Toronto Maple Leafs General Manager Lou Lamoriello says he is satisfied with the Leafs defense, as is.
In an interview with Sportsnet recently, Lamoriello said that he is “extremely satisfied” with the Toronto Maple Leafs current roster.
I don’t believe him.
I mean, of course he is going to say that. But how can he be happy with a defense that currently consists of zero great players, one really good player (Jake Gardiner), two offensively talented lottery tickets (Zaitsev and Reilly), a recent free-agent signing who wasn’t even all that good in his prime (Haisney) along with the underrated Marincin, the potential of Carrick, and whatever Marchenko is.
The fact is, it’s just not a good defense. It’s not terrible, but there is no way you can sign Patrick Marleau, obviously selling him on the fact that you can win while he’s here, and then turn around and think you’re going to win with a team where Ron Hainsey plays a regular shift (and which doesn’t have a Crosby/Malkin combo).
Could He be Telling the Truth?
Lou Lamoriello might be satisfied. While we’re all sitting here hoping for Chris Tanev, Colin Miller or a reasonable facsimile, perhaps he knows better than we do.
I mean, I suspect he’s always going to say he’s satisfied no matter what, but it’s not impossible that he really is. Rosen and Borgen (recent Swedish FAs) could be better than advertised. He could secretly plan on playing Liljegren. Or be really high on Dermott or Neilson. Who knows?
One thing to like about the Leafs currently, is that Morgan Rielly and Jake Gardiner have always been successful when playing together. Gardiner and Carrick formed a very successful pairing last year, and, in limited minutes, so did Marincin and Zaitsev. So there are options.
Zaitsev and Rielly could get better. Carrick could drastically improve (though he’s already decent). But the one thing to like the defense as is, is that it gives the team a chance to promote from within.
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Both the Penguins and Blackhawks won while their young stars were on entry-level deals. They both also had a later-round pick turn into a superstar defenseman (Keith 2nd round, Letang 3rd). If he doesn’t add any more players, perhaps there is a better chance that the Leafs can do that as well.
What the Toronto Maple Leafs Need
The main reason I don’t believe Lou when he says he is satisfied is because I honestly believe the Leafs could compete for a Cup this season because they have a great combination of players in their prime (Gardner, Rielly, Andersen, Kadri, Komorov) and players who will only get better (Matthews, Nylander, Marner, Brown, Hyman, Kapanen). With so many players on ELCs, they have a depth advantage over most teams in the league.
But they can’t take advantage of that situation with their current defense.
They are missing:
- Depth
- Toughness
- a truly solid defensive defenseman (not in the Polak mold, but rather the Hjalmarsson/Manson one).
- A legit top-end guy
They can get by without a top-ten defenseman if all six of their defensemen are above average, but they can’t hope to compete as is. That’s just a fact.
No one on their current roster is tough. No one on their current roster is a noted defensive stalwart, and certainly there doesn’t appear – other than Liljegren – to be anyone capable of becoming the next Duncan Keith.
As for depth, they are currently one Jake Gardiner injury away from disaster.
So, no, I do not believe Lou Lamoriello is actually satisfied with his current group of players. Not even a little bit.