hobie Posted December 8, 2017 Share Posted December 8, 2017 TO forwards have been more or less been played in a rotation of 3 or 4 lines every game. This would imply that Babs views at least the top 3 lines as balanced, able to produce pretty much equally every game. TO will play a team like Boston and their 1st line pretty much owns the Leafs when they're on the ice. I understand that Babs feels TO needs a Martin to counter physical players the opposition may have but I wonder why he doesn't, IMO, formulate a line that can meet or exceed Boston's 1st line. If TO is playing against a team that also likes to spread out it's talent then the lines TO has now makes sense but watching Boston dominate with their 1st line on doesn't make sense to me. Boston doesn't spread out their 1st line's minutes to match their 2nd and 3rd lines, the 1st line gets far more minutes per game that the 2nd and 3rd lines. I think the chances of your team winning increases by how well your better players play/produce so it should make sense to have those superior players on the ice more than the lesser talented, much more. The superior player's chances/ability to produce increases not only by icetime but also by the quality of players who they play with. Lines I'd like to see: JVR/Matthews/Marner Marleau/Kadri/Nylander Leivo/Bozak/Brown Martin/Leo/Hyman I'd also like to see TO using Matthews, Marner, Nylander, Kadri, any of the top 6 on the PK with an idea that defending isn't the only way to kill a penalty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WordsOfWisdom Posted December 9, 2017 Share Posted December 9, 2017 Good observation. Kadri, JVR, and Nylander could certainly do with a little more ice time. JVR is awfully low at 14:22 ATOI, but that might have to do with his defensive play compared to Marleau. Matthews is the only top level forward that is getting 18+ minutes a game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hobie Posted December 9, 2017 Author Share Posted December 9, 2017 And I think Matthews is under utilized. I sort of understand Babs' thinking and TO is winning but from what I see it seems the results are a mirage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WordsOfWisdom Posted December 9, 2017 Share Posted December 9, 2017 4 hours ago, hobie said: And I think Matthews is under utilized. I sort of understand Babs' thinking and TO is winning but from what I see it seems the results are a mirage. Usually the top guys are around 18-19 minutes per game (for forwards). I don't want to lean on Matthews too heavily (yet) because he is still a kid and it's his 2nd year in the league. To me, his minutes seem fine. It's the other top guys that we should be seeing more of in my opinion. Why they're not playing 18+ a game is a mystery to me. Perhaps Babs is using the strategy of keeping his top guys rested for a long playoff run in the spring, or maybe he wants to see what he has, so everyone is getting an extended look now and then ice time is going to be divided up based on who Babs likes best later in the season. As long as the wins keep coming, it seems to be working, although being out-shot regularly is going to come back to bite this team sooner or later. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hobie Posted December 10, 2017 Author Share Posted December 10, 2017 In the game tonite Connor Brown played 18+ minutes, Nylander 8+ minutes? Brown might be a more appealing defensive player, willing to defend, Nylander defends thru possession. Watching Pitts. control the puck thru most of the last 2 periods I would think TO was in need of player(s) that can move the puck, aid in possession. I feel that Matthews with Brown and Hymen on his wings is now centering TO's new 3rd line? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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