Toronto Maple Leafs' Special Teams Could Make or Break Stanley Cup Chances

The Toronto Maple Leafs may make the playoffs this year, but they may miss them as well. The buds have been giving us something to cheer about, and that has been a revelation for a fanbase that has been desperate for anything to be proud of.

However, the Leafs still have a lot to do to become the team we all want them to be. Aside from the personnel additions that are desperately needed, there are also some tactical aspects of their game that must improve for the Leafs to become serious Cup contenders.

First and foremost is special teams play. After the loss to the New York Islanders, the Maple Leafs have not scored a power play goal in their last 24 chances. That is unacceptable for any team, even one as young as the Leafs, who are in a rebuilding mode.

Overall, the Leafs power play ranks No. 25 in the league, clicking at a dismal pace of 15.7 percent.

Considering how well the Leafs have played since the all-star break, there is no doubt that they could have done even better with an effective power play. 25 points out of a possible 36 equates to a .694 winning percentage. That is a very strong record, but the Leafs also lost five games by a single goal during this stretch and could have garnered even more points had they been able to score on the power play.

Certainly, come playoff time when goals are scarce, an effective power play becomes critical and often is the difference between moving on in the playoffs and moving out of them.

There are several flaws to the Leafs power play. The most obvious is the lack of a quality puck moving defenseman to captain the power play. But the problems, obviously, go further than that.

Their passing is poor to the point that many a Leaf player must spend time recovering from a pass instead of being able to react to the play immediately and either shooting or passing to an open teammate.

There is seldom a player parked in front of the net, as the Leafs seem to prefer to play on the perimeter or from behind the goal. With no player in front of the goal, there is no screen and there are no deflections.

With two and then three forwards battling for the puck behind the net, the Leafs always find themselves at a disadvantage. If they win the puck, there is no one in the slot ready for a shot and they must attempt to get a pass all the way back to the blue line, which invariably gets intercepted.

If they lose the battle behind the net, then the opposition has numbers going the other way, which often leads to odd man rushes even on the power play.

If there is one tactic that blows up in the Leafs’ faces, its getting too many men behind the opposition goal.

I would prefer to see a tactic similar to what that the Islanders employed. They sent one, and only one, player behind the net.

If they won the puck there, they had options on either side near the face-off circles to pass the puck up along the boards before getting to their defense at the blue line.

Depending on which way the puck went, the opposite side forward would move to the side of the net, while the man behind the net would move to the opposite side of the net. In this way, all five forwards were in dangerous positions—two at the points, two in front of the net and one in the slot.

If the Islanders lost the puck behind the net, then a forechecking forward—positioned perfectly for just such an event—met the Leaf player immediately. This caused the Leafs to have problems in their own end and resulted in plenty of turnovers.

Even if the Leafs were able to beat the forecheck and clear the defensive zone, the Islanders' tactics always kept four players ahead of the Leafs, which resulted in very few odd-man rushes for the boys in blue and white.

Other issues have the Leafs so out of sync that there are no point-men to stop the puck from going all the way back into their own end on a missed shot attempt. How can this even happen unless each player has no clue what the other is about to do?

Suffice it to say, that the Leafs tactics on the power play are abhorrent and need to be addressed.

The penalty kill is no better for the buds. At 78.7 percent, the Leafs are also ranked No. 25 in the League. That is just not good enough for a team that considers itself a legitimate playoff team, let alone a cup contender.

The woes of the penalty kill are similar to the power play: tactics. The Leafs have the talent to be better on the penalty kill, they are just not positioned nor aggressive enough to do so.

The Leafs mainly employ a passive box on the kill, which is a shame. The passive box does not challenge the puck anywhere except down low and thus allows the opposing power play time and space to setup.

I would prefer to see a far more aggressive penalty kill where the puck is pressured immediately. If the buds could successfully harass the puck carrier, they could make the opposition play desperately and force turnovers with more frequency.

Instead, they allow the opposition to repeatedly come at them with time and space which invariably opens up a space in the slot for a good opportunity on goal.  Pressure the puck, while two men cover the net and one covers the slot—that is the recipe to repair the penalty kill.

The special team's play of the Maple Leafs are in complete disarray and a major stumbling block for the buds going forward. It is something that can be, and should be, fixed. It is up to Ron Wilson to identify the problems and make appropriate corrections for it. At this point, even he must be aware that the current tactics are failing.