Don’t Be Too Worried About The Toronto Maple Leafs Defense

Why the Toronto Maple Leafs defense might not be as bad as people think.

The 2017/18 season was a good one for the Toronto Maple Leafs. It saw young players like Mitch Marner and Auston Matthews shine, finishing first and second in points for the team. It also had a lot of new faces in Patrick Marleau and Tomas Plekanec being acquired at different points throughout the year.

Also, Travis Dermott and Andreas Johnsson who were called up and proved to be valuable for the team going into playoffs. The team proved to be a force to be reckoned with, finishing third in the Atlantic division with 105 points, the most the team has ever had.

Something that has bothered Leaf fans about this team, is the defence. Frederik Andersen can’t bail them out all the time, making the most saves out of any other goalie this season with 2029 and .918 SV% to show for it. With the addition of Ron Hainsey, it still doesn’t look like a Stanley Cup contender’s blue line. One thing that fans are forgetting here is that we made the playoffs with Ron Hainsey on the first line. Nothing against Hainsey, he did exactly what we wanted him to do this year. He is simply not a first-line defenceman, a second at best; however, he does provide great leadership and advice to this young team.

Rielly and Dermott are truly showing what they can do

The Toronto Maple Leafs’ defence needs improvements, we all know that. But, they deserve a lot of credit for how well we’ve done this year. Morgan Rielly stepped it up big time this year, racking up 52 points in 76 games. Almost doubling his total from last year in the same amount of games. Rielly has really become a leader on this young team and has even put himself in talks to be become a possible captain for the team in the near future.

More from Editor In Leaf

• Toronto Maple Leafs: Nick Robertson Healthy and Ready
• Ryan Reaves Will Have Zero Impact on Toronto Maple Leafs
• Toronto Maple Leafs: Playing Max Domi In Top-Six a HUGE Mistake
• Top 10 Scandals in the History of the Toronto Maple Leafs
• Toronto Maple Leafs: Results from the Traverse City Prospects Tournament

Travis Dermott had a good first season with the Leafs as well scoring 13 points in 37 games and it’s only up from here. Dermott showed his great potential this season with his great hockey sense, speed and can be very shifty when he needs to be. After seeing Dermott’s great first season, it is unlikely that the Leafs re-sign veteran Roman Polak. He is a pending UFA this year and it more likely to see Connor Carrick play a little more this season to replace him.

Dark spots won’t stay dark

Nikita Zaitsev wasn’t good for the Maple Leafs this year. His first season with the team was a good one, registering 32 points in 82 games as a rookie, but since then he has looked like a shadow of himself registering 13 points in 60 games this season. His average ice time dropped around five minutes due to his play making his ATOI 13.33. Don’t worry too much Leaf fans; he might be signed to a lengthy contract, but maybe a different line-mate or another year to mature can help improve the young Russian’s game.

Jake Gardiner is a big conversation topic for Leaf fans. Is he awful, is he fantastic; there never seems to be any middle ground. Reaching a total of 52 points during the regular season, it was a career high for the American defenceman. Mike Babcock relied on him a little more this season with his ATOI almost reaching 23 minutes.

Gardiner is miles better than his reputation would suggest. Leafs Nation may use his as a scapegoat on occasion, but Babcock loves him and his stats are great.  Great puck carrier, fantastic skater and Mike Babcock uses  him for a reason.  Babcock might not have brought any hardware to Toronto yet, but we have to trust that he knows what he’s doing with our young and sometimes concerning defence.

Next: Odds of Each Free Agent Staying or Going

Overall, the Leafs defense is better than it appears.  Dermott, Rielly, and Gardiner are a solid foundation.  Zaitsev is better than he appeared this season, and in addition, the Leafs have Timothy Liljegren, Justin Holl, Andreas Borgman, Calle Rosen,  (Not to mention Carrick and Hainsey).  With all those players to choose from and a great foundation in the top 3, the Leafs should only need slight upgrades on the blueline to be better next year.

It’d be nice if they could land a star top pairing right handed defenseman, but if all they can do is make minor upgrades they’ll still be fine.

stats from NHL.com and hockey-reference.com