After practice on Tuesday, Sheldon Keefe discussed the injury status of Auston Matthews and Jake Muzzin, Alex Kerfoot’s growth as a leader on the team, Pierre Engvall’s versatility, and much more.
Practice Lines – February 8
Leafs lines at practice
Bunting – Engvall – Marner
Kerfoot – Tavares – Nylander
Mikheyev – Kampf – Kase
Potts* – Spezza – Simmonds* U of T fill in @TSN_Edge
— Mark Masters (@markhmasters) February 8, 2022
Is there any update on Auston Matthews?
Keefe: He came in today feeling pretty good. It is a really good sign for his status in terms of practicing tomorrow. We will see how he comes in, but today was a very good day.
Is that a relief based on head injuries and what we know about them?
Keefe: There was a pretty good sense by the time he left that it wasn’t necessarily going to be a head injury. That had us feeling pretty good. With the nature of the hit that he took, you are going to continue to be cautious and make sure he is feeling good before he gets back on the ice. As I said, today was a good day for him.
With Jake Muzzin getting through today, is it looking better and like he might be available for the trip?
Keefe: I think we are trending that way. With the nature of the injury, you are going to make sure that nothing else pops up. We are going to continue to be cautious, but it was another really good day for him.
With Pierre Engvall filling in at center between Bunting and Marner, why did you go with him? What have you liked about his game lately?
Keefe: I have liked a lot of things about his game lately. That has nothing to do with why he filled Auston’s spot for today. As I said, things are trending in a good spot knowing Auston is going to be okay. It was a placeholder for the day, but it is a chance to get him up into our top nine and play with those players for practice. I think he has deserved that.
He has played very well. His minutes have reduced, but he has found a way to continue to be good. I think he has helped Spezz and Simmonds since he has been down there. I am really encouraged by what he has done.
Today was just a placeholder, but it was about giving him a chance to practice with those players. We were doing a lot of offensive pieces today. I like him getting him wtih those guys. I thought it was a good chance.
At the same time, I thought about putting Spezza in that spot, but Pierre is a left-shot just like Auston. There are some similarities that way in terms of how the players play off of that on the rush and things like that.
Is he valuable to you as well because he can play a lot of positions and on a lot of lines?
Keefe: You need to have those players. Things happen. Injuries, performance, or whatever it is, you need to have players who can move around. Pierre is one of those guys. He and I have spoken about it. He feels most comfortable on the wing. We have tried to use him primarily there. He has done a good job for us.
We have had to use him at center at different times. We have had to use him at right wing. He has taken those challenges on and has done well with it. We have used him on the power play and used him on the penalty kill. He has been a very important player for us who is just going to continue to get better.
Jack Campbell seemed to be really excited about his experience at the All-Star Game. Is there something about it that can give him a boost coming off of that experience?
Keefe: I would think it would give a guy a boost. I think his confidence is already in a good place, and he has earned that with how he has played. Any time you get to go to an event like that and there is a lot of attention around you — and you are surrounded by the best of the best — that can help give you a boost. Maybe you learn something along the way as you are interacting with those guys. You become friends with guys you didn’t necessarily know. There is value inside of that.
That whole experience can help a player, especially when it is their first time going. He has come back in good spirits, which is not a big surprise; he is usually in pretty good spirits. Other than him being a little tired from the journey coming back and all of that kind of stuff… I know Auston has gone through some of that, too, with the time change and the lack of sleep that happens coming back from the West.
Jack has been good and Steve [Briere] has been really happy with his work the last few days. He’ll be ready for Calgary.
The two opponents this week, Calgary and Carolina, are two very good teams with some of the fewest blocked shots in the league. Do you pay attention to those kinds of things? Do you notice it?
Keefe: I don’t pay a whole lot of attention to the stat of it. There are certainly times when we watch pucks come to our net — can we do a better job of being in the lane and preventing it from getting there? With the actual stat itself, there is a lot of noise inside that stat. We are one of the teams, as is Carolina, that spends a low amount of time in our own end. If there are fewer pucks heading towards our net, we have fewer opportunities to block them. That is part of it.
When I look at last night’s game as an example, I think there were times where we could have done a better job of being in the lane. Sometimes, I feel like if you do your job defensively, you are in the lane, and you close space, you should discourage the shot. I prefer we discourage the shot than block the shot, frankly.
If they can’t direct the puck to the net and they have to put the puck back to another spot where we can kill the play and break out, that is better to me than allowing teams to continuously put it towards your net. You are going to block a good percentage of them, but some are going to find a way through. That is trouble.
I thought we let some get through last night where I would like to see a better job. The stat itself is not something I focus on too much.
What has allowed Alex Kerfoot to develop a more consistent role this season?
Keefe: He is back now for his third year here. He is very comfortable and a part of our leadership group. He is a very well-respected and well-liked guy in our room. With that, comes extra confidence.
We have given him great responsibilities. Last year, he is playing on the third line as a center and taking on a lot of checking responsibilities. He has developed into a very good penalty killer for a guy who came over from Colorado and wasn’t killing penalties at all.
He has just evolved into being a guy who is counted on our team. He is a very selfless player and selfless teammate. He is all about the team and going out and doing what is asked of him. He gives you his absolute best effort every night.
With all of those things combined, he is a very good, consistent player for us.
How did he take that step into the leadership group?
Keefe: It is a new thing for him this season. He is a very well-liked and respected teammate. It really comes through the leadership group themselves. They wanted him to be a part of it. We had spoken about that. I agreed. I think it makes a lot of sense.
He has been a good addition to it. He has a great perspective on things and great insight into what is happening. He has some different experiences coming from a different organization. He has played different roles and played around our lineup.
A lot of our leadership group tends to be guys that are at the top of the lineup. He has those different perspectives, as does Jason Spezza and his experience in the role he plays for us. Those are very valuable additions to the group.
How did the faceoff goal last night come about? Is that something the players practice and know is in their back pocket?
Keefe: We don’t call too many players from the bench itself. Sometimes [we might] out of a TV timeout and things of that nature, but the players have a good sense of what our bank of plays might be.
I am not a big faceoff-play guy. There are so many variables that happen on a faceoff that don’t happen as clean as you would like them to be. That was one last night that came together really well.
Mitch and Auston, in particular, talk a lot and make a plan inside of what we want to do. Some of that is within the structure that we talk about and Manny Malhotra puts together with our plans. A big part of it is just the players communicating and — most importantly — executing.
