BABCOCK SEES A WILD LESSON FOR HIS LEAFS
Focusturnsto getting club ready to play physical teams
Just what the Toronto Maple Leafs need when William Nylander returns at some point this week: Another highly talented player able to score on any shift, no matter the score or time in the game.
Kidding, of course — Nylander will be welcomed back into the lineup by teammates and Leafs Nation alike, giving a Toronto forward group that is already among the deepest in the National Hockey League another exhilarating weapon.
Once Nylander gets past the adjustment period, which is likely to begin at home against the Detroit Red Wings on Thursday ( both coach Mike Babcock and general manager Kyle Dubas indicated after Nylander signed on Saturday that four or five days will pass before the 22-year-old plays in his first game), opposing coaches could be that much more challenged in their defensive schemes when Toronto is the opponent.
On Sunday, in a housekeeping move with the arrival of Nylander, the Leafs sent defenceman Travis Dermott, who doesn’t need to clear waivers, to the AHL’S Toronto Marlies. It’s expected the move is temporary as the club will likely open a roster spot by putting someone on waivers or making a trade before Tuesday’s game in Buffalo.
Which brings us to something Babcock said on Saturday after the Leafs won for the 10th time in 13 road games when they beat the Minnesota Wild 5-3.
Babcock isn’t in the habit of voicing anything by accident, if you will. The coach is measured in his daily scrums with media, and even in the final days of negotiations between the club and Nylander, when publicly nothing appeared to be certain beyond hunches, Babcock was steadfast in his conviction that the winger would sign. He was right.
So post-game at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minn., Babcock mentioned that the Leafs “should play them 20 times going into the playoffs.”
This reference to the Wild after the Leafs were outplayed at fiveon-five, especially in the third period, by a heavier Minnesota club that plays an honest, physical game.
“Now, we gotta make the playoffs,” Babcock said, adding an unnecessary caveat, because the Leafs should accomplish that, “but we need to understand how heavy and how hard it is. We’re fun to watch, there is no question, but just because you are fun to watch doesn’t mean you get to play a long time in the spring.”
And this was Babcock before the morning skate: “I think it’s a real good game for our team to try to take a step, because they make it hard to do what we need learn how to do.”
Whether Babcock is sending a message to his players or to Dubas to try to acquire a player or two of that ilk, interpret it whatever way you like.
The Leafs are a better team now than they were in the 2018 Stanley Cup playoffs and they were better last spring than they were in 2017.
Each trip to the post-season didn’t go beyond the first round.
Through 27 games, the Leafs have won 19, and perhaps therein lies a small problem for Babcock. As much as Babcock was glad the Leafs found a way to win in Minnesota, it could be that convincing his players to perform with a little more bump and grind is more of a challenge when losses aren’t piling up outside his office door.
The Leafs will be in the hunt for their second five-game winning streak of the season on Tuesday in Buffalo. The game will mark the first stiff test Toronto has had in Buffalo in several seasons.
Meanwhile, there’s plenty of time for Babcock to establish methods that include detailed, intense hockey, the kind that can result in a firmer guarantee of playoffs success.
Nylander, once he is in proper game mode, will make the Leafs that much more dangerous.