Toronto Maple Leafs: Upgrade At D Is Crucial

The Toronto Maple Leafs have a border-line all-star goalie and one of the deepest groups of forwards in the NHL.

The potential of Marner, Matthews, Kapanen and Nylander is off the charts, and the team looks poised to take the next step towards contention.  The only thing holding the Toronto Maple Leafs back is their defense.

As currently constructed, the team that allowed the second most shots against per game last year doesn’t appear to have improved in that department.

A bigger role for Kasperi Kapanen should help a little, but other than him taking more ice time,  the Leafs team-defense has not improved this summer.   Ron Hainsey supposedly being paired with Morgan Rielly is a disaster waiting to happen.  Patrick Marleau is a bad defensive player and there is no evidence to suggest Dominic Moore is better defensively than Brian Boyle.

Toronto Maple Leafs Roster not Finalized

While the current team doesn’t look to have improved in any way, it’s clear this isn’t the roster that will play in October.  Clearly Bozak, JVR or both are on their way out, and the Leafs can look to replace them with more defensively responsible wingers.

On defense, the team clearly needs another top four player.  Ideally, they would acquire an elite defensemen, but those aren’t exactly widely available. The best they could hope to do is either to trade for an established player like Chris Tanev, who while he doesn’t score, is an elite defensive player, or trade for a younger player with some high-end potential, like Jacob Trouba.

Although both players would cost a lot,  the team that finished second last in the NHL in shots-allowed per game has to do something to upgrade their defense.

The Real Question

In the future, it’s probable that one of Neilson, Dermott or Liljegren will develop into a top four, possible better, player.

The question is the Toronto Maple Leafs need to answer “when is that going to happen?”  Because, if it’s soon, they don’t need to pay up for what Jacob Trouba might cost.  (Which would be an absolute ton).  If they can see one of these three defensive prospects playing top-four NHL minutes  right now, the whole equation changes.

The Leafs, if not for their current potential to game the salary cap like no one ever has before, would be in a perfect situation to be patient and build a team for three years from now, with whatever good that happens in the interim considered a bonus.

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Unfortunately, the Salary Cap makes it so that when you’re paying Nylander, Marner and Matthews somewhere around $30 per season, you can’t have a support-core that consists of Gardiner, Rielly, Andersen, JVR, Komarov and Kadri.

The Leafs, like the Penguins could hope they build around good enough players to win two Stanley Cups ten years into Matthews’ career.  But don’t forget, the Penguins and the Blackhawks – the only two other teams to ever get so lucky in the draft as the Leafs have during the Salary Cap era – both made the Finals while their best players where on entry-level deals.

To emulate the success of those teams, I think the Toronto Maple Leafs need to bite the bullet and pay the cost to improve their defense today.

Next: Marner Brings More than Skill

As it currently stands, a team intentionally setting out to play Ron Hainsey in their top four doesn’t have a very good chance of making the Playoffs.