Former Leaf slams Sheldon Keefe for how he is utilizing Max Domi and other depth players
Through 4 games, it may not yet be time to press the panic button in Toronto, but there are certainly some things that aren't difficult to notice about how Sheldon Keefe has rolled out his lines to start the year. The top guys are all playing a lot of minutes, as you might expect, but Keefe and company really haven't been focused on getting their depth guys engaged in the games at all.
Former Leaf Kris Versteeg highlighted this in his recent appearance on the JD Bunkis Podcast this week, stating that Keefe playing some of his depth guys between 10 and 11 minutes, you're simply not going to get the most out of them and you're going to put yourself in a position where only half the team is engaged.
"[Sheldon Keefe does not] trust any of [his] depth to play, and I've been looking at this - it's a recurring theme from last year, the year before... you need to get guys extended, trusted minutes to get them in the game. If you expect Max Domi to score with 11 minutes [on the ice], or Matthew Knies with 10-and-a-half minutes... it's not going to happen and you cannot trust guys to give everything in 10-and-a-half minutes and be offensively relied on. That's something I looked at right away was the ice time.
With that type of coaching, if you're going to lay the hammer on the top guys and not find these bottom guys extended minutes and you're going to take that philosophy, again, into the playoffs, it's going to be a hard one to win with."
With that type of coaching, if you're going to lay the hammer on the top guys and not find these bottom guys extended minutes and you're going to take that philosophy, again, into the playoffs, it's going to be a hard one to win with."
Certainly an astute observation by Versteeg, who played 11 seasons in the NHL and has since shifted into a broadcasting and radio role after retirement. Versteeg, a career middle six guy, has experience in this situation and knows full well what it's like to be a guy in the middle or bottom half of a roster and to not have a lot of ice time to work with in order to make an impact.
For the Leafs, we know that the top guys are overplayed. It would be hard NOT to overplay guys like Mitch Marner, Auston Matthews and Morgan Rielly. However, when you consider how much more dynamic those players could be in the latter stages of games instead of choking away leads due to exhaustion or not being able to push for a late comeback because their legs are burning and they're gasping for air, perhaps spreading the ice time around a little more could help.
I don't think Versteeg is lobbying for guys like Domi to receive 16 minutes per game, but if you take a minute or two of ice time away from the top guys and reallocate that to the guys in the middle of the lineup, perhaps everyone will benefit from it. The big guns have some extra gas left in the tank later in the game and the guys in the middle remain engaged and pushing to make a difference.
| POLL | ||
OCTOBRE 20 | 378 ANSWERS Former Leaf slams Sheldon Keefe for how he is utilizing Max Domi and other depth players Do you think Sheldon Keefe needs to do a better job of spreading out the minutes in Toronto to keep guys involved and avoid overplaying stars? | ||
| Absolutely | 282 | 74.6 % |
| No, ride those top horses. It's why they're paid | 39 | 10.3 % |
| I think there's a happy medium there somewhere | 57 | 15.1 % |
| List of polls | ||
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