Toronto Maple Leafs: Mike Babcock Picks Defensive Pairings

We now have a glimpse of the Toronto Maple Leafs defensive pairings for the upcoming season.

Thanks to Mike Babcock, we have a clear picture of who will make up the Toronto Maple Leafs top four defenders.

Dave McCarthy was the first on the scenes, so check out his Twitter for updates.

It may be a little different than what some of you initially thought of or it may be exactly what you’ve envisioned.

Either or, I’m definitely okay with how things look.

The biggest question for some may be who Morgan Rielly’s to be paired with, but don’t worry, we’ll get there.

Thanks to the initial report from TSN, we can start to put the pieces of the puzzle together for the bottom pairing, but before we get there, let’s examine the top four.

Top Four

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Okay, here it is.

Rielly will be paired with recently acquired free agent Ron Hainsey and Jake Gardiner will look to his right where Nikita Zaitsev will skate.

Not entirely sure who will be considered the top line, but I would bet that it’s Rielly and Hainsey on most nights.

Their line will be the shutdown minute munching line, no doubt about that.

Last season, Rielly averaged a team leading 22:10 per game in the regular season and it’s safe to say that he has Babcock’s trust.

Now that Hainsey’s in the picture, I’d say that with even more confidence.

He also averaged a good amount of ice time last season between the Carolina Hurricanes (22:20) and Pittsburgh Penguins (21:00).

I look at the Gardiner/Zaitsev pairing as an offensively minded point producing pairing that will clean up the defensive zone when needed.

They’ll be a machine together.

Internal Competition

This is where things get rather interesting.

Here’s how TSN puts it.

"With the top-four set, Alexey Marchenko, Martin Marincin and Connor Carrick will be left to battle with prospects in camp to form the team’s bottom pairing."

I’d like to narrow in on just Carrick here because I think his spot on the bottom right handed side is a lock.

But who will he have on the left side?

Well, this is where the internal competition comes into play.

Marincin’s an option, but probably not the best and remember that I think he’s a defensive liability, so I really don’t want him there.

That leaves players like Travis Dermott, Calle Rosén, and Andreas Borgman as the competitors.

Absolute longshots would be Andrew Nielsen and Rinat Valiev.

If I’d have to put money on it, I’d say one of the two Swedes above will claim it.

Circling Back

Just for fun, let’s circle back and look at this objectively to see if Carrick will have any competition for that bottom right handed spot.

Marchenko is the first to come to mind because he’s a right handed shot with a large frame.

Nowhere near as mobile at Carrick, though.

The other option is recently acquired and signed Timothy Liljegren, but I think this would be a major surprise and to speculate something like this would most likely be pointless.

Still, I’ll share some thoughts on the subject.

He could return to Sweden, play with the Toronto Marlies or land a spot with the Leafs.

I think having a year in Toronto with the Marlies would be best suited for him, but let’s not rule out the possibility of him competing hard in camp and earning the spot.

Then again, I haven’t seen him play with the team, so I’ll leave that up to Babcock and the rest of the leadership group.

Those are some of the options that I see, but I’d love to read yours, so hit up the comments section below.

Next: Preseason Schedule

I’ll be here to interact as always.