Keefe peering into areas of improvement for Leafs
“One of the big things would be for us to get really comfortable in playing with leads and having a good process in place that can allow us to take care of that lead, but push more on the offensive side of it.” Sheldon Keefe
Head coach, Toronto Maple Leafs
TORONTO — The break between games for the Maple Leafs amounts to an extended vacation, considering the compact schedule that results from jamming 56 games into less than four months.
Yet, with the Leafs’ next match not until Thursday when the Vancouver Canucks arrive at Scotiabank Arena to start a three-game set, it’s not as though coach Sheldon Keefe is putting his feet up and spending the first few days of February wondering whether we’re going to have six more weeks of winter. All apologies to Wiarton Willie.
Ten games into the 202021 National Hockey League season, Keefe couldn’t have asked for much more from a standings perspective with the Leafs’ 7-2-1 record. But some of the manner in which the Leafs achieved 15 points and a .750 points percentage though the first two and a half weeks is where Keefe would like to see areas of growth, starting on Thursday.
“One of the big things would be for us to get really comfortable in playing with leads and having a good process in place that can allow us to take care of that lead, but push more on the offensive side of it,” Keefe said.
“That’s doing it responsibly, spending more time in the offensive zone in general. We need to find ways to control play a little bit better and generate more shots and more opportunities offensively. That’s part of it.”
Complaints about the Leafs’ power play would reach quibble level only. Assistant coach Manny Malhotra has the units producing at a clip of 43.3 per cent, which was good for second in the NHL before games on Monday. (The Washington Capitals were boasting a 44.4 per cent power play success rate heading into Monday’s schedule.)
The Leafs were 20th on the penalty kill with a success rate of 76.9%; a step or two forward when the club is shorthanded has to be a focal point on the order of business.
During five-on-five play, the Leafs continue to find themselves. By no means have they been bad, but with 17 goals for and 16 against, they’re not reaching their offensive potential. The Leafs have too much talent to not score more often during fiveon-five play.
In 70 games before the coronavirus pandemic put a premature end to the regular season last March, the Leafs scored 158 goals at five on five. If the scheduled consisted of 70 games this season, they would be on pace for 119.
“We feel really good about the results that we’ve got, but we still think we’ve got a lot of areas we can continue to get better,” Keefe said. “That’s exciting for us as a team.”
Leafs players had Sunday fully off, and Keefe said following the overtime loss in Edmonton on Saturday night that his desire for Monday was that most of the regulars would take the option and not go on the ice. Today and Wednesday will be full practice days prior to Thursday, when the Leafs get a Canucks club that will have played in Montreal against the Canadiens on Monday and Tuesday.
It will be interesting to see where Keefe goes with the lineup. Neither of the two players who have come from the KHL — winger Alexander Barabanov and defenceman Mikko Lehtonen — have bowled over observers with inspiring play, and few would argue if the leash got shorter for both. Neither Travis Boyd nor Joey Anderson at forward, for example, require an adjustment to play in North America, and you would think that each should get a better opportunity to cement a spot on the fourth line.
And it makes little sense to have Travis Dermott sitting out, as the defenceman did in two of the past three games. As Keefe said Saturday night — and he went out of his way to address the Dermott situation — it’s not a performance issue with Dermott, but more to give Lehtonen a chance to move past the stage of being uncomfortable.
That can’t continue much longer. If Lehtonen can’t make the proper adjustments in the eyes of the staff, he shouldn’t be finding his way at the expense of Dermott. Go with the best lineup each night, and right now, that’s with Dermott in it ahead of Lehtonen. Never mind what’s happening with Rasmus Sandin, who would be getting regular minutes on the third pair on more than a few NHL teams. Sandin has not dressed once for Toronto.
For Keefe, the bigger picture is the focus.
“With the break, it’s sort of a turning of the page where we’ve got a pretty good sense of what we are as a group,” Keefe said.