Former Leaf and Insider both not entirely sold on Klingberg running top PP unit
On Saturday, as the Leafs continued training camp, everyone got a bit of a shock when John Klingberg emerged with the Leafs' top powerplay unit instead of Morgan Rielly. Klingberg signed a 1-year deal with the Leafs on July 1st and was brought in to take some of the offensive burden off of Rielly. This morning on TSN 1050's "First Up", former Leaf Carlo Colaiacovo and TSN Hockey Insider Darren Dreger discussed moving Rielly to the second unit.
Colaiacovo agreed with Dreger's assessment and added:
The Leafs carried the second best powerplay conversion rate last season, but as in post-seasons past, they have struggled in the playoffs because teams focus on shutting down Auston Matthews and William Nylander, who are the primary shooters on that unit. To Colaiacovo's point, the last time the Leafs had a shooter on the powerplay from the blueline was perhaps Bryan McCabe. Phaneuf, for all of his hype when he came in, was not an accurate shooter by any means, often shooting high or wide by a good margin.
With Klingberg in Toronto, having a shooting option up high may help to free up additional looks for Matthews and Nylander. Klingberg will have to make a difference with the top unit early and often if he wants to hold that position, otherwise it may not be long before Rielly returns.
| POLL | ||
25 SEPTEMBRE | 158 ANSWERS Former Leaf and Insider both not entirely sold on Klingberg running top PP unit How do you feel about Klingberg taking over PP1 duties? | ||
| I like it | 48 | 30.4 % |
| I don't mind trying it | 87 | 55.1 % |
| I don't like it. Rielly deserves that spot | 23 | 14.6 % |
| List of polls | ||
