Ice time distribution seems to be a real issue for Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe
For several years now, the hardest task of building the Leafs was surrounding the highly paid Leafs' core forwards with impactful supporting players. Winning the Stanley Cup, arguably the hardest trophy in sports, requires a complete effort from the full team. That's something we're yet to see from the Leafs. For the most part, their contributions have been scattered and now it's more of a guessing game as to which line is going to be on fire on any given night. It's been a real problem, since that usually means the contributions from the other 3 lines had been somewhat lacking.
Last season, the team clearly suffered from a lack of secondary scoring. GM Brad Treliving seemingly recognized that, and added offensive threats in former 30-goal scorer Tyler Bertuzzi and dynamic playmaker Max Domi. These signings, along with the offensive emergence of prospects like Matthew Knies and Nick Robertson, have provided the Leafs with some serious offensive punch throughout their lineup.
Since Nick Robertson has been paired up with Max Domi on the third line, everyone could see their innate chemistry immediately. The pairing works in theory and in practice. In the last eight games, Domi has been an incredible playmaker with 7 assists, and Robertson has been a lethal shooter with 3 goals and an assist. That's some solid production from the third line.
With the Leafs still in need of more offense due to leaky defense, the third line has been seeing decreased ice-time despite their success. Even with Mitch Marner and Auston Matthews clearly struggling at the moment, Keefe is determined to roll out the top line no matter their results, even when the Robertson-Domi-Jarnkrok line has been producing at a much higher rate.
Now, I'm not saying that the 3rd line should have anywhere near the same minutes as the Leafs' top line, but surely there has to be a way to get them more than 9-11 minutes in a game. Is Sheldon Keefe dropping the ball here? It's certainly a valid question. A line that has produced as well as the Robertson-Domi-Jarnrkok trio certainly could benefit from playing 12 or 13 minutes per game, which only equates to 2 or 3 extra shifts over the course of an entire game. You're telling me that Sheldon Keefe can't find a way to get them on the ice for 1 extra shift per period? I don't buy it.
If the Leafs want to win the Stanley Cup, they'll have to have a full-team effort from a deep lineup. With a high-quality third line this year, Keefe needs to have the guts to actually deploy them properly, especially when the top line is struggling.
| POLL | ||
NOVEMBRE 26 | 480 ANSWERS Ice time distribution seems to be a real issue for Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe Is Sheldon Keefe costing the team games by refusing to better balance the ice time? | ||
| Yes | 354 | 73.8 % |
| No | 58 | 12.1 % |
| I'm sure Keefe is doing the best he can | 68 | 14.2 % |
| List of polls | ||
