The Toronto Maple Leafs Already Have Top Pairing RD

The Toronto Maple Leafs already have their top pairing right side defenseman.

Long thought to be the Toronto Maple Leafs biggest need, most people might be surprised to learn that the Leafs already have a top-pairing right-side defenseman.

His name is Robert Paulson.

Opps, soory, I meant: His Name is Jake Gardiner.

Last year, the Toronto Maple Leafs used Ron Hainsey almost exclusively with Morgan Rielly on the top pairing. Despite being too old, too slow, and a huge drag on Rielly, Hainsey – a left handed shot – played almost exclusively with the Leafs young star. You can see in the WOWYs (with you, without you) how badly Hainsey effected Rielly’s game:

Rielly and Hainsey together: 49.39% CF

Rielly without Hainsey: 56% CF (about 25% of Rielly’s total ice time).

Hainsey without Rielly: 41.73

As you can clearly see, Rielly was the one who made Hainsey look good, and not the other way around as the popular myth would have it.

Therefore, one of the Leafs top priorities should be to find Rielly a partner who doesn’t sandbag his game with a consistently poor performance.

Enter Jake Gardiner

Rielly and Gardiner

Ever since Rielly came into the NHL, he’s found great success when paired with Jake Gardiner, with one of them playing their off side, in the limited amount of time it’s happened. This makes sense because both of them are among the NHL’s best skaters, both are great passers and both can move the puck.

They may not be great traditional defenders, but the stats don’t lie. And, if you always have the puck, you don’t have to worry about defending.

Here are the WOWYs for Gardiner and Rielly over the past few seasons:

2017-18: 83 minutes, 61.83% Corsi (that is an incredible number btw)

2016-17: 56 minutes 53.72%

2015-16: 68 minutes 59.87%

2014-15: 315 minutes 51.37%

2013-14: 244 minutes 54.79%

That is approximately one half of a season combined, so it’s not like where talking about a small sample size here. This is a good enough sample to say that when together Rielly and Gardiner are an excellent pairing. Some of these years included the Leafs as one of the worst teams in hockey, so it’s not like they were playing on particularly good teams, making the stats even more impressive.

If your top pairing can play at 52% you’re going to have an excellent team. The Leafs just finished sixth overall with neither of their top pairings coming in at 50%, so you can see how this would be helpful.

More from Editor In Leaf

Who cares if both players shoot left? Hainsey just played an entire year with Rielly and he’s a lefty. Furthermore, this would clear up a log jam that the Leafs have at LD, allowing Travis Dermott to play on the second pairing and making room on the roster for Martin Marincin.

Yeah yah heard me. The most ridiculously unpopular player this side of Jake Gardiner is currently at or near being the best defenseman in the AHL. He’s the top defenseman for the top team (Marlies). He deserves to play in the NHL and the only reason people don’ t like him is that he’s a low impact player who you only notice when he makes an error. But he is a shot-suppression genius and the Leafs allow too many shots as it is.

The Leafs blueline should look like this come October:

Rielly – Gardiner

Dermott – Zaitsev

Marincin – Carrick

Now, if they can happen to upgrade on Zaitsev or Carrick, you won’t hear me complaining. But it’s time to stop re-signing Polak, and Hainsey is looking like a good bet to take a trip to Robidas Island.

Next: Jake Gardiner Is Untouchable

To conclude: Gardiner should move to the right side and play on the top pairing. The stats demand it.

stats from naturalstattrick.com

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