Keefe needs Matthews to be better defensively
New Leafs coach must somehow get star centre to pay attention to defence
Two weeks in, the Sheldon Keefe era looks a lot different than the Mike Babcock era. But when it comes to coaching his star player, the same challenge remains: how do you get Auston Matthews to play as hard without the puck as he does with it?
This wasn’t supposed to be a problem with Matthews. Heading into his draft year, the scouting report on Matthews was that he was a shoot-first centre with tons of offensive skill. But what really had teams excited about his potential was his supposed two-way game.
Some compared him to Jonathan Toews or Anze Kopitar. Some even suggested he would win a Selke Trophy before the Rocket Richard Trophy.
Instead, Matthews has been a lot like Alex Ovechkin in his early years.
He scores a lot. But he gets scored on a lot, too.
In Toronto’s 6-1 loss to Philadelphia on Tuesday night — a loss that looked worse on paper than the actual game — Matthews was burned on a couple of key goals. In the second period, he allowed Kevin Hayes to walk around him in the defensive zone to set up the opening goal. And with the game tied 1-1 in the third period, he lost Claude Giroux in the defensive zone for what turned out to be the game-winner.
These aren’t the kinds of plays that Selke Trophy finalists make. They aren’t even the kind of plays a Hart Trophy finalist makes.
Frankly, they’re unacceptable for a player of Matthews’ calibre. Not in his fourth year, when he has the highest cap hit of any player on the Maple Leafs. Not with Toronto needing every point possible just to get into the playoffs.
It’s why Babcock often limited Matthews’ minutes, especially on defensive zone faceoffs. And it’s why the two often clashed during their three years together.
The stubborn, old coach who had two of the best two-way players in Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg in Detroit could trust Matthews to score at will. But he couldn’t always trust him to defend.
Now, if you’re Keefe, whose time in Toronto so far has been about smiles, backslaps and telling everyone how skilled they are, how do you get your players to do the dirty work? How do you get Matthews to care as much about playing without the puck as he does with it?
TAKE IT OR LEAVE IT
Think the Leafs are flush with skilled wingers? Think about what the team could have looked like had it not traded the 24th pick in the 2015 draft to the Flyers for two lower picks. Philadelphia used that pick on Travis Konecny, who has 10 goals and leads the team with 27 points in 28 games. Meanwhile, Toronto ended up with Jeremy Bracco and Martins Dzierkals, who have combined to play zero NHL games … If I were Senators GM Pierre Dorian, I’d be calling Predators GM David Poile to see what it would take to reacquire Kyle Turris, who recently spent seven straight games as a healthy scratch. Bad blood aside, Turris enjoyed by far his best seasons in Ottawa … So far the coaching casualties from hockey’s #Metoo movement have been on teams that were already looking to make a change (Toronto and Calgary) or were assistants on mid-level teams (Chicago). The real test will come if — and when — someone makes an allegation against a coach of a first-place team, or someone coaching a team that can’t afford to lose a game … It was nice to see Hall of Fame defenceman Chris Chelios speak out about alleged verbal and mental abuse. Until then, most of the allegations were coming from fringe Nhlers or those with on- and off-ice reputations that had many questioning the validity of the source.
If real change is going to occur, the star players are going to have to lead the charge.
HERE’S ONE FOR YOU
There was a lot of optimism surrounding the Devils when they left the NHL Entry Draft in Vancouver with Jack Hughes and P.K. Subban.
But months later, it’s not surprising that they still find themselves near the bottom of the standings. In the last 22 years, only two teams (Toronto in 2017 and New Jersey in 2018) have made the playoffs immediately after having the No. 1 overall pick … I don’t know much about Alain Nasreddine, but unless he was a goalie coach before replacing John Hynes behind New Jersey’s bench, not much is going to change … Happy to see Peter Horachek, who was promoted from pro scout to assistant coach for the Devils, get another shot at coaching.
His last coaching gig was taking over from Randy Carlyle five years ago as the interim head coach for the Leafs. It was a thankless role that nearly killed his future … When we asked Jack Eichel in the summer what area of the game he hoped to improve in Year 5, the 23-year-old didn’t hesitate. “I want to find the back of the net more,” he said. Eichel, who has 17 goals and 38 points in 28 games for the Sabres, is on pace for 50 goals. He’s never scored more than 28 … How tough is it to make the playoffs in the Atlantic Division? The Lightning are currently in sixth place in the divisional standings. They’re on pace for 95 points.
FOR WHAT IT’S WORTH
With everything that’s been said about Babcock, does Team Canada dare to bring him back for the next Olympics or World Cup of Hockey? If not, I’d give the job to Bruce Cassidy, who’s gone 137-55-27 and won four playoff rounds since taking over the Bruins in 2017 … Speaking of Team Canada, who would you rather have as your goalie duo: Darcy Kuemper and Jordan Binnington or Carey Price and Braden Holtby? … Good on Oilers GM Ken Holland for sticking to his guns and not trading Jesse Puljujarvi, who now has to remain in Finland for the rest of the year after failing to re-sign a contract by the Dec. 1 deadline. Wonder what the Leafs’ salary cap situation would have looked like had GM Kyle Dubas done the same a year ago with William Nylander … Spending the year in Finland might be the best thing for Puljujarvi, who never should have been rushed to the NHL in the first place. Holland knows that better than anyone from his time in Detroit. My guess is that we might see the 21-year-old, who has 11 goals and 24 points in 26 games with Karpat, back in Edmonton next season … Even with 31 teams — and a 32nd on the way — the talent pool in the NHL has never been so deep. Even fourth-liners have skills to pay the bills. So why is it that Toronto, Montreal and so many others are scrambling to find a backup goalie who can make a save?
MACKINNON DESERVES HART TROPHY TALK
Three months into the season, Nathan Mackinnon is my pick for the Hart Trophy.
It’s not that the Colorado Avalanche centre has necessarily been the best player or the most valuable in the NHL. It’s that among the top five scorers, he stands alone in what is becoming the Year of the Dynamic Duo.
How do you differentiate between Edmonton’s Connor Mcdavid (51 points) and Leon Draisaitl (50 points) or Boston’s Brad Marchand (44 points) and David Pastrnak (43 points)?
You could make an argument that John Carlson, who leads all defencemen with 40 points in 29 games, also deserves to be included in the Hart Trophy conversation. Then again, on a team that includes Alex Ovechkin, is he even Washington’s most valuable player?
The lack of a supporting cast is what separates Mackinnon from the rest of the pack, even if he’s only fifth in scoring with 42 points in 26 games.
You might not have to win the Art Ross Trophy to win MVP, as New Jersey’s Taylor Hall proved two years ago when he won the Hart while finishing sixth in scoring, 15 points back of Mcdavid. But by the definition of the award, which goes to the player deemed “most valuable to his team,” you need to show that you’re important to the team’s success.
Making the playoffs is one way. That’s why Hall beat out Mcdavid for the award two years ago. The other way is by overcoming adversity. And it’s where Mackinnon
might be the odds-on favourite to claim the award.
It’s not only that the Avalanche, who have the second-best winning percentage in the crowded Central Division, are winning games. It’s that they are winning without two of their three best forwards.
A year ago, Mackinnon had 99 points while playing alongside Mikko Rantanen (87 points) and Gabriel Landeskog (75 points in
73 games). This year, the Avalanche captain is on pace for 132 points. And that’s with Rantanen having played just 10 games and Landeskog having played 11 games.
Once they both return from injury, you can bet that Mackinnon’s production will increase. By then, so too should his status as the league’s MVP.