Toronto Maple Leafs: Blue-Line Camp Battles

The Toronto Maple Leafs began with 73 players in Training Camp.

After the first round of cuts were made ahead of the first exhibition game the Toronto Maple Leafs were left with 49 players.  Most of those don’t have a shot at making the team because the roster is overflowing with NHL talent and even players as good as Connor Brown might find themselves on the fourth line of a healthy lineup.

One place in which their is a battle for an open spot is on the blue line.  Jake Gardiner, Nikita Zaitsev, Morgan Rielly and Ron Hainsey are all but guaranteed their spots.  Of the remaining three spots, it was originally though that as a right-hander who had had success last season that Connor Carrick had the inside track on a roster spot, and that Martin Marincin would continue in his role as seventh defenseman/ lightning rod for Leafs related angst.

In this scenario, Calle Rosen, Andreas Borgman and Travis Dermott would battle it out for the last position on the blue line.  While this remains a strong possibility, a lack of battles in other spots has intensified focus on this one.

Furthermore, Martin Marincin was roasted for his preseason performance and has been paired with AHL players in camp, according to Jonas Siegel.

Defensive Battles

Dermott, Borgman and Rosen have all garnered strong reviews so far in camp, and if they’ve moved ahead of Marincin, then it looks like the Leafs will have two rookies on the blue line this season.

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As much as I like Marincin, and I think he gets a bad rap, I have no problem with the Leafs ceding a spot on the blue line to players with higher upsides. I’d enjoy seeing any of these three rookies make the team.

I don’t think we should overlook the contributions of Connor Carick, however.  It’s true that as Babcock shortened his bench in the Playoffs that Carrick was the victim, but that doesn’t necessarily mean anything more than a coach not trusting a rookie at the time – I don’t think it’s an indication that he isn’t capable of becoming a guy the coach plays in the situation.

Carrick was an effective defesnseman for most of last season. Paired with Gardiner, they formed the Toronto Maple Leafs best pairing.

Despite the Leafs lack of an elite blue line option, and their inability so far to build the blueline from outside, I like the direction they are going.  Zaitsev, Gardiner and Rielly provide a solid foundation, while Hainsey, Carrick and Marincin provide steady NHL players who can fill in until help arrives via trade or the development of one of the prospects.

Next: Excessive Amounts of Wingers

The Toronto Maple Leafs should have a decent blue line this year, one that is potentially much better than it gets credit for.  What I like about the current approach is that if it doesn’t work out, or if the blue line starts to become a problem, the Leafs have the assets and cap space to add to the team in season.