Toronto Maple Leafs Rumours: Calvin De Haan Signing
By Josh Tessler
The Toronto Maple Leafs are interested in defenseman, Calvin de Haan.
Yesterday, David Pagnotta, Editor in Chief of The Fourth Period sent out a tweet explaining that the Toronto Maple Leafs are among the teams interested in landing de Haan. The tweet is below.
Unfortunately for de Haan, he missed a decent chunk of the 2018-19 season with a shoulder injury. Prior to his injury, de Haan was featured in 33 games for the New York Islanders. During that span, he posted 1 goal, 11 assists, 49.1 corsi-for percentage, 45 hits, 65 blocks and 14 takeaways.
If de Haan joined the Toronto Maple Leafs, he’d be the second former Islander to join the Maple Leafs in the last few days. On Canada Day, the Maple Leafs were fortunate to ink John Tavares to a seven year deal. (In case you somehow missed it!).
The Toronto Maple Leafs have recently expressed serious interest in D Calvin de Haan. The Islanders also still very interested. A few more teams remain in the mix. Offers in the table, and he’s turned down one long-term offer from a team. Talks very much ongoing.
— David Pagnotta (@TheFourthPeriod) July 1, 2018
Oddly enough de Haan and Tavares have quite the long history of playing together. They both played together for the Oshawa Generals in the OHL, the Canadian World Junior team and the Islanders. It’s fair to say that the two of them know each other quite well.
Does De Haan Make Sense For The Maple Leafs?
I’ll save you all the trouble of going onto his NHL.com profile. He is a left handed defenseman. Yes, the Toronto Maple Leafs have plenty of left handed defenseman and just a few right handed ones.
This is going to be a shocker, but it is possible for a left handed defenseman to play on the right side.
If you look at the Toronto Maple Leafs’ defensive core, Travis Dermott and Morgan Rielly both have experience playing on the right side. The Leafs used a 37 year old Ron Hainsey on their top pairing last year, and he’s a lefty. I’m sure younger, better player than Hainsey will have no trouble making the adjustment if necessary.
Moving past the handedness debate, de Haan would be an excellent addition for the Maple Leafs’ blue line. When he’s healthy, he’s a solid two-way defenseman. His career high is 24 points, and he’s a good puck mover, but his main value comes from his defense. de Haan’s strong defensive game would be a solid compliment to player like Morgan Rielly and Travis Dermott who can move the puck but aren’t necessarily that great at actual defense.
Next: Toronto Maple Leafs Top Ten Prospects (2018)
The Toronto Maple Leafs need to improve their defense and adding Calvin de Haan would go a long way in doing that. The price might be high because its the Free Agency Period, but if the Leafs can avoid a massive overpayment, securing de Haan would be an ideal way to improve the blue line.
stats from nhl.com and naturalstattrick.com