Keefe Changes

Because it happens so often these days, Auston Matthews’ goal-scoring has come to feel almost normal. (He added his 16th goal in 25 games over the weekend in Colorado.)

It’s not.




In fact, it doesn’t seem hyperbolic to conclude Matthews is the most potent scorer to enter the NHL since Alex Ovechkin.

Keefe’s changes

It was striking to see just how much change Sheldon Keefe immediately imposed in taking over the Leafs last week.


What seems notable to me is how many of those decisions contrast with the way Mike Babcock did things over four and a half seasons in Toronto.

• Zach Hyman to RW: Hyman lined up almost exclusively at left wing under Babcock and almost always with either Matthews or John Tavares. He spent a mere 97 minutes over the three previous seasons with the Leafs’ other top centre, Nazem Kadri. (It was 1,800-plus minutes with Matthews and more than 900 with Tavares.) It may be a temporary thing until Mitch Marner returns from a high ankle sprain next month, but still, it was no Babcock move. For a trip down memory lane, recall that Hyman made his NHL debut at right wing on a line centered by William Nylander with Michael Grabner at left wing. The Leafs’ “top” line that night: Kadri, Leo Komarov and Nikita Soshnikov.
• Jason Spezza in the third centre spot with other options available: Babcock would have preferred to not play Spezza at all, and he did just that, scratching him 10 times before he was let go. He relented to having Spezza in the third centre hole only when he had no other choice and injuries to Tavares and Alex Kerfoot forced his hand. Keefe chose to put Spezza there with Kerfoot healthy. We shall see if that continues — Spezza played under nine minutes against the Avalanche, including only two shifts in the third period — but it was a striking shift in deployment.
• Kerfoot to left wing: There was some thought after the July 1 trade that sent Kerfoot and Tyson Barrie to Toronto for Kadri and Calle Rosen that Kerfoot might bounce around and play some on the wing as he did with the Avalanche. Aside from a period or two when Kerfoot landed on the Tavares line, Kerfoot was locked into the third-centre role under Babcock, who was a growing fan of the 25-year-old’s unexpected “grease.” Kerfoot has spent the first two games on the wing under Keefe, including some brief spins with Matthews.
• Nick Shore scratched: Babcock played around with the fourth line in the early going before settling on Shore, Frederik Gauthier and a rotating left wing. Shore had played in every game since Oct. 10 until he was scratched in Keefe’s debut for the more skilled Nic Petan. Then, in very non-Babcock fashion, Keefe went all sentimental, returning Shore to the lineup in Colorado. Why? Because Shore is from Denver and played at the University of Denver. Shore rewarded him with his second goal of the season.
• Barrie and Morgan Rielly: Babcock usually got the two together only when the Leafs were trailing late in games and needed a goal. Keefe has started them together on the opening shift in each of his first two games.
• Andreas Johnsson on the PK: The extent of Johnson's penalty-killing over his first 82 games: 7:29. Or nothing, essentially. Johnsson killed penalties under Keefe with the Marlies, though, and played 43 seconds on the unit in Keefe’s debut and another 27 seconds on Saturday. Babcock preferred to box most players onto either special teams unit; rare were those doing both. Keefe looks like he’ll be less constrictive. He’s used 11 players on the PK in his first two games, adding Johnsson, Travis Dermott and Pierre Engvall to the mix. Marner and Trevor Moore should join that bunch once they’re healthy.
• Barrie to the top PP: That one paid off right away, with Barrie popping his first power-play goal of the year on his very shift with the top unit. What’ll be interesting is how Keefe and assistant coach Paul McFarland assemble the two units once Marner returns. Do they simply return Nylander to the second unit in favour of Marner? Do they bounce Rielly instead? Will they jettison Barrie? One comment from Keefe after the 5-3 win in Colorado, in regards to calling a timeout to get the top power-play unit on the ice, seemed revealing. “In particular, with our team and the way it is, we have elite talent, so the more we can utilize them when their energy level is good, we’re going to do it,” he said. “We’re going to take advantage of that.”

There’s still so much to learn about Keefe, obviously. Obviously.

Other subjects of curiosity regarding the new Leafs coach include the goaltending decisions; will Frederik Andersen’s workload be reduced? Will ice-time for Matthews and Tavares, who logged a season-high 22:31 on Saturday, go up? How much mixing and matching will we see?
Will Marner automatically return to Tavares’ right wing once he’s healthy?

Will Spezza keep his spot once everyone is healthy? Why not?


Keefe appears to have already abandoned the idea of having Gauthier-led fourth lines line up for all the defensive zone draws. Matthews, who lined up for 10 defensive zone draws in Denver, has a 46 percent offensive-zone start percentage in two games under Keefe after humming around 70 percent in the first 23 games under Babcock.

Also noteworthy: Keefe trusting his old (but still young!) Marlies players at key spots. Take Engvall, who was on the ice with less than three minutes left Saturday with the Leafs protecting a one-goal lead. However it is always safe to teach a player responsibility.

 It was his third NHL game. It’s safe to say he wouldn’t have been out there if Babcock was still coaching.