Toronto Maple Leafs May Begin Playoffs With Secret Weapon In the Press Box
The Toronto Maple Leafs’ secret weapon in the postseason might start off in the press box
With the playoffs set to start in a week, the Toronto Maple Leafs may drop the puck on the new season with a secret weapon sitting in the press box.
Over the last weeks of the regular season, head coach Mike Babcock has been tinkering with his fourth line. Multiple players have rotated in and out of the lineup as some look to rest before the playoffs. Meanwhile, others look to earn their spot on the postseason roster.
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It’s a decision that’ll no doubt be determined by who best matches up with the Boston Bruins or Tampa Bay Lightning. However, it’s also a decision that’ll give Babcock options should his team fall behind in a series and he needs a boost to the lineup.
It appears either Andreas Johnsson or Kasperi Kapanen will begin the playoffs watching while the other gets his chance to start in the lineup.
The two young and offensively-gifted players have each made a case they deserve on a spot on the playoff roster with their recent play. However, the edge will likely go to Kapanen given his playoff experience last season, when he showed his offensive talents can provide a significant spark to the club.
In six games against the Washington Capitals a year ago, Kapanen scored twice including an overtime winner. He did so playing a fourth-line role, showing you can never have too many offensive weapons in the lineup.
Never having too many offensive weapons is what makes Johnsson an interesting player, because for the Maple Leafs to maximize their offensive capabilities it’d make sense to dress both Kapanen and Johnsson.
Johnsson has recently shown he can be a spark offensively just as much as Kapanen, as it’s become impossible not to notice Johnsson when he steps onto the ice. However, to dress both players it’d likely mean someone like Leo Komarov would have to sit and that’s simply something Babcock would not do.
Babcock will favor the defensive forward over the offensive ones meaning the choice between Kapanen and Johnsson will likely be determined between who can play a 200-foot game. Both have been used on penalty-kill units lately, likely in an attempt to determine who can provide something other than offense.
What will likely be the biggest determining factor of who dresses is whether the Maple Leafs face the Bruins or the Lightning in the first round. The Bruins will be a much more physical matchup that could even see both young scorers sit in favor of Matt Martin. Martin might not have the offensive gifts in his entire body that either Kapanen or Johnsson possess in their pinky fingers, however, his big body leaning on Bruins’ forwards for an entire series could be invaluable.
Last year Martin showed he can raise his game when the postseason began and held his own against a talented Capitals team. As the game slows down in the playoffs, Martin’s ability to impact the contest increases significantly, even if it’s not on the scoresheet.
However, where Martin might not be able to make as great of an impact would be chasing around the speedy forwards of the Lightning. The Lightning would likely be nowhere near as physical as the Bruins, therefore it’d be difficult to see Martin finding his way into the lineup.
A Lightning series would also likely see firepower against firepower given the loaded offenses of both Tampa Bay and Toronto. This could be a matchup where dressing Johnsson and Kapanen would make sense as both teams look to overwhelm the other with offensive weapons. After all, a fourth line consisting of Johnsson and Kapanen on the wings with Plekanec down the middle would be about as offensively dangerous a fourth line could get.
This is also dependent on the Maple Leafs’ entire forward group staying healthy, something that has struggled to happen all season. With only two games remaining on the schedule, Toronto hopes they can wrap up their regular season with everybody avoiding serious injury, something that hasn’t happened for many playoff teams lately with the losses of Ryan Suter, Semyon Varlamov, and Cam Fowler.
Regardless of health, the Maple Leafs will have options for their lineup prior to the puck dropping in the postseason. It shouldn’t surprise anyone if one of those options finds themselves watching the first few games of the playoffs only to enter the lineup and make an impact later in the same series.