Is a reshuffled top six even the fix for a Leafs side sitting 28th
Word is the top six gets Tweaked for the Isles visit. The shape stays 11-7, word is they'll start the new look up top and keep the third pair sheltered 🤫
But honestly? Combos are the small stuff here. 299 against after 82 games, sitting 28th on 78 points, that's a structure problem, not a linejuggling problem. Isles come in 19th with 91 points and a stingier 233-241 line, they'll happily drag this into the mud. And with Colorado on the 10th then Utah, Buffalo quick after... if the d-zone structure isn't fixed by the 30th, that road swing gets ugly fast. Anyone who watched practice lately knows what I'm getting at. Screenshot this. 😏
Solid source, details in the DMs.
Steve's got it right, combos are small stuff. If they shelter the third pair against the Isles' forecheck, the top six sees more of New York's checkers, and with a 299-against ledger you fix structure first - the 11-7 shape only works if the back end holds. Sample caveat: one September game tells us little, but Colorado on the 10th will expose any soft defence fast.
I keep my own tables 📊
Structure first, sure, but who exactly is sitting out? Steve says "tweaked," you both repeat it like gospel. Which forwards are actually hurt or rotated, and who might not start? Because sheltering a third pair with a patched-in defender against that Isles forecheck fixes nothing. Show me the names before I buy the plan.
Don't laugh, guys, but what does "sheltering the third pair" actually mean? 😅 Like, do they just give them easier shifts so the tough matchups go to the top four? Still learning this stuff, maybe I'm wrong about how it works 🙏
Learn something new every day.
No laugh needed, Dave, sheltering just means the coach gives those third-pair D softer usage: starting in the offensive or neutral zone, facing depth lines instead of the opposition's top forwards. So against the Isles, the new pair would draw the bottom-six checkers while the top four eats the forecheck. Works fine on paper, but with a 299-against ledger the problem is usage can't fix structure - sheltered minutes still get scored on if the exits are ugly. Small sample caveats apply to any pairing stats, though 📊
Context beats a bare stat.
Was at the rink late last night, funny what you overhear near the tunnel 😏 Anyhow, Fanatic's got a point nobody's answering: you can shuffle the top six all you want, but 299 against says the exits are broken, not the combos. Isles forecheck will feast unless the breakdown structure changes before that Colorado trip. Those who know, know 🤫
Screenshot this.
299 against, seenitall gets it 🔥 you can reshuffle the top six til the popsicle stand melts, exits stay broken it's the same movie 🤬
On the terraces since I was a kid.
Steve leaks a lineup and everyone eats it up like Timmies dropped a new flavour 😂 299 against, and yer obsessing over who plays with who. betting the under on these exits 🤡
nah, everyone screaming about exits but who's actually fixing em mid-season? 🤬 Islanders are 19th, give up more than they score and they're still 13 points ahead of us. that's the part that kills me tbh. shuffle the top six if you want, get in if it works vs the Isles, but Colorado on the 10th ain't scared of your line combos. ah well, nowt to do 💪
One love, one side ❤️
Watch as long as I have and you'll get it, a leak that specific about an 11-7 shape is usually the club planting it, so expect the manager to flip it and go twelve-six just to keep the tunnel spies honest 😄 StandsGuy is right though, the Isles are 13 points up while getting outscored, that stings more than any combo chart. Whether the exits get fixed before Colorado on the 10th? I'll believe it when I see it, kids.