Sheldon Keefe, Maple Leafs morning skate
Sheldon Keefe, Maple Leafs practice
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Ahead of Friday’s game in Columbus, Sheldon Keefe discussed the return of Mark Giordano, Nick Robertson joining PP2, Simon Benoit sticking in the lineup over the other depth options, and his 300-game milestone behind the bench.

Morning Skate Notes – Dec. 29

What does Mark Giordano’s addition provide to the lineup?

Keefe: His leadership and experience in and of itself bring a lot to our group. In terms of his game, he is the ultimate competitor, so he is going to bring that. We also think there is some puck-moving ability there that can help us in all three zones. We will see. We have to get him back into game mode here.

Lagesson, Benoit, and Timmins have done a good job for us during the injuries, but you can’t replace the type of experience and leadership that Gio brings. It’s nice to have him back.

Since he has returned from the break, what is your sense of Ilya Samsonov’s mindset?

Keefe: His approach has been good and similar to what it has been when he has had to try to find himself earlier. He has been able to wash it within a day or two and get back to it.

The break seems like it has helped. A few days in a row away from the game would help a guy like him.

I think he is excited to play. He is a competitor. He wants to be in the net. We have to do a good job in front of him and give him every opportunity to succeed and find his game.

What has Nick Robertson done to earn an opportunity on the second power-play unit?

Keefe: For me, we are just trying to get him more touches and more minutes to see if it can help his game offensively. I have found that some of his game offensively has slipped a little bit in the last little while, which can happen for an offensive guy who is playing less and isn’t touching the puck nearly as much.

We haven’t practiced all that much, either, so all of a sudden, your touches really start to go down. We are just trying to give him a little more opportunity there and see if it might translate over into his five-on-five game.

I actually thought his game the other night — he and his line — was really good for us. They didn’t get anything to fall or generate any real high-end chances necessarily, but they were on the puck in the offensive zone virtually the entire game.

I liked his game the other night. We are hoping he can continue to build on that.

In terms of getting Robertson going, is it about his shot?

Keefe: Everything. The puck is just kind of slipping off his stick or he’s not making plays at the same rate. It happens. We have a lot of guys who need those touches. We have given a lot of those to Matthew Knies.

Also, on the second-unit power play, we like to have two defensemen as much as we can. The second unit, generally speaking, doesn’t have much time. It is kind of a broken unit. All of a sudden, if you only have one defenseman out there, it becomes a real challenge. You are almost cutting out 5-10 seconds out of that power play right away because you are making the change to get a defenseman back out. Having two defensemen naturally lets you get right through it for the full two-minute advantage.

Whether it has been Knies or Robertson, it takes away from that time. For us, Jarnkrok, Domi, and Bertuzzi are staples. Those guys play a very important role on that power play. Trying to get the extra minutes there has been a challenge, especially for our younger guys.

Among the depth defensemen fighting for jobs, is Simon Benoit making any separation to be the #6, or is it situational tonight?

Keefe: He has really impressed us. He has come a long way. I think he is just going to continue to get better.

He is still a young guy. He has played quite a bit in the league. With his work habits, he is a very coachable guy. He wants to get better. He has good defensive instincts. He is long, closes space, and has a good stick.

He is a competitor. He is going to finish every check and make it hard on you. He sticks his nose in on everything.

There are lots of reasons for us to really like him and continue to work with him. I do think it is a competition there for some different guys. We are working through some things with our pairs, too, and the whole lefty-righty situation. It is something we are always looking at and discussing daily.

The fact that we have kept him in here today over some of the others who have also done a good job… Lagesson, as we saw the other night, has done a really good job for us, too. Timmins makes plays and helps us on offense. We have good options there that we like.

I don’t think we necessarily had as many options coming into the season, but it has come about as injuries have piled up. It has given more opportunity to guys like Benoit to get comfortable with our team. He has done a good job.

It is a milestone night for the coach. You’re now at 300 games. Can you speak to the journey from the first game to where you are now?

Keefe: If there is one thing that I have learned about this league, in particular, it is that you focus on each particular day as it comes. They come fast. Every single game is a difficult one. You have to go about it and prepare for it just as you would any other. You can’t really get caught up in numbers, milestones, or records. Every day demands your best.

The journey — like all of ours in the last number of years here — with Covid, playing with no fans, the bubble, the Canadian division, and all of these things… We have been through a lot, but I have enjoyed the last two seasons, in particular, where we have had some normalcy about things.

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