from Kevin McGran of the Breakaway Blog at the Toronto Star,
... But all of the storylines connect at Carlyle.
He wasn't fired at season's end when the team collapsed.
Some believe it was the way they played -- with fire most of the time -- that cost them a playoff spot. Continually outshot. Continually out-possessed, in the new parlance of analytics. Carlyle's teams -- even in Anaheim are horrible at possession games.
Some believe it was simply a matter of goaltending, that if Jonathan Bernier didn't get hurt against the Los Angeles Kings, the Leafs would have sailed into the playoffs, and nobody would have lost their jobs.
Now is Carlyle's chance to prove himself, and do so under less than ideal conditions.
For one thing, it seems evident there'll be more -- oh, what's the word? advice? instruction? meddling? -- from above.
The front office looks like it's going to active, with assistant GM Kyle Dubas communicating the ideas from the team's analytics department. That means Carlyle is going to hear from Dubas about line changes, line combinations and who'd play best with Phil Kessel.
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