Toronto Maple Leafs

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Are Keefe's days numbered? (lemmy.ca)

submitted 9 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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How's everyone feeling about Keefe's chances of making it to next season? I know he just signed an extension but this team feels like it did when Babcock got fired.

I don't even know who they'd replace him with - if it comes to that before the end of the season. Maybe it's time for a change for Jon Cooper too. LOL

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[–] [email protected] 1 points 9 months ago (1 children)

I understand that Kampf wasn't playing well, but that's part of my point. Is benching your fourth line center really the right move when other players/lines are also having problems?

Granted the majority of the Oilers team may have been underperforming, but I don't think it's just a coincidence they suddenly started performing better after a coaching change.

The Leafs don't really need to score more goals, they're tied for 5th in the league in goals for. Their goals against is the problem. Their penalty kill is brutal, reinforcing the defense and goalie problems this season. People have been talking about Tavares' slump, but you're right that he's been getting chances. He's also great at creating pressure in the offensive zone, which he doesn't get enough credit for.

What mistakes do you think Treliving needs to correct? Domi and Bertuzzi have 23 and 19 points respectively right now and are both on one year deals. Klingberg obviously didn't work out, but never seemed to be healthy, which there was no way to know going in.

I agree that they need a solid bottom 6 defensive forward and a d-man that can reliably get the puck out of the zone. Those two things would make a big difference to the overall performance of the team.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 9 months ago

I think benching Kampf was just saying "okay, you signed your big contract but you still need to earn your place." I don't think it was about the team, just that Keefe thought Kampf wasn't playing well enough.

Comparing with the Oilers again, they were supposed to be one of the best - if not the best - teams in the league. They are now playing to their potential. The Leafs aren't underperforming. This is what you'd expect with the team they have. A bunch of players are having career years. A new coach won't make a team play better than they're capable of.

I think the bad thing about those contracts is not just that they haven't worked out but that they didn't make sense. Both Domi and Klingberg are players that marginally increase offense at a huge defensive cost. That's not what this team needed at all. Scoring isn't a problem. They need defensively responsible players that can chip in now and then. Domi has the most protected minutes on the team and he's still barely out-scoring that defensive liability (he's +1). It would be so much worse if Keefe was just rolling lines. Because Keefe can't trust the bottom 6 to defend, the top 2 lines are playing too much and in less than ideal situations, which could be a problem as the season drags on. Reeves, Domi, and Klingberg were all solutions in search of a problem.

Bertuzzi is fine but hasn't really worked out as hoped. He seems like a good guy to have around for the playoffs though. You're right though that it's good that none of those players are signed for term (except Reeves for some reason).