The Toronto Maple Leafs recently had an influx of talent from the Marlies.
With Justin Holl and Travis Dermott recently making their NHL debuts, a lot of people have opined that the Toronto Maple Leafs don’t really need to trade for a defenseman. Those people are wrong: they do. But that’s not the only problem.
Travis Dermott has been excellent, but he’s still a rookie who allows 34 shots-against/ 60 minutes. This is an improvement over the abominable Roman Polak, and it’s offset by his impressive 41 shots-for / 60, but it’s still too much.
And to be sure this isn’t just a problem with the defense. Nylander, Hyman, Matthews….you can go down the lineup, there is hardly a player on the Leafs who doesn’t seem to bleed shots against. The Leafs allows the sixth-most shots against per game in the NHL. When the Leafs are on, and they outskate their opponent, as seen in recent games against Dallas and New York, this isn’t a problem. When, however, the Leafs play a team capable of shutting down their offense, they are screwed, as seen in Boston on Saturday.
clearly the Leafs should play to their strengths, but it also wouldn’t take much to stabilize their lineup.
Here’s how the Leafs could fix their shots-against problems.