Two interesting things came across my radar yesterday.



1. TSN’s Leafs Lunch crew discussed the question of the influence of analytics within the Maple Leafs’ front office. In throwing cold water on the idea that there’s a big division between the math guys and the hockey guys, Bob McKenzie said, “I think all the information’s there to be utilized and I don’t doubt for a moment that even (Mike) Babcock and Lou (Lamoriello) will use it, maybe not as much as other people in the organization might, but I don’t necessarily see it as a huge point of conflict.”



2. The Maple Leafs went to Ottawa and William Nylander took 11 faceoffs.



If you aren’t inside the room when decisions are being made, it’s very difficult to know precisely why something happens. People on the outside can speculate but a lot of decisions that are made are the result of a group and it’s hard to know how the various people involved thought things should be done.



On this particular issue though, Babcock seems to have opened the door on Toronto’s process a little bit. In response to a question about whether Nylander will take more faceoffs this year, he said this:



“You’ll see him on his side. You’ll see Matty (Auston Matthews) on his side. You know, just all the math we do and all the checking, that’s what you’re gonna see. So, Willy’s still going to play on the wing but that’s what he’s doing.”



So what was Babcock talking about? Why does “math” mean Nylander should take faceoffs on the right side? Is Mike Babcock a Bayesian? (He is.)



‌‌‌As it so...