Trades
My third concern is that the team hasn’t done anything to improve since July 2nd.
As great as John Tavares is, it’s a lot to ask the Leafs to repeat last year’s sixth place (tie) in the standings with their current team defense. The Leafs were among the worst teams last year for shots-allowed and scoring chances against. They were bottom-half of the league in possession and were buoyed up by a career year from Frederick Andersen.
You can’t expect Andersen to repeat last year’s heroics. It might happen, but goalies are way too volatile to count on it.
You can’t expect Andreas Johnsson and Kasperi Kapanen to fully replace Tyler Bozak and James Van Riemsdyk.
The blue-line has potential (Carrick and Dermott have great stats together, as do Rielly and Gardiner) but the coach doesn’t seem interested in those pairings. I like Borgman, Carrick, Marincin, Dermott and Liljegren, but most of them don’t seem capable of penetrating Babcock’s unflinching love of veteran players.
Nikita Zaitsev is almost guaranteed a top-four spot despite being terrible last year. Ron Hainsey is most likely the worst top four player on a contending team in the NHL.
The Toronto Leafs appear to be returning from being one of the worst defensive teams in the NHL with the exact same top four defenseman, and worse, they don’t seem open to internal promotions. (Babcock called it impossible for Liljegren to make the team, but really? Liljegren couldn’t outplay Hainsey? See concern #1).
The Leafs have prospect and draft pick capital they can use to improve their blueline without even touching the NHL roster. It’s frustrating to see San Jose add the NHL’s best defenseman with a package the Leafs could easily match or exceed.