Toronto Maple Leafs 2017-18 Defensemen Grades

The Toronto Maple Leafs have an underrated blue-line.

For so long, everyone was lamenting the fact that the Leafs didn’t have a ‘true number-one’ game-breaking defenseman on the blueline.  Then, they had one, and hardly anyone seemed to notice.

Morgan Rielly is a fringe Norris candidate and probably deserves more buzz than he’s getting.

Ian Tollach, from the MapleLeafs Nation, wrote a great piece about Rielly early in the year.  I think you should definitely check it out, but let me quote liberally from it anyways:

"Despite playing some of the toughest minutes in the league (98th percentile in Quality of Competition), Rielly’s team has significantly outshot the opposition when he’s on the ice. To give you an idea of just how difficult that is, here’s a list of defencemen who face elite competition (90th percentile or higher), have a positive shot differential relative to their teammates, and are on pace for over 50 points this season: Drew Doughty Victor Hedman Morgan Rielly"

Rielly ended up controlling almost 51% of the play while he was on the ice, he put up 52 points in 76 games, and was partnered with below-average boat-anchor Ron Hainsey. Without Hainsey, Rielly jumps to a 56% possession rating , which is one percentage point away from what the best possession defenseman in the NHL (Mark Giordano) posted.

Rielly also was the NHL leader in points per minute on the power play. In fact the more you delve into his stats, the better he looks as a Norris candidate.

Anyways, the rest of the Leafs defense is good too. Jake Gardiner is a legit top-pairing star, Hainsey and Zaitsev are adequate and Dermott appears to be a star in the making.  The only weakness is Polak, but what can you do?

Here are your grades for the Toronto Maple Leafs defneseman.