There have been some positives for the Toronto Maple Leafs this season, but the one thing that they’ve excelled at in the past remains the biggest issue and reason for the lack of wins and points this season. We’ve all noticed the Maple Leafs’ power play is the biggest talking point as it has been absolutely dreadful this season, connecting at 7.9% which ranks dead last in the league.
After bringing in Marc Savard to try and improve the man advantage that went absolutely cold during the final stretch and post season in 2023-24, it’s more of the same this season as they haven’t been connecting or getting the results needed. They have looked good at times, but the struggles remain at the forefront. There are plenty of reasons for why they have failed to connect on the man advantage, but there’s one main reason that needs to change in order to be successful.
Be More Aggressive on Power Play
After their power play once again went cold against the St. Louis Blues, head coach Craig Berube was very blunt about his assessment about what has been ailing the team’s power play.
“We’re not getting pucks to the net enough. We’re on the power play. We need to shoot pucks more. We need to get pucks to the net and create opportunities around the net on broken plays. But we’re not,” Berube said according to The Hockey News’ David Alter post game after their 4-2 loss to the Blues. “There’s not a shot mentality on the power play right now.”
The one thing that’s not going for the Maple Leafs that has made them successful in the past has been their aggressive mindset when being a threat on the man advantage. From the zone entry to getting pucks on net, they continue to be passive and stuck in their old ways. Whether it’s not attacking with speed, passing off the wing on the entry or staying on the perimeter, all of which has been the downfall for the power play.
With the amount of money that is on the ice with the Core Four– over $46 million– you’d expect the top unit to be more successful than what the numbers suggest. The Maple Leafs do have the second most high danger chances (36) and fourth-best scoring chances (73) on the man advantage but only three goals to show for overall is concerning. On top of that, they’re top-15 in low danger chances with 70, which isn’t helpful.
The Maple Leafs lack pace and swiftness to execute early on. They’re once again being too passive and aren’t being aggressive with their setup. They always try to pass and set up on the perimeter, but it clearly isn’t working. They aren’t quick enough with their passes, they try to thread the puck through difficult lanes leading to break ups and aren’t doing enough to make them quick and get players out of position. Instead, they’re the ones on their heels as they get pressured more often with the puck and forcing them to retreat.
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There’s not a shooting threat anymore with Auston Matthews and William Nylander. Mitch Marner continues to pass instead of shooting when he has his chance. The lone bright spot is the addition of Matthew Knies to be that net front presence. There’s a lot that needs to change. It starts with finding that aggressive mindset once again and with the players on the ice to change that.
Players Need to Figure This Out
In every game, the lack of intent on the power play remains a talking point. When you look at the game recaps from The Hockey Writers, critiquing the power play is most likely going to be in there.
While Savard who runs the power play needs to try and have a different approach, what else can be done? You already had a major shakeup splitting up players on the top unit, you’ve already gone between Morgan Rielly and Oliver Ekman-Larsson as the quarterbacks, everyone knows the issues with it; what else do you do?
While the team continues to find answers to their power play woes, this ultimately falls on the players as they’re the ones who continue to fail on the execution with their poor play. Berube has already addressed the reasons why they continue to falter, now it’s time for them to act and respond appropriately. Berube can only say what he sees for so long, as it’s time for the players to execute and finally convert.
It’s only a matter of time before the Maple Leafs do breakout of this slump, once they do, the goals will come in bunches. It’s something you rather much deal with now than before the playoffs, which has hurt them plenty of times before. They need to break free from their predictability and change things up with their approach because after one month, nothing hasn’t been working on the power play.
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The drive, quick plays, intent and pressure needs to be there consistently on the power play. Until they bring that in, it’s pretty much going to be the same talking points until they realize that what isn’t working won’t get them far.
Statistics from Natural Stat Trick.
