Toronto Maple Leafs: That Last Defensive Opening
The Toronto Maple Leafs have one spot left to fill before the regular season begins.
It’ll either be Connor Carrick or Roman Polak that suits up for the Toronto Maple Leafs bottom right spot, but the left is where we’ll be turning our attention to now.
Luckily, there’s plenty of options, unfortunately, one of them is still considered an option.
I’m talking about Martin Marincin who fails the oldest hockey (is he good or not) test, which is, does he look good on the ice?
The answer is not at all, he looks terrible on the ice, gives up the puck and costs goals.
I don’t care about the whole shot suppression talk (etc.) that people bring up because it can be useless if that’s the only argument for how Marincin is a good defender.
When I look at a defenseman, I ask myself if he can defend and if the answers, no (like it is with Marty McFly over here), then he’s not a good defender.
Case closed, he’s a defensive liability.
The fortunate news is that the Leafs have a few other options to fill the vacant spot on the blueline, so let’s take a look at them.
Options
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The first guy to look at is the one on the article’s image, Travis Dermott, who’s really impressed during preseason play.
He’s looked comfortable on the ice and even shifty at times.
I’m of the opinion that Dermott has top-four potential and he’s already landed in Mike Babcock’s favor.
After the Leafs first preseason game against the Ottawa Senators, Babs was asked in the post-game presser who he liked.
His answer was short and to the point, Dermott and (Calle) Rosén.
That leads us into the next candidate for the job, Rosen, one of the two Swedes that the Leafs signed just after they exited the playoffs.
He looked sharp in that first game, especially since it was his debut game on North American ice in a Leafs uniform.
For the last option, we have the other Swede, Andreas Borgman, whose stature is made up for in speed and a cannon of a shot.
Out of the two Swedes, Borgman’s impressed me the most, but at this point, I’d be more inclined to give the job to Dermott.
All of these guys have the potential to fit into the Leafs long-term plan, all of them except Marincin.
The Leafs are back on the ice tonight at the Ricoh Coliseum against the Buffalo Sabres.
Puck drops at 7:30 PM, be there.