Well my line predictions were wrong to start (though I think they will play out like that over time). Their true bottom six is kind of mediocre to be honest, so it sounds like they are trying to spread out the forwards a bit to mitigate that.
Now, let’s get into the final five questions facing the Leafs heading into training camp and the start of the 2021 regular season.
6. Who rounds out the bottom six at forward?
I’d argue the Leafs‘ bottom six hasn’t received enough attention if we look at the options at the team’s disposal (and what they are likely capable of producing in 2021).
They aren’t particularly stout defensively or explosive offensively, and they lack speed (Pierre Engvall and Robertson are fast, but I am guessing they enter camp on the outside looking in). If Ilya Mikheyev rounds out the top six – which is absolutely not a guarantee – the rest of the forward group is Joe Thornton, Wayne Simmonds, Alexander Kerfoot, Jimmy Vesey, Jason Spezza, Joey Anderson, Alexander Barabanov, Travis Boyd, Pierre Engvall, and Nick Robertson.
The team has to pick six from there. Thornton, Kerfoot, and Simmonds are obvious starters. It’s plausible — even likely — that Thornton and Simmonds are given some breaks throughout the season to preserve them for the playoffs. Jason Spezza will likely be in this boat as well. That really leaves Vesey, Anderson, Barbanov, Boyd, Engvall, and Robertson competing for two-to-three spots.
Engvall showed quite well on the penalty kill last year, so that might give him a leg up on the others in certain spots, while Vesey has some level of experience and success in the league but struggled last season. The organization seems excited about the addition, but he’s turning 28 in May — he likely is what he is at this point (a depth scorer at best). Barabanov is a wildcard, as is Robertson at this point.
My best early guess at this point would be, in no particular order: Thornton, Kerfoot, Simmonds, Spezza, Vesey, and one of Engvall/Anderson.
7. Who makes up the penalty-killing units?
The main penalty killers for the Leafs last season, particularly in the playoffs, were Jake Muzzin, Justin Holl, Morgan Rielly, and Cody Ceci, as well as Martin Marincin whenever he played. At forward, it was Mitch Marner, Zach Hyman, Ilya Mikheyev when healthy (and even a bit in the playoffs), Kasperi Kapanen, and Alex Kerfoot, as well as quite a bit of ice time for Pierre Engvall and Trevor Moore when the latter was on the team.
Now, the Leafs basically have all these players returning save for Kapanen. They can easily build two units consisting of Marner, Hyman, Mikheyev, and Kerfoot, and call it a day. I’m also inclined to think that if Engvall has a good camp, he should get a further look on the penalty kill because his speed and reach cause serious issues for opposing power plays.
Joey Anderson played nearly two minutes per game on the penalty kill for the Devils last season when he played, while Vesey played nearly a minute per game there. If Anderson has a good camp, I’d guess he’ll play on the penalty kill when/if he plays games, but generally speaking, I don’t think they’ll shake it up too much at forward on the penalty kill.
On defense, the Leafs will need to replace Cody Ceci’s minutes, and TJ Brodie makes sense there. I’ll also be interested to see if they look to save Rielly’s minutes for 5v5 and the power play, perhaps giving shorthanded time to Dermott or Zach Bogosian whenever he plays. Preserving Rielly for those minutes would make a ton of sense, in theory.
8. How do the power-play units shake out (and how are they deployed)?
When Sheldon Keefe took over and loaded up the top power-play unit, the Leafs enjoyed the second most productive man-advantage unit through the rest of the season.
While that sounds great, they benefitted greatly from a big run after Babcock was fired, and they were a middle-of-the-pack power play (14th) from January 1 onward. The unit consisted of Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, John Tavares, William Nylander, and Tyson Barrie.
John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports
I’d be surprised if they mixed up the units the way Babcock did, so I’d guess that Rielly will slide in on the top unit. The bigger question is whether the full-two-minute power plays for the top unit will continue.
Wayne Simmonds has always made his money on the power play (he struggles at 5v5, if anything). Is he going to sit on the bench for one minute and 45 seconds of each power play? Is Joe Thornton? Will Mikheyev get a long look there? Hyman? Kerfoot? There is a time and a place to load up the top guns, but if they plan to do it all season, I think you risk alienating the rest of the roster a little bit and lose out on empowering other offensive players to score and contribute.
It will also be interesting to see who will quarterback the second power-play unit. The Leafs have a number of defensemen that could in theory, but no real slam-dunk option: Jake Muzzin, TJ Brodie, and Travis Dermott have all quarterbacked second units, to varying levels of success, and there is also Rasmus Sandin. This could be the biggest opportunity for Lehtonen to crack the team and make a notable impact.
At forward, it would be shocking to see Thornton and Simmonds not there. From there, we could take our pick of almost any player. I’d guess Mikheyev is there, and the last spot is wide open.
9. Style of play changes
We saw the Leafs adopt a number of changes under Sheldon Keefe: Pulling a forward high in the offensive zone up to the blue line to create offense, a lot more regrouping in the neutral zone, and opening it up a bit more off the rush, to name a few.
Keefe also loaded up top players with ice time — at 5v5 and with power-play time — and played them all together (I’d argue these were done to varied results and often hurt them as much as they helped them).
Now, with a full training camp for Keefe to get things in order and presumably a bit more comfortable and familiar in the role in general, what other kinds of changes will we see? I won’t speculate too much here, but I’ll take notes and outline them as they unfold in front of us this season.
10. Will Frederik Andersen rebound?
At the end of the day, this may be the biggest question as it pertains to the Leafs’ 2021 outlook.
Andersen struggled in the 2019-20 regular season, posting the worst save percentage of his career and consequently giving up the most goals per game of his career. At one point, there was serious debate as to whether Andersen or backup Jack Campbell should start games with the Leafs in a playoff race. And this wasn’t only radio fodder – it was a legitimate question to ask.
In the playoffs, Andersen was generally solid, but he has had a habit of letting in bad goals in big games, and the pattern held true again versus Columbus. This season, at least the Leafs have real insurance should he struggle in Campbell and possibly even Aaron Dell, but really, Andersen needs to step up.
The Leafs might survive an average Andersen in the regular season (or even slightly below average), but they will absolutely need him at his best for the playoffs if they want to go deep.
The French league’s legal commission has ordered Paris Saint-Germain to pay Kylian Mbappé the 55 million euros ($61 million) in unpaid wages that he claims he’s entitled to, the league said Thursday.
The league confirmed the decision to The Associated Press without more details, a day after the France superstar rejected a mediation offer by the commission in his dispute with his former club.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Former football star Reggie Bush was at his Encino home Tuesday night when three male suspects attempted to break in, the Los Angeles Times reported Wednesday.
“Everyone is safe,” Bush said in a text message to the newspaper.
The Los Angeles Police Dept. told the Times that a resident of the house reported hearing a window break and broken glass was found outside. Police said nothing was stolen and that three male suspects dressed in black were seen leaving the scene.
Bush starred at Southern California and in the NFL. The former running back was reinstated as the 2005 Heisman Trophy winner this year. He forfeited it in 2010 after USC was hit with sanctions partly related to Bush’s dealings with two aspiring sports marketers.
VANCOUVER – A fresh face has been gracing the B.C. Lions‘ highlight reels in recent weeks.
Midway through his second CFL campaign, wide receiver Ayden Eberhardt has contributed touchdowns in two consecutive games.
The 26-year-old wide receiver from Loveland, Colo., was the lone B.C. player to reel in a passing major in his team’s 37-23 victory over the league-leading Montreal Alouettes last Friday. The week before, he notched his first CFL touchdown in the Lions’ win over the Ottawa Redblacks.
“It’s been awesome. It’s been really good,” Eberhardt said of his recent play. “At the end of the day, the biggest stat to me is if we win. But who doesn’t love scoring?”
He’ll look to add to the tally Friday when the Leos (7-6) host the Toronto Argonauts.
Eberhardt signed with B.C. as a free agent in January 2023 and spent much of last season on the practice squad before cementing a role on the roster this year.
The six-foot-two, 195-pound University of Wyoming product has earned more opportunities in his second season, said Lions’ head coach and co-general manager Rick Campbell.
“He’s a super hard worker and very smart. He understands, has high football IQ, as we call it,” Campbell said.
The fact that Eberhardt can play virtually every receiving position helps.
“He could literally go into a game and we could throw him into a spot and he’d know exactly what he’s doing,” the coach said. “That allows him to play fast and earn the quarterback’s trust. And you see him making plays.”
Eberhardt credited his teammates, coaches and the rest of the Lions’ staff with helping him prepare for any situation he might face. They’ve all spent time teaching him the ins and outs of the Canadian game, or go over the playbook and run routes after practice, he said.
“I’ve played every single position on our offence in a game in the last two years, which is kind of crazy. But I love playing football,” he said. “I want to play any position that the team needs me to play.”
While B.C.’s lineup is studded with stars like running back William Stanback — who has a CFL-high 938 rushing yards — and wide receiver Justin McInnis — who leads the league in both receiving yards (1,074) and receiving TDs (seven) — versatility has been a critical part of the team’s back-to-back wins.
“I think we’ve got a lot of talented guys who deserve to get the ball and make big plays when they have the ball in their hands. So it’s really my job to get them the ball as much as possible,” said quarterback Nathan Rourke.
“I think that makes it easy when you can lean on those guys and, really, we’re in a situation where anyone can have a big game. And I think that’s a good place to be.”
Even with a talented lineup, the Lions face a tough test against an eager Argos side.
Toronto lost its second straight game Saturday when it dropped a 41-27 decision to Ottawa.
“We’ll have our hands full,” Rourke said. “We’ll have to adjust on the fly to whatever their game plan is. And no doubt, they’ll be ready to go so we’ll have to be as well.”
The two sides have already met once this season when the Argos handed the Lions a 35-27 loss in Toronto back on June 9.
A win on Friday would vault B.C. to the top of the West Division standings, over the 7-6 Winnipeg Blue Bombers who are on a bye week.
Collecting that victory isn’t assured, though, even with Toronto coming in on a two-game skid, Campbell said.
“They’ve hit a little bit of a rut, but they’re a really good team,” he said. “They’re very athletic. And you can really see (quarterback Chad Kelly’s) got zip on the ball. When you see him in there, he can make all the throws. So we’re expecting their best shot.”
TORONTO ARGONAUTS (6-6) AT B.C. LIONS (7-6)
Friday, B.C. Place
HOME FIELD ADVANTAGE: The Lions boast a 4-1 home record this season, including a 38-12 victory over the Redblacks at Royal Athletic Park in Victoria, B.C., on Aug. 31. The Argos have struggled outside of BMO Field and hold a 1-5 away record. Trips to the West Coast haven’t been easy for Toronto in recent years — since 2003, the club is 4-14 in road games against B.C.
CENTURION: B.C. defensive back Garry Peters is set to appear in his 100th consecutive game. The 32-year-old from Conyers, Ga., is a two-time CFL all-star who has amassed 381 defensive tackles, 19 special teams tackles and 16 interceptions over seven seasons. “Just being on the field with the guys every day, running around, talking trash back and forth, it keeps me young,” Peters said. “It makes me feel good, and my body doesn’t really feel it. I’ve been blessed to be able to play 100 straight.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
