For sure
But after years of playing pond hockey with keefe, its gonna take some time to make adjustments.
The positive is, at this time last year Matthews had 13/14 goals and the team had a very similar record to today. Matthews only has 5 goals in 13 games, had he scored 3 more goals so far I think the leafs would have two more wins and the team is 8 and 5 instead of 6 and 5.
- Fakepartofme
It's one of my standard long posts, but it sort of got out of hand.
TL;DR: I continue to see the positives in a lot of things with the team - and in my opinion there's more good than bad.
I think we could break down our year so far into:
Consistently Good:
Stolarz has been beyond excellent so far.
OEL and Tanev are the best two back on the D-side right now, and Timmins has looked very good in his role now that he's getting an opportunity. I'd be pretty remiss not to mention that McCabe has been solid. The occasional brain fart, but he plays a lot, plays hard and has been effective.
Lorentz has been refreshing on the 4th line - he has an honest effort every shift and is often a stick that stirs for that line.
As much as Nylander has moments in games of invisibility, that's always sort of been him - even at his best. I have seen Willy play defense admirably - come back behind his net, check guys hard for the puck and overall it seems like he is really buying in to this brand of hockey.
Matthew Knies - the kid might take the occasional bad penalty, but he's a gamer, works hard and has probably been the most effective player on the top line at keeping pucks in the O-Zone, generating a cycle and causing a general disturbance.
Improving:
JT and Patches may have had a rougher start, but they've been excellent the past few games. Although last night was pretty tough on them and Nylander as well.
I've been encouraged by Marner's play in the past few games in particular - he's been much more noticeable in defensive efforts and his offensive game hasn't been awful. I think his biggest issue - neck size aside - is that he does need to be stronger in his plays. He's had too many weak passes get picked off - but overall he's looked better. Knies adds physicality to the line and Marner has been moving well with the puck. Although . . .
Consistently Questionable (You're better and we expect much more):
I think we've all been wondering what's up with Matthews. He's had a number of glorious chances in the slot and missed the net. He should have 10 goals by now just from the setups he's screwed up. There are times when he seems utterly exhausted out there and times where you see his amazing hands, brilliant vision, great passing - but where is his one-timer? Where is the sneaky release?
Woll has had one good game and the team around him played pretty well in the game. I think we're all waiting for him to start playing confident and making some of the highlight saves we've seen in the past. In both games against the Blues he hit a big zero on the "Saves when you need them" meter while Binnington outplayed him badly both games.
Mediocre (or Good and Bad): Domi, Rielly, McMann, Kampf and Reaves.
I'm not sure I blame Domi. He works hard. He's a team guy. He's been meat & potatoes, but his linemates shift and change day-to-day and he often gets one of two guys who are just struggling big time in Robertson or Holmberg.
Rielly will always sort of fit in this category because of what he does bring and what he doesn't bring to the table. He's hampered by salary and reputation in terms of what we expect from him and he's additionally hampered by the fact that he doesn't have an NHL slapshot, or appropriate physicality (especially given he's bigger than you think at 6'1 / 222 - the only guys bigger than him for mass are Reaves (225) and Stolarz).
McMann just needs to find some consistency in his play. Some games he is driving the wall, making physical plays, managing the puck and shooting from dangerous areas. Other games he's not on the wall, shooting from distance and ineffective.
Kampf & Reaves - they have the job of not being scored on and Kampf is -4 at 5v5 despite not starting most shifts in the D-Zone. Reaves we see trail behind the play too often, too slow or tired to keep up consistently - but for both of them, they work the offensive cycle well, have generated some dangerous chances deep off the cycle and do wear the opposition team down a bit, which is still a good thing. In their defense, and by comparison - as Leaf fans we all remember how good Osborne-Zezel-Berg where, but in 92-93, Zezel was even, Berg was -1, and Osborne was -7; in the magical playoff run they were -6. So sometimes doing your job well still gets you scored on. This said, I think Kampf has a purpose. I'm not sure about Reaves.
Consistently bad:
Robertson - we know the kid has work ethic, but his actual accomplishments (even just winning a puck battle) are few.
Fortunately for Robertson, the guy who he's probably competing for a spot with is Holmberg, who is also in this category for me. Both of these guys have struggled to fit into any role given to them. I admit that I don't think Holmberg is overly talented, but he has a good worth ethic. I think he plays a straight-line game better than Robertson, but I think he's been failing at execution in many of his assignments.
Simon Benoit - we know he's better than he's played, but given the lower level of competition he faces and the way he's handled it, he's off to a really poor start. He's only 26 and is playing for a coach who his style probably works better for, so I'd expect him to turn it around.
