Toronto Maple Leafs Veterans Learning On The Fly In 2016-2017

The Toronto Maple Leafs are icing a high amount of players with little to no NHL experience this season, and it’s going to bring a big learning curve, but they aren’t the ones that need to be better.

On the surface – three points in four games – the Toronto Maple Leafs are on fire.

They dominated the 5v5 game against the Ottawa Senators and held the advantage in the first period of the game against the Bruins.

Underneath all the hype and positivity are a group of veterans who need to catch up to the kids. Here are two areas that need improvement by the Leafs vets.

The Dump-Ins

Dump-ins are almost useless. Yes, you get to smash a player into the boards after you’ve given the opposing team the puck for free in hopes you’ll get it back with a big hit. That’s a weak narrative. I don’t have the Leafs entry data, but here’s a look at the Kings work via Hockeybuzz’s Jason Lewis as an example:

Presented w/o comment. #LAKings through 2 games

55 controlled entries: 31 shots, 9 scoring chances
51 dump ins: 4 shots, 1 scoring chance

— Jason Lewis (@SirJDL) October 17, 2016

Carrying the puck in leads to better things more often than throwing the puck hopelessly into the zone. In any other instance, giving the puck to the opposition is considered a turnover. So why is it acceptable in this scenario?

The Leafs kids are better at carrying it in, most likely because they – the good ones at least – have been taught the value of a controlled entry. The veterans – especially the physical ones – continue to try and beat their way to the puck that they had only seconds prior.

Positioning

When Jake Gardiner came out of the penalty box against Boston he created chaos in the Leafs zone by coming back as a defender. The only problem was that there were already two defenders (Hunwick being one) on the ice. Gardiner was now a forward.

The other two defenders had no idea what to do anymore with Gardiner hovering around. It also created a hole where the third forward would normally be playing in the defensive zone. The lack of awareness by Gardiner – and the two other defenders – caused the Leafs to get hemmed in their own zone for an extended period of time.

That’s just one example, but it’s worth noting there are positional issues to get corrected.

On the offensive side, the veterans are going to have to learn to adjust to having actual star linemates and figuring out where they are going to be.

There has been many, many great things the Leafs have done through two games. There are also areas to improve, and that’s OK. It’s a learning experience for everyone, and the veterans aren’t exempt from the process.