With Ben Smith recovered from injury, the #leafs have sent Frederik Gauthier back to the AHL Marlies.
— Chris Johnston (@reporterchris) 2 February 2017
Yesterday at practice, Mike Babcock tried out some lines similar to what he used in the later stages of the debacle in Dallas. The details are in the preview.
If they get used tonight it marks a change in philosophy of line construction, but while that's fascinating, we're not here to talk about that.
We're here to talk about the return of Ben Smith. I was going to dig up some stats and numbers and charts, but I firmly believe that very low minute players need their results looked at with a strong sense of their usage. Low minutes and skewed usage via zone and opponents as well as lower quality of teammates makes these players atypical.
That seemed like a lot of work, so I'll make a poll instead...
Who would you rather played the important position of 4C on the Leafs?
| Frederik Gauthier | 268 |
| Ben Smith | 58 |
| Byron Froese | 62 |
| Yes those really are the choices, no Seth Griffith is not a centre | 58 |