Reporter announces major change to Leafs' top PP unit
Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, John Tavares, William Nylander and Morgan Rielly have been staples on the Leafs' top powerplay unit for years now. They have had a handful of very dominant regular seasons but have floundered at times in playoffs when needed most. When the Leafs lost Spencer Carbery to the Capitals earlier this summer, many wondered who would take over the powerplay. The Leafs then hired former Lightning/Senators head coach Guy Boucher as an Assistant and announced that the defensively adept coach would be in charge of the Leafs' most offensive weapons.
On the first day of camp, Boucher was seen feeding Matthews passes as he worked on his one-timer from his usual right side half-wall spot. Today, Boucher took to the ice with the first powerplay unit with a notable change. Rielly, who appears to be the quarterback for unit 2, has replaced by John Klingberg on the Leafs' top unit.
When the Leafs signed Klingberg in July, the purpose was to alleviate some of the offensive pressure on Rielly. There was some speculation as to whether he would quarterback the second unit or take over the top PP quarterback duties. It now appears as though Boucher is willing to give Klingberg the first shot at manning the point on a new-look first unit. Klingberg will certainly give the Leafs a different look as he does tend to shoot the puck more than Rielly.
We may be jumping the gun here with how everything shakes out given that it's only the third day of on-ice work at camp, but it will be interesting to see how both units react to changes in personnel. If all else fails, I'm sure Keefe and company won't have any issues in reverting to the original plan, elevating Rielly back to the top unit.
| POLL | ||
SEPTEMBRE 23 | 342 ANSWERS Reporter announces major change to Leafs' top PP unit Who do you think should quarterback the Leafs' top PP unit? | ||
| Rielly | 144 | 42.1 % |
| Klingberg | 171 | 50 % |
| Other | 27 | 7.9 % |
| List of polls | ||
