With the 4 Nations Break and no Toronto Maple Leafs games to report, we decided to look over some of the individual players’ numbers to see who is doing well and who isn’t. We agreed upon a “Top Three” and “Bottom Three” format.
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In our first post, we examined goals, assists, points, and shots for defensemen. Now, we’ll move on to the Maple Leafs’ forwards. (Note, to see more of the Maple Leafs’ statistics, follow this link.)
Top Three 5-on-5 Goals
- William Nylander – 19
- Matthew Knies – 17
- Bobby McMann – 14
Unsurprisingly, William Nylander leads the Maple Leafs in 5-on-5 goals. He is second in overall league scoring. Matthew Knies being second is also not a surprise, as he is tied for second in scoring for the Maple Leafs with 21 goals alongside John Tavares. Twelve of Tavares’ 21 goals came on the power play. Bobby McMann does not get much power play time, so it makes sense that 14 of his 17 goals came at 5-on-5.
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One name that is conspicuously absent in the top three 5-on-5 goal-scorers is Auston Matthews. He was fourth with 10 goals. Matthews has missed 15 games this season due to injury, and 10 of his 20 goals have come on the power play.
Bottom Three 5-on-5 Goals
- Pontus Holmberg – 0 in 43 games
- Ryan Reaves – 0 in 33 games
- Connor Dewar – 0 in 29 games
Well, talk about being shut out. Technically, it was a three-way tie for the first of these three players. We gave Holmberg first because he has played the most games. Reaves played 10 fewer games than Holmberg, and Dewar played four fewer games than Reaves. An honorable mention in this category goes to David Kampf, with two goals in 43 games, and Max Domi, with three in 47 games.
Top Three 5-on-5 Assists
- Mitch Marner – 27
- John Tavares – 17
- Auston Matthews – 14
Mitch Marner being first in assists is a given. He is third in the league with 55 total assists. Even though just under half of his assists have come at 5-on-5, he is still 10 assists ahead of second-place Tavares. Interestingly, Matthews made the top three in assists but not in goals. Not quite making the list was Domi. Although Domi has the fifth-fewest goals, he has the fourth-most 5-on-5 assists with 12. Nylander was fifth with nine assists.
Bottom Three 5-on-5 Assists
- Connor Dewar – 2
- Ryan Reaves – 2
- David Kampf – 3
Two of the same players in the bottom three in goals also find themselves in the bottom three in assists. Unlike their absence of goals, at least they have assists. Nicholas Robertson, who has four assists, almost made the bottom three in assists. Knies finished tied for fifth with Holmberg at five assists.
Top Three 5-on-5 Points
- Mitch Marner – 34
- William Nylander – 28
- John Tavares – 26
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There are no real surprises here. Matthews missed out with 24 points, and Knies was two points behind Matthews with 22.
Bottom Three 5-on-5 Points
- Tie: Ryan Reaves & Connor Dewar – 2
- Tie: David Kampf & Pontus Holmberg – 5
Three of the four players in this category are on the roster to play defense and keep the puck out of the Toronto net. Let’s hope they are doing that because Dewar, Kampf, and Holmberg aren’t scoring. Reaves is also not on the roster for his offense.
Top Three 5-on-5 Shots
- William Nylander – 137
- Auston Matthews – 106
- Bobby McMann – 105
These three players have over 20 more 5-on-5 shots than anyone else on the team. Nylander at No. 1 makes sense. It might be a bit of a surprise that Matthews is second in shots but not in the top three in goals. McMann being in the top three is no surprise, as he has a shot-first mentality.
Marner was a distant fourth with 81 shots, Tavares was fifth with 74, and Knies followed with 71. Knies having 34 fewer shots than McMann is a bit of a surprise. Knies does live in the crease area, though, so his goals come more from deflections and rebounds.
Bottom Three 5-on-5 Shots
- Ryan Reaves – 14
- Connor Dewar – 27
- David Kampf – 29
Here are those same three names again. We can add Holmberg in fourth with 33 shots. Lorentz creeps into fifth with 42 shots.
Offensive Zone Starts
- Nick Robertson – 67.2%
- William Nylander – 61.5%
- Max Domi – 60.8%
Defensive Zone Starts
- Ryan Reaves – 85.4%
- Connor Dewar – 78.6%
- Steven Lorentz – 76.6%
We wanted to throw these numbers in there for context. Nylander is getting over 60% of his zone starts in the offensive zone, which makes perfect sense. He has excellent offensive skills, and while his defensive play has improved, you never notice him making great defensive plays. The Maple Leafs are wise in allowing Nylander to play to his offensive skills and not relying too heavily on him defensively. I would call that putting him in a position to succeed.
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With Robertson leading the team in offensive zone starts and Domi being third, they have been given the opportunities to succeed offensively. However, they have not lived up to their chances. While getting the highest percentage of offensive zone starts, Robertson has the ninth-highest offensive production among forwards. Domi is seventh in production for forwards despite being third in offensive zone starts.
Reaves’ Defensive Zone Starts Are Surprising
It is a bit of a surprise that Reaves has the highest defensive zone starts of all the forwards. Under former head coach Sheldon Keefe, Reaves started the majority of his shifts in the offensive zone. If I were to guess, I would say that Keefe valued Reaves’ physicality more in an offensive role, while Craig Berube sees Reaves’ physicality being more beneficial defensively.
David Kampf, who usually leads the team in defensive zone starts, is fourth at 76.0%. In part, the heavy defensive zone starts would account for Kampf’s and Dewar’s lack of production. Being third in defensive zone starts but not in the bottom three in any of the other categories says good things about Lorentz’s play. Despite getting most of his shift starts in the Toronto zone, Lorentz is, at the very least, in the middle of the road in offensive production.
One person conspicuously absent from the heavy defensive zone start list is Holmberg. Checking his starts shows that 54% of his shifts are in the offensive zone. While Lorentz is overachieving when comparing his production to his zone starts, Holmberg is massively underachieving.
