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The Defensive Logjam

Frank E said:
So it seems season starts a week from Wednesday...when do final rosters have to be set?
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Noon the day before the first game (to allow for players on waivers to clear).
 
Babcock says Zaitsev will be paired with Hunwick, because Hunwick is his best teacher on the ice (better than a coach). Best teacher at how to cover for your partner, I guess.
 
Every coach has a blindspot.

Wonder what this means for Rielly. Back on the right side with Marincin, or does he get one of Carrick/Corrado/Polak?
 
Not sure exactly, but Zaitsev is playing with Rielly tonight.

Seems a bit like the lineup tonight is a trial run of a some more finalized ideas (Gardiner - Carrick).
 
Rielly not on PP lines (as previously discussed on the GdT):

http://www.tsn.ca/andersen-thankful-for-leafs-vote-of-confidence-1.585423
Rielly didn't have a role on the power play in Wednesday's opener and has not practised on the man advantage the last two days. Jake Gardiner and Nikita Zaitsev have been the quarterbacks on Babcock's four-forward units. The coach was coy when asked whether, like last year, Rielly may get more power-play time later in the season.

"Yeah, (smiles) sure," Babcock said. Is he worried about overworking Rielly, who played a team-high 25:45 against the Senators? "I guess, how would I say this, Riels and I have talked," Babcock said with a grin. "How's that."

In the past, the left-handed Rielly has been asked to play on the right side, but it appears that will not happen as much this season.

"I like Rielly on the left way better and so that's why we're trying to play him there as much as we can," Babcock said. That means that lefty Martin Marincin will have to play primarily on the right unless Babcock makes a change in pairings or personnel.
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If we are going to run Rielly on the left, why trot out Marincin at all in a sub-optimal position when Corrado is languishing in the press box?
 
https://twitter.com/kristen_shilton/status/788421074673283072

Queue the 4-goal outburst from Roman Polak this next game (maybe).
 
herman said:
Rielly not on PP lines (as previously discussed on the GdT):

http://www.tsn.ca/andersen-thankful-for-leafs-vote-of-confidence-1.585423
Rielly didn't have a role on the power play in Wednesday's opener and has not practised on the man advantage the last two days. Jake Gardiner and Nikita Zaitsev have been the quarterbacks on Babcock's four-forward units. The coach was coy when asked whether, like last year, Rielly may get more power-play time later in the season.

"Yeah, (smiles) sure," Babcock said. Is he worried about overworking Rielly, who played a team-high 25:45 against the Senators? "I guess, how would I say this, Riels and I have talked," Babcock said with a grin. "How's that."

In the past, the left-handed Rielly has been asked to play on the right side, but it appears that will not happen as much this season.

"I like Rielly on the left way better and so that's why we're trying to play him there as much as we can," Babcock said. That means that lefty Martin Marincin will have to play primarily on the right unless Babcock makes a change in pairings or personnel.
Click to expand...

If we are going to run Rielly on the left, why trot out Marincin at all in a sub-optimal position when Corrado is languishing in the press box?
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Play him on the damn PP! Reilly is our guy, if he's not, add 4 years to the rebuild.
 
The isolation of Hunwick is already underway. Safe to bet this will continue to get worse. #Leafs
CvOexTUXEAAh4wz.jpg

? Sean Tierney (@SeanTierneyTss) October 20, 2016
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On the Lupul scale, Zaitzev is 10 out of 10 on fun, 2 out of 10 on English. Gardiner 7 on fun, 1 on baseball and who is on first. I dunno.
 
Crake said:
So how does one read this chart? Is Zaitsev bad but fun or fun and just not as good as Gardiner? Is Gardiner good and dull?
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The x-axis measure Chances Against/60, while the y-axis measures Chances For/60.

Good = Higher chances for + Lower chances against
Fun = High chances for + High chances against
Dull = Low chances for + Low chances against
Bad = Low chances for + High chances against

Good: Carrick, Gardiner
Good Fun: Rielly
Fun: Marincin, Zaitsev
Dull: No one
Bad: Hunwick
 
herman said:
Crake said:
So how does one read this chart? Is Zaitsev bad but fun or fun and just not as good as Gardiner? Is Gardiner good and dull?
Click to expand...

The x-axis measure Chances Against/60, while the y-axis measures Chances For/60.

Good = Higher chances for + Lower chances against
Fun = High chances for + High chances against
Dull = Low chances for + Low chances against
Bad = Low chances for + High chances against

Good: Carrick, Gardiner
Good Fun: Rielly
Fun: Marincin, Zaitsev
Dull: No one
Bad: Hunwick
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Leafs could have used some dull in the third last night.
 
wowy-1617-TOR-hunwima85-shots.png


The chart shows the player #s With or Without You CF60/CA60 relative to Hunwick. See previous post for determining what Good, Fun, Dull, and Bad mean.

Black boxes show when they are playing with Hunwick, Red is when they're not with Hunwick, and Blue is what Hunwick's numbers are with each player. The table on the right shows the number of minutes played with and without our good buddy Hunwick.

I hate to dump on a player (especially in small sample sizes), but this is a problem. Only Rielly and Gardiner are doing okay with him, but that's because they've only spent 3 minutes (~10 shifts) with him. Poor Zaitsev...
 
cabber24 said:
Play him on the damn PP! Reilly is our guy, if he's not, add 4 years to the rebuild.
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I've heard and seen much chatter with fans and media over Rielly not being used on the PP right now and all of the hockey world is like, "what"?

I have little doubt in my mind that he will be QB'ing the 1PP soon. Babs knows he's more than capable like the rest of us.

What I see happening is the 10 game regular season "audition" to see who the next best D option(s) are. Is it Gards? Zaitsev? Carrick? Will the 1PP run with 4 forwards and the 2PP with three forwards?

Discoveries are happening. Give it time. Things are bound to change when November hits and the roster solidifies.
 
herman said:
wowy-1617-TOR-hunwima85-shots.png


The chart shows the player #s With or Without You CF60/CA60 relative to Hunwick. See previous post for determining what Good, Fun, Dull, and Bad mean.

Black boxes show when they are playing with Hunwick, Red is when they're not with Hunwick, and Blue is what Hunwick's numbers are with each player. The table on the right shows the number of minutes played with and without our good buddy Hunwick.

I hate to dump on a player (especially in small sample sizes), but this is a problem. Only Rielly and Gardiner are doing okay with him, but that's because they've only spent 3 minutes (~10 shifts) with him. Poor Zaitsev...
Click to expand...

Thanks for posting herman, it's definitely a case of the eyeball test matching the numbers.
 
Babcock on Polak from last night's post-game:
I thought he was real steady, played real hard, and we know what he is. He played for us last yea, he competes hard for us, he's a real good penalty killer, he's a real good man, a team leader, and as hard as it is on him, you know, we're trying to figure out what we got here and he knows that.
Click to expand...
Full video. Transcription is by me, so if there are errors, that's my bad.

Jibes with off-season comments that Polak was brought in as a depth defenseman, rather than the primary 5/6 option (that I initially feared).

I think he will be cycling in with Corrado for Carrick and if necessary Zaitsev to distribute the load. Makes sense to me, since we were coming into the season with 3 psuedo rookies on the right side.

Unfortunately we don't have that kind of flexibility on Hunwick's side, especially with Marincin sort of out.
 
Hunwick has downgraded from day-to-day to being placed on the IR.

Tuesday would be a good day to (finally) play Corrado, as we're more likely to be outsped at times, rather than outsized/outmuscled.
 
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