Mike Babcock met with the media after practice on Tuesday, discussing the development of Auston Matthews and Zach Hyman, the right linemates for Matthews, and more.
Why did you decide to go with Auston in the top matchup?
Babcock: Because I thought… I don’t want to tell you.
Do you feel like he’s ready take on the role?
Babcock: Sure. They have more than one center. Kesler is a dominant faceoff guy. Naz is a veteran player. We felt that that might give him the better opportunity. We also felt with the work ethic of Brown and Hyman and the speed they play with – that was a good matchup.
Have you found an ideal right winger for Matthews to play with? You’ve rotated a couple of guys in there while keeping Hyman on the left.
Babcock: It’s not just ideal for Matthews. It’s ideal for our team. I don’t know if that makes any sense. It’s about the Leafs and finding ways to win. We need more than one line. Just because it works good for him doesn’t necessarily mean it works for us. Brown’s been terrific when he plays with him. Nylander has had some real good time there. I don’t like Marner there as much just because I think Marner can drive a line by himself.
Can you expand on the idea of competitive linemates for Auston? Why that works best?
Babcock: Because they have the puck all the time and he’s a shooter himself, not just a passer. When guys get you the puck… You want the puck all the time. Some guys are pure passers. They need more shooters with them. But Auston likes to shoot the puck, as you can see. He likes people that can get it to him. If you have one guy at the net that draws a defenceman, there is more space for him. I’ve never met a good player yet – I learned this a lot from [Datsyuk] and [Zetterberg], to be honest with you – that [doesn’t] want players who get them the puck back. They want the puck. They don’t want three guys that want the puck. They want guys that get them the puck and then get open.
You were saying he’s comfortable going up against anybody now. Where is your comfort level in putting him in those situations?
Babcock: Real good. It’s just the faceoff circle that is the only thing now. He’s really gotten a lot better in his own end. He knows what’s going on. He gets the puck way more than he used to because he knows how to play. I think he’s pretty comfortable understanding that now. It usually takes you a bit of time in the faceoff circle. They lit us up last night in the faceoff circle. I don’t know if I’m totally surprised, but you have to learn how to beat Vermette, how to beat Kesler, how to beat Getzlaf. That’s just the way it is, right? You chase the puck all night.
Is this baptism under fire valuable in the big picture? You think of Freddie, you think of Auston moving forward.
Babcock: Sure. Unfair to The Goat because he hasn’t been playing down there; he’s been hurt. When you get injuries, you make amends. We’re not deep in that position anyway. I thought Goat did a good job for us. In the end, though, you remember that faceoff you lost where they shoot it under the bar. You remember that.
Now that Bibeau is back up here, would you like to have him play one of those back to backs?
Babcock: He’ll play one of those two, I think.
How do you think Josh Leivo did in his first game?
Babcock: I thought he was good. I thought he was real good. He beat the goalie twice, missed the net on both of them. He’ll figure out over time that if you hit the net you get a second chance to score. The whole group of us has to figure that out. Just because the crowd goes “woo” doesn’t make it a good shot. You’ve got to hit the net to score.
What’s Morgan’s status?
Babcock: He’s fine. He’s the only one [missing from practice] that is fine.
Was competitiveness something about Zach [Hyman] that stood out when you saw him in Michigan?
Babcock: I just saw him get the puck to Larkin all the time. It’s all I saw. He just got the puck, got it to Larkin, and they scored. He might have led the nation or been one of the top scorers in the nation. He made all the plays that he’s starting to make now. Last year, in his first year of pro, you didn’t see the things I saw at college. Even now, he’s just coming. He’s a rookie – I know he’s 24 – it’s going to take time, but he’s a dominant forechecker, a dominant cycle player. With the chances he got last night, as he relaxes and settles down and the game slows down for him… he’s different than Auston. The game slowed down for Auston or Mitch already. That’s a different type of thing. But as it slows down, he’ll score more. He’s just too good of a player not to.
Zach was pretty hard on himself for taking the penalty leading to that goal. Is he the sort of guy you say something to, or?
Babcock: I already talked to him about it. He’s hard on himself because he expects lots and we count on him. He’s a big part of our team and he can’t take that penalty. But we’ve taken now, over the last five games, too many penalties. We can kill penalties but you can’t kill 5 on 3s. If you want to kill and be at the top of the league, you’ve got to kill three a night. Not five a night. It kills you.
Was last night the kind of game where it’s sort of indicative of the good stuff that the young guys bring and sort of the downside of having so many young guys as well?
Babcock: You could say that. Last night was a little different because we didn’t have Bozak and we didn’t have Smith. It makes it a different scenario for us for sure. In saying that, we outchanced them and had great looks. But we make mistakes. So they score. They also, when they get the lead, know how to play. That’s just part of putting some miles on you. Making excuses for us because we’re young is wrong. In saying that, it’s reality. We had ten rookies playing in the game last night. It’s not usually heard of. In saying that, some of those guys are big time players for us. When we talk about Matthews and Zaitsev, those are big time players for us already. We’ve got a lot of guys – Brown, Hyman, guys like that – that are drivers for our team. They’re kids, but so what? Play well.
Bozak and Smith out through Christmas?
Babcock: I don’t know the answer 100%. I assume they are because they didn’t practice today. We’ll know more tomorrow. I don’t even know if they’re coming on the trip yet. I didn’t ask. I didn’t have the courage to ask. How’s that?
