Power outage: How the Maple Leafs can solve man advantage woes

The Toronto Maple Leafs' power play ranks 13th in the NHL, operating at 21.2 percent. However, given the unit's highly-skilled personnel, it should be much better. The Leafs were on fire with the man advantage to begin the season, but have converted on just seven of their last 55 attempts. What's gone wrong?

Here's a look at how the Leafs' top unit sets up:

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The power play runs through Mitch Marner near the right wall, but opponents have zeroed in on him. Even though he has 20 goals on the season, opponents know he's not a shooting threat, and they've taken away his favorite passing lanes.

Marner's primary option is to feed Auston Matthews on the far left with a cross-ice pass so he can corral the puck in stride and unleash a wrist shot. He'll also look to pass to John Tavares down low, or defer to Morgan Rielly at the top of the formation. Nazem Kadri in the middle doesn't give Marner much of an outlet.

The issue is none of Toronto's four skaters without the puck are in a position where they could release a shot as quickly as possible. Since Marner is the only right-handed shot and sets up on the right side of the ice, any player who gets the puck is going to have to corral it, turn, and fire, giving the goaltender and defenders time to stop it. This stands in large contrast to some of the top power plays around the league.

Tampa Bay Lightning

Rank: 1st
Efficiency: 29.4 percent

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The Lightning's power play runs through Nikita Kucherov and Steven Stamkos. With Stamkos handling the puck on the left side, he's looking to feed Kucherov for a cross-ice one-timer. If the primary option is covered he can pass to the point, where Victor Hedman is in position to fire a shot. When Kucherov is controlling the puck, he can either go cross-ice back to Stamkos or feed Brayden Point in the middle for a quick one-timer.

The Lightning's power play has great movement, unpredictability, and multiple shooting options at all times.

Winnipeg Jets

Rank: 2nd
Efficiency: 27.6 percent

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The Jets' power play is more similar to the Leafs' in that it almost exclusively runs through one player. In Winnipeg's case, that man is Blake Wheeler. Like Marner, Wheeler is a right-handed shot quarterbacking things from the right half. However, Wheeler has plenty of dangerous options at his disposal. Patrik Laine at the opposite circle, Dustin Byfuglien (when healthy) at the top of the formation, and Mark Scheifele in the slot are all available for one-timers. If Wheeler is pressured, he can dish off to Kyle Connor down low as a security blanket.

Boston Bruins

Rank: 3rd
Efficiency: 27.3 percent

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The Bruins' power play has one clear trigger man, as David Pastrnak's 15 goals with the man advantage lead the NHL. He sets up camp at the left circle and is normally fed by either Torey Krug at the top of the formation or Brad Marchand on the opposite half. Krug and Marchand will often rotate, forcing defenders to get turned around, which opens up shooting lanes as a result.

This unit isn't one dimensional, though. When Pastrnak is covered, Marchand or Krug can also find Patrice Bergeron in the slot for a quick one-timer. Pastrnak also has 14 assists with the man advantage, as he'll often send passes back through to Marchand, who has seven power-play goals.

The Maple Leafs' solutionMark Blinch / National Hockey League / Getty

To solve Toronto's woes with the man advantage, head coach Mike Babcock should switch Matthews' and Marner's positions on the power play. This may sound simple, but it would completely change how that unit operates and how opponents are forced to defend it.

This would mean Marner would quarterback the power play from the left side of the formation while Matthews would set up on the right half, putting Matthews, Rielly, Kadri, and Tavares all in better shooting positions. Instead of passes coming from the right side, forcing the left-handed shooters to corral it, turn, and fire, passes would come from the left, allowing them to let off one-timers.

Matthews seldom takes slap shots, but he's displayed an effective one-timer on a few occasions.

Matthews with a one timer for his 19th goal in 21 games pic.twitter.com/q0OSRmgEUS

- Heart of NHL (@HeartofNHL) December 21, 2018

Marner may be more comfortable dishing out passes from the right side, but there's simply no reason why he wouldn't be able to effectively quarterback the unit from the left.

Rielly and Kadri aren't noted slap-shot artists either, but they would still be able to get their snapshots off quicker if the passes were coming from the left side instead of the right. Matthews would still be able to use his wrist shot from the right circle, too.

When a player is set up on his off wing, the stick is closer to the middle of the ice, and therefore provides a better shooting angle. It's no coincidence that all the best power plays in the league are set up that way.

At the very least, the Maple Leafs should experiment switching Matthews and Marner on the power play to see how it plays out. At this point, they've got nothing to lose; their power play can't get any worse than how it's been over the last couple of months.

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