Toronto Maple Leafs: The Seventh Defenseman Struggle

The unofficial designation of an NHL team’s seventh defenseman can often be a cruel role to fill, especially on a contending team like the Toronto Maple Leafs.

A team’s seventh defenseman is usually a blueliner who is too good to be assigned to the AHL, but not quite good enough, at least in the coach’s eyes, to break into the top six rotation. He usually resides in the pressbox as a backup, in case of underperforming teammates or injuries. For the Toronto Maple Leafs, that player could be Connor Carrick.

Aside from the rare occasion that Mike Babcock deigns to dress 11 forwards and seven defensemen (and I don’t believe that has ever happened since he took over the Leafs bench), Carrick has been relegated to the press box unless the blueline has been decimated with injuries (though he did get in 47 games last year).

Since being dealt to Toronto from Washington, Carrick’s first full season with the Leafs was full of opportunity. His 67 games in 2016-17 saw him play the majority of games paired with Jake Gardiner on Toronto’s second pair. He didn’t play much on either special team, but he was effective in his role and set career-highs in points and ice-time.

A New Role

Although the Toronto Maple Leafs let Matt Hunwick walk that summer, the off-season acquisitions of Ron Hainsey, Andreas Borgman, and Calle Rosen sent the blueline into a blender. What came out of that were the pairings that we are quite familiar with: Hainsey and Morgan Rielly, Gardiner with Nikita Zaitsev, and at the time, Carrick and Calle Rosen.

Almost immediately, that third pair became a rotating carousel of cast members. Rosen made the team out of training camp only to be swapped for Borgman. Then the Leafs signed Roman Polak at the end of October. Until Zaitsev’s injury in December, the third pair became Polak and either Borgman or Carrick.

In fact, had Zaitsev not gone down with such a significant injury, Carrick might not have dressed for as many games as he did, despite putting up, by far, the best defensive numbers on the team. But once Zaitsev was healthy again, Borgman was sent down and Travis Dermott called up. Dermott’s and Carrick were paired together for almost 200 minutes 5v5 and put up an impressive 58% CF and solid stats across the board, though in somewhat sheltered minutes.

Déjà Vu

Heading into the 2018-19 season, Carrick again appears to be the odd-man out, despite putting up the best defensive numbers on the team.

The Toronto Maple Leafs latest off-season acquisition, Igor Ozhiganov, has spent much of training camp paired with Travis Dermott, though it is best not to read too much into training camp pairings.

And although Babcock says that Dermott still has to prove he belongs on the main roster, it doesn’t take a genius to see that would round out the Leafs top six, since the other two pairings remain unchanged (so far).

While it appears that Carrick could once again be the odd man out, the Leafs defense will most likely be very fluid to start the season.  Ron Hainsey is clearly in decline, and whether Nikita Zaitsev can return to form is a question mark.  Dermott is a sophomore, and Ozihaganov may or may not make the team. Borgman, Rosen or even Liljegren (though unlikely) could always challenge for a spot.

Whether or not Carrick moves up in the lineup is somewhat out of his hands.  The statistics already show he has earned a role, so it’s hard to see what else he’d have to do to impress the coach.

Since he’s been confined to this particular role, it’s extremely difficult to break that mould, especially with Babcock as his head coach. With the Toronto Maple Leafs being true contenders now, Babcock knows which lineup to ice for success, and so far, Carrick hasn’t been considered a part of that.  So despite how hard Carrick works, trains, supports, and performs, his next chance might just come down to another teammate’s misfortune.

And that is the harsh reality of being a contender’s seventh defenseman, even though statistically, Connor Carrick should be an absolute lock to make the roster.

Statistics referenced from Hockey-Reference, Natural Stat Trick, CapFriendly, and Elite Prospects.