With 28 games left in the Leafs’ season, here’s a look at how the players have done since their last report card. Overall, I gave the Leafs

a B+ after their first month, despite showing a 9-3-1 record, which at the time was good for 1^st in the NHL. If you would like to see why, click here http://wewantacup.com/dante-martella/184-first-month-report-card

Here is how the Leafs stack up since, in my humble opinion:

OFFENSE

The Leafs offense, in terms of goals scored after 54 games, is 3^rd in the Eastern Conference and 6^th in the entire League with 168 goals.  Phil Kessel continues to produce at a point-per-game rate, and after a 7 game goal-scoring drought, Joffrey Lupul recently found the back of the net. It’s worth mentioning that Lupul still had 6 assists in those 7 games and is himself continue down the point per game path. Not since the days of Sundin and Mogilny have the Leafs had such a lethal and dynamic duo. One criticism of the Leafs offense earlier in the year, was that Phil and Joffrey were the only two lighting the lamp, and if they were to dry up for any amount of time, the Leafs would struggle without the presence of some secondary scoring. Mikhail Grabovski has seemed to find the gear he was cruising in last year, and is on pace to break the 60 point barrier for the first time in his career, and has emerged as a real threat with his speed and accurate shot. Clarke MacArthur has had a streaky year, but is still hovering around the 25-30 goal range, and his production going forward will be counted on. Perhaps one of the most important aspects of the Leafs’ offensive production, is the help that it gets from the back end. Last year, the Leafs had 139 total points from nine different defensemen, while this year they are on pace to register 192 points.

Grade: A

DEFENSE

The Leafs sit 12^th in the conference with 157 goals against, but their goal differential has climbed recently and sits at a +11 which is good for 10^th in the league. Over the last 16 games, the Leafs have allowed an average of 2 goals per game with 5 shutouts in that span. Just to give you an idea of how the defensive play and goaltending has improved, the previous sixteen games had the Leafs allowing an average of 3.44 goals per game. Our records during those sixteen game stretches reflect the improved play, as our last sixteen games add up to 10-5-1, while the sixteen games prior to those resulted in a 6-7-3 record. A big part of that has been some stable goaltending, and a dramatically different approach to the penalty kill, which will be discussed later. While our overall defensive game has improved in the last month and a bit, we had some rough patches prior to that, so it wouldn’t be fair to say that all is perfect and that an A+ is well deserved. It should also be noted, that the Leafs current speed game and style of attack with strong support from defenders offensively, lends itself to some defensive collapses and eventual goals against but, as mentioned, they have shown recently that a balance can be achieved. Now it’s just a matter of sustaining that.

Grade: B

GOALTENDING

Gustavsson who earned the lion’s share of starts in January put up a 7-3-1 record to kick off 2012. James Reimer, on the other hand, was forced to sit and watch after he struggled a bit coming off his neck/head/upper-body concussion-like injury. Much like Gustavsson before him, Reimer is starting to play his best hockey of the season after having sat on the bench for an extended period of time, having recently earned 3 straight starts in February while going 3-0 in those games which featured a back-to-back shutout performance and culminated in a .967 SV%. Both will need to find some consistency over an extended period of time for them to truly show the coaches, management and fans that they are legitimate starters in this league.

Grade: B+

SPECIAL TEAMS

The biggest knock on the Leafs was their dismal penalty kill which hovered around the low 70s (percentage) for nearly all of October, November and December in terms of efficiency, or lack there of. The calendar year changed, however, and so to did the chemistry and structure of the penalty kill. Wilson and Cronin deserve immense credit (along with Dion Phaneuf who was adamant about a structural change), as the three of them are big reasons why this new look PK has been the picture of perfection through 2012. Currently, their perfect streak of penalty killing sits at 16 straight games where the Leafs have shown great discipline in taking less penalties - something preached constantly by Ron Wilson, showing that the players are buying into what he says- and furthermore using a more in-your-face approach which features an aggressive confronting of the opposing team’s puck carrier. The PK still sits 29^th in the league at 76.2% efficiency, which just goes to show how brutal it was earlier in the year.

The powerplay on the other hand, has been top 5 in the league for quite some time and is currently trucking along at a 19.8% rate of efficiency, with the league’s best PP sitting at 22.7% (Canucks). With John-Michael Liles back, the PP should remain stable, if not see a bit of a spike in efficiency, as he gives the entry into the offensive zone a different look, and his willingness to shoot provides another weapon out there. With that being said, they have fallen from an efficiency that rated 2^nd in the league prior to Liles’ injury, and has fallen steadily, so they’ll have to be careful and capitalize when given the opportunity. It would appear that some teams are covering the ‘high man in the slot’ that helped the Leafs generate some powerplay goals earlier on, so that might be something to keep an eye on and see if the structure needs to be changed up, or if different weapons (MacArthur and Grabovski finding their scoring touch) will do the trick.

Grade: B-

Overall

As one of the youngest teams in the league, some of the games we fans watch can be frustrating. Case in point: owning a 4-1 lead in the 3^rd against the Pens and collapsing and losing in a shootout. These games, however, in the grand scheme of things are great learning experiences for the young core of this team that will grow together and hopefully continue to improve. Most pundits predicted that the 2011-2012 version of the Toronto Maple Leafs would be scratching and clawing all year long for a playoff spot, and many had them falling short. They have certainly had some poor performances, but every team encounters bumps in the road. The Leafs currently occupy the 7^th spot in the Eastern Conference and will need a record that resembles 14-10-4 from here on in to give themselves a good chance of making the playoffs. Can they do it?

Final Grade: B+

Agree? Disagree? Let me know.

Cheers,

Dante (@dmartella12)

Share this post