Babcock calls out his own star players!

The head coach needs way more from these guys.

HockeyFeed
HockeyFeed
Published 6 years ago
Babcock calls out his own star players!
KeyStone Press

After a huge season from the Toronto Maple Leafs in ’16-17, a year which saw them make the playoffs for the first time since 2013 and nearly defeat the President’s Trophy winning Washington Capitals, expectations are understandably higher for this young squad.

Toronto has a wealth of talent up front with the likes of Auston Matthews, William Nylander and Mitch Marner leading the way, but it’s imperative that they get balanced production from the top down if they want to become a real competitor in the Atlantic Division.

Mike Babcock is beginning to show his frustration with Nazem Kadri’s line, who came out pretty strong at the beginning of camp but have been struggling as of late. Per The Toronto Star, the coach stated that “that line’s got to be better. That group can be way better, way quicker, a lot more diligent. They’ve got to upgrade. We need Kadri to be real good for us to be effective. That group has got to find some chemistry and get going.”

The group includes Kadri, with Leo Komarov and recently acquired Patrick Marleau on his wings.

Kadri scored a career high 32 goals last season. Marleau netted the puck 27 times with the San Jose Sharks. Komarov provides a physical presence to the line, with a good offensive punch. The winger put up 19 and 14 goals in the last 2 seasons, respectively.

Source: NBC Sports