NFL Tickets
At the start of this NHL season I thought Tyler Bozak was going to play terribly and show he’s nothing more than an overhyped third-liner. But I must admit that I was wrong about Bozak, so I’m just one of the many doubters that he is proving wrong.
Tyler Bozak entered the NHL with the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 2009-10 season and recorded 27 points in 37 games, which gave fans hope that Bozak would be a key player in the team’s future. Bozak has continued to improve, but has been unable to get more than 49 points in a season often due to injury. He has reached his career high 49 points twice during the 2014-15 season and the 2013-14 season.
Besides struggling to surpass 49 points in a season, Bozak has also been hounded by doubts of his overall skill and ability. This doubt is because Bozak has played the majority of his career alongside Phil Kessel. It was believed that Bozak only played as well as he did because he was able to leech off Kessel’s scoring success.
Now that Kessel is with the Pittsburgh Penguins it became obvious that the 2015-16 season would show Tyler Bozak’s true ability without playing beside an elite goal scorer. In 17 games this season Bozak has 12 points, which makes him the Toronto Maple Leafs’ point leader. He is tied with Morgan Rielly for 12 points, but Rielly has played 21 games to achieve the same number of points as Bozak. And just for an interesting comparison, Phil Kessel has 14 points in 20 games.
The reasons for Bozak’s success seems to be tied to head coach Mike Babcock‘s influence and also Babcock’s decision to play Bozak on the second line. Playing on the second line has been beneficial for Bozak because it means that he isn’t playing against the elite players in the league anymore. Bozak’s success on the second line is also due to the chemistry he has with linemates Shawn Matthias and P.A. Parenteau.
Hopefully Bozak continues to prove me and others wrong for the remainder of the season.
Share 
