The Toronto Maple Leafs need to improve their defense.
“Robidas Island” is a fictional place where the Toronto Maple Leafs send their unwanted players to wait out the expiration of their contracts.
Such notable luminaries of the number-one prime vacation spot for unwanted Maple Leafs include Stephane Robidas and Joffrey Lupul. For a more detailed history of this incredible getaway spot, check out Editor In Leaf contributor Eduardo Razo’s detailed history here.
With Lupul and Robidas now off the books, the population of Robidas Island is down to pretty much just Nathan Horton (Check out this one-stop shop for Leafs off-season info). The Leafs still have two years and over $10 million on his contract. He is pretty much retired, on the injured reserve, and his contract does not count towards the NHL’s salary cap.
Nathan Horton, however, may not be alone for long. The Toronto Maple Leafs have one current candidate for the Island – Ron Hainsey.
The Island
Ron Hainsey is 37 years old and I don’t want to be unfair to him because he plays his heart out and did everything the Leafs asked of him and more. They used him for what might have well as been 100% of their penalty killing, and they played him on the top pairing with Morgan Rielly.
At the same time, he’s going to make $3 million dollars next season whether he plays or not, so I don’t really feel too badly about it – I mean, he’s made over $40 million in his career, so he’s good.
Lucky for Hainsey, his arrival coincidentally happened at the same time as Morgan Rielly’s breakout year, which blinded many people to his shortcomings. Despite the pair playing at just under 50% Corsi-For as a duo, Morgan Rielly’s possession stats skyrocket when on the ice with anyone else, while without Rielly, Hainsey’s plummeted to the 41% range.
Additionally, Hainsey doesn’t provide any defense, as he is the Leafs second-worst (after Polak) player for allowing shots against – allowing 34.28 shots against per 60 minutes of ice time. Yes, he played tough minutes, but that’s A LOT of shots to allow.
Furthermore, he’s a slow skater and his offense is below average. The only thing Hainsey really brings (besides whatever leadership or whatever you want to attribute to him) is penalty killing. It’s not like he’s awful, but the Leafs are looking to be contenders. Does the potential #1 team in hockey really dress a 38 year defenseman? I don’t think they do if being #1 is their goal.
While it is a valuable skill, penalty killing doesn’t come close to making up for his 5v5 play. The Leafs would be much better off playing their next best penalty killer (who they might even acquire to replace Hainsey) and upgrading their 5v5 game. You are at such a disadvantage on the PK that it’s questionable how much value any one penalty killer even has. Like someone whose only value comes from faceoffs, it’s not worth rostering a player who only helps on special teams.
The reason Hainsey could find himself on the Island, though, is because it shouldn’t be hard to find three better defenseman. Despite where Babcock played Hainsey, he’s already the Leafs third best RHD after Zaitsev and Carrick.
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The Leafs need an upgrade, and Hainsey has one more year left on his deal and a 15 team no-trade clause. He’s the third best RHD on a team who’s biggest need may just be right handed defensemen. He allows too many shots on a team whose biggest problem is how many shots they allow. Assuming that he will decline even more into next season, it may prove untenable to keep playing him, and he may find himself on Robidas Island.
stats from naturalstattrick and capfriendly.com