Leafs planning to increase the workload for one of their defenders
Since being acquired by the Leafs from the Arizona Coyotes on February 20th, defenseman Ilya Lyubushkin has done a pretty good job of adjusting to the role that he's expected to play with his new team.
The Leafs' coaching staff has done a pretty good job not to rush Lyubushkin into a larger role, despite the fact that it may be just what the team requires from the physical, defensive defenseman.
On Sunday, Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe was spotted having a 1-on-1 conversation with Lyubushkin at practice. He appeared to be giving a detailed outline of something in specific that he was looking for from the Russian defender. Following practice, Keefe was asked what was said between he and Lyubushkin,
Part of what we talked about today is that he is feeling better around here in terms of knowing what we expect & what we are looking for from him.
Lyubushkin's ice time in Toronto is a couple minutes less on average than what he was playing over the past two seasons in Arizona. Before the coaching staff starts to increase the workload for the soon-to-be 28-year-old, they just wanted to make sure he was comfortable with the new system and the expectations that the coaching staff has, according to Keefe.
Lyubushkin has appeared in 6 games for the Leafs this season, including a few high-scoring affairs, but he has often been one of the few bright spots on an otherwise porous Leafs defense. The big, right-shot defenseman has registered an assist and is a +3 as a Leaf. He has also make his presence felt with 15 hits and 4 shot blocks. The Moscow, Russia native's 16:18 of average ice time per game should be going up here in short order as the Leafs look to tighten things up on the back end in an attempt to help out their goaltenders a bit more.
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