Tyler Bertuzzi has become Sheldon Keefe's whipping boy and there's just no reason for it
The Toronto Maple Leafs are 12-6-3 to begin the season and have found themselves 3rd in the Atlantic Division at the quarter-mark of the season, just 3 points back of the Florida Panthers with 2 games in hand. If you've watched the games this year, you'll know that the Leafs' record is not necessarily a good indicator of how they've played. They've blown a lot of leads this season and have just 5 regulation wins on the season.
The current state of the blueline is a huge reason for the Leafs' struggles this year. The Leafs have endured injuries to 5 different defensemen this season and are currently missing 3 of their top-6 defenders in Timothy Liljegren, John Klingberg and Mark Giordano. Conor Timmins, William Lagesson and Simon Benoit have done their best to keep the Leafs afloat, but it's still not an ideal situation.
The Leafs have also endured a lot of inconsistency from their forward groups. Auston Matthews has just 1 goal in his last 9 games, John Tavares has scored just 2 goals in his last 12 games, William Nylander has cooled significantly after his 17-game point streak, failing to score a goal in 4-straight, and prior to his hat trick against Seattle, Mitch Marner had just 3 points, all assists, in his previous 8 games.
Through all of this, Sheldon Keefe has been all over the team. He has made a number of roster changes and has also scratched, benched and demoted players this season. He's been particularly tough on Tyler Bertuzzi, having both benched and demoted him at times this season. This week, he even berated him on the bench, screaming right in his ear in a heated altercation, which he admitted was largely directed at Bertuzzi afterward. However, is any of it actually warranted?
Granted, Bertuzzi has not produced the way the Leafs hoped that he would when they signed him to a 1-year, $5.5M deal, but as you can see below, he had routinely and handily won his minutes in 9 straight games.
Bertuzzi's 9 points in 21 games don't stand out by any stretch of the imagination, but he's also a +5 on the year in just over 16 minutes of ice time on average each night.
The hope is that the production will come, but for now, it's not as though Bertuzzi is playing poorly. Perhaps Keefe should ease up a bit on the player and turn his attention elsewhere, because, by all appearances, Bertuzzi is not the problem right now.
| POLL | ||
DECEMBRE 2 | 548 ANSWERS Tyler Bertuzzi has become Sheldon Keefe's whipping boy and there's just no reason for it Does Sheldon Keefe need to ease up on Tyler Bertuzzi? | ||
| Yes | 297 | 54.2 % |
| No | 135 | 24.6 % |
| Maybe Keefe is why Bert is playing well | 116 | 21.2 % |
| List of polls | ||
