow gap at the blueline. Once in the pool, everyone give me a crap ballet of attempted keep away. Worst guy to touch it shoots. Don’t be afraid to blast the puck wide and don’t worry about the puck careening back down the ice for an odd man rush against. They’re just so unaware it makes no sense.

Agree, but what you're asking for is someone to stand in front goalie to screen and or going directly to the net. Neither is something we fancy too much.

 

[Darcy Tucker]

I'm surprised this group of players are struggling so bad out there. On paper doesn't always translate on the ice but right now they are taking the "special" in special teams too literally. They need to keep it simple.

 

[TheGroceryStick]

Practice???

Not the Game!

 

[Gallagbi]

Agree, but what you're asking for is someone to stand in front goalie to screen and or going directly to the net. Neither is something we fancy too much.

That's exactly what Bert and Tavares have done throughout their career.

 

[LeafSteel]

That likely explains the gap over Marner, but he still has an edge over everyone else on the team who faces PP2



Actually they have very often.

1 playoff round win in 7 playoffs?

Sorry, my definition must be different than yours.

 

[Larcos_Unal]

$40m+ invested in 4 forwards, another $7.5 in your dman and you can't make a f***ing PP work. Simply and utterly unbelievable.

 

[authentic]

1 playoff round win in 7 playoffs?

Sorry, my definition must be different than yours.

It’s almost like there have been series where our core 4 outplayed and outscored the best players on the other team and we still lost, our first series against Tampa being a prime example.

 

[yubbers]

Coaching issue.

Until Keefe gets the boot I don't expect much more than I've seen the last 5 years or so.

There's no excuse with that much firepower for your PP to go that sideways.

 

[Commander Clueless]

$40m+ invested in 4 forwards, another $7.5 in your dman and you can't make a f***ing PP work. Simply and utterly unbelievable.

Honestly, if anything that should be the one area our roster construction has the advantage.

Coaching?

 

[Jimmy Firecracker]

Honestly, if anything that should be the one area our roster construction has the advantage.

Coaching?

Every playoffs the Leafs PP goes flaccid and yet every year they trot out the same cast of characters with the same strategy. That's entirely on a coach and coaching staff that refuses to have anybody but the highest paid players on the powerplay. Even when they do get the inspiration to try something new (or are forced to due to injuries or suspension) they revert back to old habits the instant their new idea stops working.

Infinite patience for "tried and true" methods but zero time to let new players have a chance to figure out or take advantage of opportunities.

 

[LeafSteel]

It’s almost like there have been series where our core 4 outplayed and outscored the best players on the other team and we still lost, our first series against Tampa being a prime example.

Also there are series we got outplayed and won like Tampa last year, as well as multiple series where we got outplayed and lost.

I think I’m speaking more to the bigger picture as we’ve consistently not been the better playing team in the playoffs.

I won’t look at one offs when the results, or lack thereof speaks for itself.

 

[Fogelhund]

Despite the recent slump, the PP is ranked #5 in the league. It was #1 a short time ago. This idea that the PP isn't working this season, is completely misplaced. It's having a rough patch, and currently missing it's puck distributor. Back away from the edge of the bridge, and calm down.

 

[authentic]

Also there are series we got outplayed and won like Tampa last year, as well as multiple series where we got outplayed and lost.

I think I’m speaking more to the bigger picture as we’ve consistently not been the better playing team in the playoffs.

I won’t look at one offs when the results, or lack thereof speaks for itself.

Our core 4 outscored Tampa’s by whopping margin, every single one of our top players had more points than their highest scorer last year and were all + players while Tampa’s best were being outscored on the ice. Yeah we have lost almost every series but my point is it’s not always because our top guys aren’t outplaying the other teams best.

 

[Racer88]

The PP will fix itself, but the PK really worries me come playoffs. Let’s just hope Edmundson can make a difference, Brodie is spent. Jarnkrok is decent, hopefully Dewar can bring more, he is a PKer, but the Wild weren’t exactly world beaters there.

Just curious as to why you think the PP will fix itself but not the PK

Our core 4 outscored Tampa’s by whopping margin, every single one of our top players had more points than their highest scorer last year and were all + players while Tampa’s best were being outscored on the ice. Yeah we have lost almost every series but my point is it’s not always because our top guys aren’t outplaying the other teams best.

I wonder if it’s because our top guys take so much of the cap and not enough is left to fix goaltending and defence.

 

[DarkKnight]

Just curious as to why you think the PP will fix itself but not the PK


I wonder if it’s because our top guys take so much of the cap and not enough is left to fix goaltending and defence.

Because it’s been fantastic for portions of this season, whereas the PK has been an issue throughout. The PP was incredible in Feb for example. To me it’s a slump, whereas the PK is a systemic issue.

 

[Racer88]

Because it’s been fantastic for portions of this season, whereas the PK has been an issue throughout. The PP was incredible in Feb for example. To me it’s a slump, whereas the PK is a systemic issue.

Fair enough. I’m also worried about the PK. it has to be the system that they are using or lack of

 

[Leafsfan74]

They lost Holl and Kerfoot among others. Some on here hated those players.

 

[Lightsol]

Power play was 1st overall In feburary

A month later…

DEAD LAST

that is insanity. If they don’t sort it out, we lose in 5 vs boston

And it's ENTIRELY because in February when it was on a roll, Keefe was forced by availability to make some adjustments to it, but now he's basically gone back to his defaults. Problem is, Keefe's defaults have been ineffective since 2021 when teams figured them out, and Keefe refuses to change unless he has to.

I think the PP problem is due mostly to our inability to pass the puck around quickly enough to get someone open. We, compared to most teams, get our pucks deflected a lot when trying to make a quick pass whilst standing still for the most part. I think I read a stat where we are one of the, if not the worst, teams at passing the puck around in the offensive zone. Combine that with everyone pretending they are statues and here we are.

The Leafs' PP has always been much more effective when guys are moving around. But for whatever reason, they always go to this statue PP system. Personally, I think it's Keefe, simply because of how consistently it keeps happening.

 

[Lightsol]

Our core 4 outscored Tampa’s by whopping margin, every single one of our top players had more points than their highest scorer last year and were all + players while Tampa’s best were being outscored on the ice. Yeah we have lost almost every series but my point is it’s not always because our top guys aren’t outplaying the other teams best.

The Leafs have two big problems that keep killing them in the playoffs:

1. They can't seem to get their top guys and their bottom guys firing at the same time. It's always either the top 4 are scoring, but they're getting nothing from the rest, or the depth is scoring, but the top 4 is doing jack shit.
2. GOALTENDING. This iteration of the Leafs has never played a series where they had a goaltending advantage.