Maple Leafs confirmed to be pondering a significant change that could solve one of their biggest problems
Photo credit: Dan Hamilton-Imagn Images
The Toronto Maple Leafs are confirmed to be pondering a significant change that could very well solve one of their biggest problems, according to Craig Berube.
There's really no other way to put it; the Toronto Maple Leafs' power play is downright awful. In fact, with just 10 goals with the extra man, the Maple Leafs find themselves dead last in the league on the power play -- something head coach Craig Berube is desperately trying to fix.
As of right now, Berube is going back to the original PP1 line of forwards John Tavares, William Nylander, Auston Matthews, and Matthew Knies, with Morgan Reilly as the QB.
Maple Leafs address power play issues with one major change
Berube has made it clear that he is not pleased with how his team has handled themselves with the man advantage, and the change he is contemplating may help solve the problem. Berube is pondering splitting up his stars to form two balanced PP units.
The issues on the man-advantage may have more to do with confidence than who is on which unit. This is something Berube talked about following this weekend's loss to the Montreal Canadiens.
"The shots are there and we're not taking them. Then when we do take a shot, it's probably the wrong time. They're not feeling too good about themselves out there. Gotta work through it, that's all you can do."
If Toronto is to have any hope of making the post season after a slow start, the power play needs to start clicking. The team has far too many offensively talented players to be sitting at the bottom of the league when it comes to goals with the man-advantage.
Loading up on talent in the first PP unit isn't the worst idea in the world for most teams, but something needs to drastically change if your best players aren't scoring.
It's unclear at this point which star(s) may come off of the top PP unit, but given that Berube has been extra hard on William Nylander this season, it's a good bet that he may end up being the one shifted down to PP2 to hopefully take advantage of weaker PK matchups.
Previously on Toronto Hockey Daily
| POLL | ||
DECEMBRE 8 | 563 ANSWERS Maple Leafs confirmed to be pondering a significant change that could solve one of their biggest problems Should the Leafs split up the stars and balance the power play units? | ||
| Yes | 427 | 75.8 % |
| No | 100 | 17.8 % |
| Not sure | 36 | 6.4 % |
| List of polls | ||