Jim Hiller on the concern about the Leafs’ blue line after the road trip: “I thought we hung our defensemen out to dry a little bit as a group of forwards”
Ahead of Thursday night’s game against the Sabres, Jim Hiller discussed his lineup options, Auston Matthews and William Nylander’s chemistry, Kirill Marchenko finding his game, and the forwards providing more support for the defense in Chris Tanev’s absence.
It wasn’t a long skate this morning. What were you looking to get out of it coming off a long trip?
Hiller: Just to get the feet going a little bit, get some blood pumping. We were on the plane yesterday, so just wanted to get a little bit going in preparation for tonight.
There were some different looks up front. What inspired the tweaking?
Hiller: We’ve been going 11 and seven. Still not exactly sure what it’ll look like tonight.
We didn’t like our game versus Utah, despite the outcome. I guess you could say we were close, but didn’t like the quality of the game.
What have you liked about Matthews and Nylander when they’ve been together this season?
Hiller: They’ve been really dangerous. That’s really the obvious one. I’ve had a long history with them playing together during my time here. I know they haven’t spent that much time together.
We always know we can put them together. Sometimes, they’ll play apart, but I just think they have good chemistry. Clearly, two really good offensive players, and both off to really good starts on top of it.
There was a lot of east-west passing against Utah. Are you comfortable with that amount?
Hiller: I’m comfortable with it if we’re going tape to tape. I’m not comfortable with it if it’s a hope play through the middle of the ice. There’s a real difference. You’ve got to be able to execute that play. Anytime you’re going east-west, you’re putting the puck through the middle of the ice. You can’t turn it over, and that’s what we did too many times.
Kirill Marchenko says he’s not thrilled with where his game is at. What do you want him to focus on to get it up and running at the top level?
Hiller: It’s been a lot for him. He cares deeply about his game, about being a good teammate. I’m trying not to put too much pressure on him as he’s adjusting, but he’s putting a lot of pressure on himself because he wants to do so well. He’s probably used to being a little bit more dangerous. Maybe that’s the pressure he’s putting on himself.
We just want him to be a good all-around player. We know his skill. He’s going to score. He’s going to create chances. We just want to get him comfortable and feeling like he understands the systems, and then he can just go out and play.
When a player like Marchenko is putting pressure on himself, what’s your coaching philosophy? Do you let him work it out himself, or do you give him more attention to help alleviate some of that pressure?
Hiller: There’s no right answer to that question. It’s a little bit of the art of coaching, I would say. Sometimes, you hope you get it right, and maybe sometimes you don’t do it right.
You just try to get a feel for the person, maybe where they might not be doing as well, and make sure they’re getting the support they need, but also make sure they’re understanding how they can get better at the same time.
How do you do that exactly? Everybody’s got a different way about it. You can’t overwhelm the player. I don’t think that helps, either. You’ve just got to try to find the sweet spot.
After one full game without Chris Tanev, how much does his absence affect the way you try to do things on the back end?
Hiller: I don’t think it affects anything. But what I was disappointed about a little bit on the trip is I thought we hung our defensemen out to dry just a little bit as a group of forwards, with some turnovers, with some tracking. Prior to going out, I thought we really were supporting our defense, getting back hard, not giving up odd-man rushes. Then that was a little bit of the opposite on that road trip.
You’ve got to help your defense. I don’t care who’s in. That, to me, is a little bit more on our forwards.
We haven’t seen Zack MacEwen in a while. What’s your message to him and to Bo Groulx as they jockey for playing time at the bottom of the lineup?
Hiller: It had been a while for Mac. You never like to hold out anybody for too long, especially at the start of the season. We just want energy. That fourth line should be energy. There should be some physicality to it. They should grind in the offensive zone, keep people out of our end. Whether it’s 11 and seven or the full four lines, whoever’s on that line with Teddy and Dewey, that’s the job.
How comfortable are you with the six or seven defensemen you have without Tanev?
Hiller: I’m comfortable, for sure. Tanny’s a good player. That’s well established, but we have other good players. We just have to help them out a little bit.
There’s a lot of noise in the market about the Leafs needing to acquire defense. Where do you stand on that?
Hiller: Not my job, first of all. There’s always a lot of noise about something, so I’m not going to pay too much attention to it right now.
What challenges does Buffalo present, and what’s it like going up against Lindy Ruff with all his experience?
Hiller: A dangerous group of forwards, of course. The D are very active. Had a great season last year.
Historically, Sabres-Leafs has always been a really good rivalry with the proximity.
Lindy’s well established in the game. I know him personally. Just a really good guy.
Toronto vs. Buffalo - October 15
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Ahead of Thursday night's game against the Sabres, Jim Hiller discussed his lineup options, Auston Matthews and William Nylander’s chemistry, Kirill Marchenko finding his...
