Making good on just 14 percent of their man-advantages, the Toronto Maple Leafs emerged from the 2009-10 season with the NHL’s worst power play.
For the most part, the Maple Leafs featured the likes of Tomas Kaberle, Francois Beauchemin, and Ian White taking turns on the first power play unit on the back end, with Phil Kessel, Matt Stajan, Lee Stempniak, Niklas Hagman and Alexei Ponikarovsky getting the majority of power play time up front.
The 2010-11 season will see the Leafs employ a number of new faces on the power play. White, Stajan, Hagman, Ponikarovsky, and Stempniak have all moved on to other teams so they will not be returning, and with a final decision still not clear with regard to Kaberle’s future, it is tough to pencil him in at this point in time.
With training camp still a few weeks away it is tough to speculate on which line combinations the Maple Leafs will trot out on the power play, but there are a few options that seem to make sense.
Up front, the Leafs will likely employ a first line that includes Tyler Bozak or Nazem Kadri at centre, with Phil Kessel and Kris Versteeg flanking them.
Bozak ...
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Article written by Mark Ritter
Toronto Maple Leafs: What Will The Power Play Look Like In 2010-11?
August 25th, 2010 by Mark Ritter Leave a reply »
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