LEAFS FORWARDS NOT FEELING SHORT-SHIFTED
In today’s game, McDavid’s heavy ice time with Oilers more anomaly than norm
John Tavares said it takes “a special breed” to be on the ice as much as Connor McDavid has been for the Edmonton Oilers this season. But when asked for his thoughts on the matter, Nazem Kadri was far more opinionated.
“That’s absolute insanity,” said the Maple Leafs centre.
Even Auston Matthews, who said if it were left up to him “would love to play as much as possible,” admitted the 24-plus minutes the Oilers’ captain has been logging this season is a bit much by today’s standards.
“That’s a lot, honestly,” said Matthews, who was ranked 67th among forwards with 18:20 in average ice time ahead of Friday’s games.
“I saw the other night he played 28 (minutes) or something like that. That’s with overtime, but still, that’s a lot. It’s a long season. I think some guys can do that and some guys, it wears on them.”
Matthews hasn’t played 28 minutes this season. In an overtime win against the Chicago Blackhawks earlier this month, he didn’t even crack the 17-minute mark. And yet, with a league-leading 10 goals and 16 points before Friday’s action, the lack of ice time hasn’t hurt his productivity. Nor has it hurt the rest of the Leafs, who might not have anyone ranked in the top 50 in ice time, but do have four players in the top 20 in scoring.
Only four of the top-10 scorers in the NHL (McDavid, Nathan MacKinnon and Patrick Kane and John Carlson) are also in the top 10 in ice time at their respective positions, proving less is often more when it comes to minutes played.
“I think for us, it doesn’t really matter,” Matthews said of his ice time. “In the end you want to win and perform individually. Whether it’s 15 minutes, 17, 20, you’ve got to make the most of the opportunity.”
Toronto doesn’t have a single forward averaging 19 minutes. It’s a side-effect of having one of the deepest forward groups in the NHL. But it’s much more than that. The league has moved away from the days when star players, such as Phil Esposito, ignored the coach and stayed out on the ice for as long as it took to score.
While the Leafs knew ice time would be spread around after acquiring Tavares this summer, not much has changed from a year ago. Coach Mike Babcock is a believer in keeping everyone’s legs fresh. He wants the players to perform at a high tempo, not worry about pacing themselves and conserving energy. That means rolling four lines and taking short shifts of 48 seconds or less.
The Leafs can do this, because they have the horses to pull it off. It’s a luxury that might not work in Edmonton, where McDavid has accounted for 64 per cent of the team’s offence.
“If you base it on how other people are maybe managing their people, it would be different,” Babcock said of doling out ice time. “But the way I like to run our team is I’d like (Matthews) and (Tavares) between 18 and 20 (minutes). I want them out 26 shifts a night. You can get way more minutes and play way less shifts, just play longer shifts. But I don’t want that. We want to play as high tempo as we can, and we really believe with our sports science guys that’s the best way to get that.”
Tavares, who is averaging about a minute-and-a-half less than he was a year ago with the New York Islanders, used to be in the 20- to 21-minute range earlier in his career. Looking back, it was a huge mistake.
“I think it benefits me, personally,” said Tavares, who is ranked 61st among forwards with 18:33 in average ice time. “There were probably times over the past couple of years where you could be playing almost too much. At times, you can catch yourself conserving energy, which you don’t want to be doing. For me, I feel like I’m playing a ton of minutes and able to play at a high level and that’s what I want to do.”
The thinking is that this will pay long-term dividends, not just for Tavares but for the rest of the team near the end of the season. A minute or two per game might not sound like much. But by April, when the games become tighter checking and more intense, the savings in ice time could result in a team that is a bit fresher than its opponent.
Who knows, it could be something to watch if the Leafs end up playing the Oilers in the final.
“I don’t know how the kid has the stamina for that,” Kadri said of McDavid. “He’s just a different breed, so I think he can handle it for now. But like I said, as the year goes on, as a forward to keep that much ice time on pace with that is a lot to ask.”