The Toronto Maple Leafs are going to be fast, entertaining, talented and (we assume) competitive.
But are the Toronto Maple Leafs tough enough?
If you look through their roster, they have one player who you could call a “grinder” in Zack Hyman. Other than that Matthews, Nylander, Kadri, Marleau, Marner, Tavares, Johnsson, Kapanen, Brown, Ennis, Lindholm, Jooris, Hainsey, Rielly, Gardiner, Zaitsev, Carrick, Dermott…….Andersen? Not so tough!
The Leafs have zero fighters, which is good. Fighting should be banned from the game because even though it’s super fun and everyone loves a good fight, the dangers associated with it are too high.
The Leafs have one player – the aforementioned Hyman – who is known for his big hits. And even he isn’t really considered a player other players would be afraid of.
They have zero tough defenseman. I guess Andreas Borgman is pretty tough and can lay some sweet body checks, but unless he’s right-handed and much better than last year, he’s probably not going to be on the team.
Are the Leafs Tough Enough?
Does it even matter?
If you always have the puck, you don’t need to check anyone. Fighting is unnecessary and it’s not like the players on this roster are wimps who won’t throw a check or a punch.
The old cliché that you ‘can’t teach size’ seems to be lost on the Leafs. Small, mobile, talented players seem to be their preference, and there is nothing wrong with that.
In my opinion, the Leafs have one of the best rosters in the NHL. I think hockey has long overrated toughness, size and the ability to hit. I think that the Leafs are fine if they don’t add any toughness to what they have now.
They need to ditch Hainsey and maybe even Zaitsev, but I don’t think their replacements need to necessarily be tough players. If the Leafs score enough and play smart defense they won’t miss the hitting.
If the Leafs could add a Matthew Tkachuk / Corey Perry type power-forward, I sure as hell wouldn’t be against it, but I don’t think it’s strictly necessary.
What they should definitely not do is add size and toughness at the cost of skill. Putting a large player on the fourth line just because your overall lineup is small and relatively un-tough is the kind of dumbass move NHL teams always make. In reality, sneaking in 10 minutes of extra skill every night gives you a nice little edge over the dumb teams that fill out their lineups with tough guys.
Subbing Matt Martin for Tyler Ennis makes the Toronto Maple Leafs better. Getting rid of Polak makes the Leafs better, even if they replaced him with a feather. So, in answer to my own question, yes, I do think the Leafs are tough enough. No I do not think they should make any moves to get bigger, tougher, stronger or meaning.
This will not be a problem.