Toronto Maple Leafs: Could Matt Hunwick Be The Odd Man Out?

With the looming decision of which Toronto Maple Leafs defender will be the odd man out to start the season, could Matt Hunwick be that guy?

The most interesting story-line heading into the opening night of the Toronto Maple Leafs 2016-2017 season might be the defensive decisions.

Morgan Rielly and Jake Gardiner are the Toronto Maple Leafs two best defenders by large margin and there isn’t really much debate about it.

I don’t think Roman Polak is going to be paid $2.25M to eat popcorn with Brendan Shanahan in the box, nor do I think Nikita Zaitsev decided to come to Toronto to watch from the stands. That leaves two spots on the blueline.

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Matt Hunwick and Martin Marincin are the easy choices if the view is based off experience and previous status within the organization. However, they aren’t really the easy choices. Well, Marincin is – because, right now, he’s better than every Leafs defender after Rielly and Gardiner.

Is Hunwick worth playing over Connor Carrick or Frank Corrado if everything above is as it seems? I’d lean toward a big no.

The Hunwick experiment didn’t yield expected results and while there’s a decent chance that his overall effectiveness improves if he’s given third pairing zone starts, is it really worth it?

Connor Carrick is the favorite to stick with the club as the seventh defender over Corrado, and he should probably play over Matt Hunwick for the simplicity of left-right, as well as development.

Carrick played well with the Leafs in his short stint last year and he blew the doors off the AHL playoffs for the Toronto Marlies. Carrick registered 18 points in 15 playoff games as a defenceman. That’s pretty incredible and can’t be overlooked.

Aligning the pairings with a left-right theory that would mean Carrick ends up on the second group, Zaitsev on the top pair and Polak buried in a dark hole in the ACC on the third.

Rielly, Gardiner and Marincin – in that order – could appear on the left side.

Rielly-Zaitsev

Gardiner-Carrick

Marincin-Polak

Matt Hunwick doesn’t effectively fit in with any pairing here, even by removing any single player. The world saw last year how Hunwick drug down Morgan Rielly and he’d do the same with Jake Gardiner.

It’s not known yet how good Connor Carrick is, and if he has the possession ability to carry a player like Matt Hunwick. Placing Zaitsev with anyone but Rielly or Gardiner would likely be limiting his abilities during his transition. Zaitsev is a puck mover and slick handler, a perfect right shot match for Gardiner or Rielly.

Marincin has already proved to be a good babysitter for Roman Polak, and I’d wager they’re a much more effective pairing than Hunwick would be.

Having a third pairing of Hunwick-Polak would be the on-ice equivalent of watching paint dry. There’s very limited mobility and offensive production going to come from that pair and they would most likely spend their entire shift in the defensive zone under siege.

It’s a questionable blueline regardless of how you shake it out, but the puck moving potential of the top four is there. Today’s NHL blueline lives and dies off of puck movement. Pick any team in the league, it doesn’t matter, you need to move the puck.

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It’s a hard scenario to envision, though, having Hunwick sit out. He was given an ‘A’ last year by Mike Babcock and his perceived value is much higher than reality. There’s also the whole veteran thing.

If the Toronto Maple Leafs want to ice the best possible defensive group that likely means leaving Hunwick in the booth. Mike Babcock made a lot of Leafs players better last year but he couldn’t figure out Matt Hunwick. That has to count for something.

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