Biggest off-season pickup may be behind the bench
Spencer Carbery isn’t getting the typical new-guy attention at Maple Leafs training camp.
And due to the club’s longstanding media policy you won’t see him step in front of a microphone any time soon.
Yet his arrival in Toronto could prove more impactful than any recent freeagent signing, draft pick or player in camp on a professional tryout.
Carbery, hired to Sheldon Keefe’s staff in August, will try to solve a riddle that drove the team to exasperation last season: He’s been handed the keys to the power play and given a fleet of turbocharged sports cars to rip around the track.
His are the fresh set of eyes being trusted to map out a new approach.
This is his first NHL job. Welcome to the staff, coach. “Spencer Carbery’s a guy I have tremendous respect for,” said Keefe.
On one hand you think how can he fail?
He’s got the NHL’s most dangerous shooter in Auston Matthews and one of its most visionary passers in Mitch Marner. John Tavares is an Olympic gold medallist with a deft ability around the net, scoring more than 100 power-play goals in his career already.
Then there’s William Nylander, Morgan Rielly … and even a crash-andbang specialist in Wayne Simmonds.
They’ve all been part of a dominant power-play scheme as recently as the first 10 games of last season, when the Leafs used two balanced units to score 13 man-advantage goals under the guidance of Manny Malhotra, at the time a first-year assistant himself.
Injuries then necessitated changes and the early rhythm was lost. They adjusted and readjusted and readjusted some more. Incredibly, the Leafs wound up converting just six of 77 attempts over the final 32 regularseason games and scored two powerplay goals during the seven-game loss to Montreal.
While it may not have outright cost them that series, it certainly neutered them of a perceived advantage.
The history books will tell you that teams can win a Stanley Cup without a dominant power play — Chicago con
verted just 11 per cent of its chances on the way to the 2013 title — but it’s hard to imagine one built the way the Leafs are replicating that feat.
They are designed to punish opponents with skill.
Force them into taking penalties while defending and then immediately paying for it on the scoreboard.
That’s why the state of the power play is so important right now. Keefe’s observed that the relentlessness of the NHL schedule doesn’t allow for much in-season overhauling of systems, with practice time limited and rest between games so vital.
The coaching staff kicked around ideas on the power play all summer, and they’ve got a little less than three weeks to get everyone in sync before puck drop.
The players are still familiarizing themselves with Carbery, who was named American Hockey League coach of the year while working in Hershey last season.
He intended to pursue a career in finance after his minor-league playing career ended in 2010 and ripped through the coaching ranks instead — going from ECHL assistant to ECHL head coach to Ontario Hockey League head coach in Saginaw to the three years in Hershey.
Carbery still has Malhotra’s brain to pick while trying to crack the code to the Leafs power play, but he’ll have to trust his own instincts as well. A cynic might suggest he simply throw that talent on the ice and let them figure it out, but it was clear last season that frustration grew among Toronto’s top players the longer their struggles persisted.
They’ve already been talking amongst themselves about how to avoid another diversion into the ditch.
“I think that’s what training camp is really good for, is to have those conversations,” said Matthews. “Kind of a feel-out process and internally have the communication where we can dial in certain things like the power play, and other things that you need to truly focus on at training camp and just build that foundation.”
Nylander is an obvious candidate for an elevated role. He saw much less power-play time than Matthews, Marner and Tavares did last season and can present the threat of another dangerous shot to keep penalty killers honest.
Marner failed to score a power-play goal across 172 minutes spent almost exclusively patrolling the right flank. His weapon is the otherworldly vision that saw him generate 5.48 assists per hour with the man advantage last season, but the unit’s overall attack grew too predictable with opponents largely only concerned about fading passes over to Matthews.
Keefe first met Carbery at a Leafs development camp years ago and marvelled at the response he got while checking in with his references during the hiring process. It helped embolden him to place an important piece of team business under his care.
“We’ve got a fresh start here. Spencer’s got a great plan and we’ve got Manny Malhotra to work with him as well,” said Keefe. “We’ll try some different looks through camp and look to get back to where we had it and sustain that.”
They have no choice but to solve the riddle, one way or another.