Leafs unveil dangerous new 2nd powerplay unit
With how loaded the Toronto Maple Leafs' offense is, it's no surprise that one of the major talking points heading into camp is how new assistant coach Guy Boucher will divide up the power play units.
Last season the Leafs finished 2nd in the NHL, behind only the Edmonton Oilers, connecting at a 26.02% rate. The year before that, they topped the league with an even better 27.27% rate. After improving even more offensively this off-season, the Leafs are going to be fielding 2 daunting and vaunted units.
Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, William Nylander, and John Tavares will reprise their roles on the top unit with John Klingberg taking over Morgan Rielly's spot, as we had reported earlier. Obviously, we know that Rielly will be quarterbacking the second unit, but until today, we weren't sure who would fill out the rest of that group. Tyler Bertuzzi, Max Domi, Calle Jarnkrok, and Timothy Liljegren, along with Rielly, will comprise as things stand right now.
The Maple Leafs' already dangerous powerplay just got that much more lethal with the acquisitions of Klingberg, Domi, and Bertuzzi. This could very well be the best second unit that the Leafs have fielded in years and arguably one of the better second units in the NHL as a whole.
Last season, Domi scored 8 power play goals and added 11 helpers, Bertuzzi scored 4 goals and 6 assists in just 50 games on the man advantage, and Rielly - who had a "down year" - still registered a goal and 16 helpers with the top unit. Adding that secondary help to the likes of Matthews, Nylander, Marner, and Tavares should propel the Leafs even further this season.
| POLL | ||
SEPTEMBRE 23 | 503 ANSWERS Leafs unveil dangerous new 2nd powerplay unit Is this 2nd powerplay unit in Toronto the best 2nd unit in the league? | ||
| Yes, I can't think of any better | 237 | 47.1 % |
| No, but it's up there | 183 | 36.4 % |
| No, not even close | 52 | 10.3 % |
| Don't care | 31 | 6.2 % |
| List of polls | ||
