The Leafs Geeks Podcast

This week Scott Wheeler from Pension Plan Puppets joins the show to break down the 2017 NHL Draft. We discuss the following topics:

1:16 – How weak is this draft class?
4:06 – BPA or Best D Available?
14:29 – Defencemen that could be available at pick #17.
16:22 – Callan Foote (6’3 RD, OHL)
20:51 – Nicolas Hague (6’6 LD, OHL)
23:52 – Erik Brannstrom (5’10 LD, SHL/SuperElit)
30:06 – Conor Timmins (6’1 RD, OHL)
33:07 – Robin Salo (6’0 LD, Liiga)
37:07 – Kailer Yamamato (5’8 F, WHL)
39:48 – Jason Robertson (6’2 F, OHL)
45:44 – Draft Sleepers
48:50 – Juho Korhonen (5’9 LD, SM Liiga)
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This week Prashanth Iyer from Hockey Graphs & Winging It Motown joins the show to break down the Babcock effect. Here are some of the topics we touch on:

2:45 – Adapting the system to his players.
14:15 – Getting everyone to buy in.
23:46 – Admitting that he has flaws.
37:16 – Giving his top pairing extremely tough competition.
47:15 – Always having one "sandpaper" player on a line (the Zach Hyman role).
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James Mirtle from The Athletic joins us this week to discuss the following topics:

3:30 - RHD Trade Targets.
14:23 - The Expansion Draft.
20:17 - Hunwick vs Alternatives in UFA.
25:03 - The Zaitsev Contract.
30:51 - The Blogosphere vs Beat Reporters.
40:18 - James Mirtle's Beer League #analytics.
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This week Sean Tierney from The Athletic & Hockey Graphs joins us to discuss the following offseason topics:

2:09 - The Leafs' unique "cup window".
6:53 - What to do with Bozak.
24:29 - What to do with JVR.
38:46 - Re-signing Zaitsev.
50:46 - Re-signing Brown & Hyman.
1:01:08 - Re-signing Boyle.
1:09:36 - Re-signing Hunwick?
1:17:51 - UFA target Cody Franson.
1:25:38 - UFA target Brendan Smith.
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This week Matt Cane joins the show to break down the Washington Capitals. We discuss line matching, defence pairings, Alzner vs Schmidt, the enigma that is Tom Wilson, and how the Leafs can try to slow down Washington's elite powerplay.
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This week Theo joins Ian to discuss the Maple Leafs' playoff run (which only Don Chery knew was going to happen), Zaitsev's rumoured contract extension, Kapanen, and more!
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This week the Coordinator of Hockey Analytics for the Mississauga Steelheads, Zac Urback, joins us to discuss the following topics:

2:58 - 'The Eye Test' & Context.
20:06 - Draft lists & game theory.
30:30 - Best player available > drafting for need.
36:13 - Nick Suzuki.
45:50 - Conor TImmins.
59:08 - What to look for when scouting.
1:05:08 - Nerding out on pass quality.

You can find Zac on Twitter @Zac_Urback. Also I highly recommend checking out his website prospect-stats.com, which has awesome data for prospects like 5v5 Points per 60, individual Sh%, and High Danger Sv%.
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This week Garret Hohl from Hockey Graphs joins Ian to discuss the following topics:

0:53 - Size bias.
22:29 - Breaking down the components of coaching.
40:44 - Morgan Rielly & evaluating young defencemen.
56:33 - The curious case of Ondrej Pavelec.
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This week Ian Fleming (@imfleming16) from NHL Numbers & Hockey Graphs joins us to help break down the following goaltending topics:

3:54 - Explaining advanced goalie metrics.
14:21 - 4v5 Goaltending.
24:25 - Evaluating the Leafs' goalies.
40:22 - Shot Quality (the Ondrej Pavelec Story).
51:18 - The volatile nature of backup goalies.
1:09:21 - The value of goalie coaches.
1:14:58 - UFA backup goalies to target this offseason.
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This week Ian & Theo re-evaluate the Maple Leafs after the deadline, addressing the following topics:

2:58 - Reminder of how good the Leafs are.
11:59 - Nylander is still very underrated.
19:21 - Evaluating the Boyle trade.
26:07 - Overpaying 4th liners (ie. Martin)
34:30 - Re-evaluating the Polak signing.
54:15 - How good could this team be?
1:07:13 - Re-evaluating Leafs management.
1:25:51 - Recapping the NHL Trade Deadline (for the other 29 NHL teams)
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