Toronto Maple Leafs Record Is Unsustainable: Four Ways to Fix That

Rielly and Hainsey

Morgan Rielly is racking up points and generally playing great, but his 38 shots against per 60 is absolutely horrible.  The Leafs need to get him a better partner, one who can keep up with the pace of the game and who can compliment the game that Rielly plays.

It’s really nice that Rielly has become such a good player.  I think he has exceeded all expectations of him from when he was drafted, and he is very much an elite #1 defenseman.  What is more amazing is what he has accomplished while dragging Ron Hainsey around with him all the time.

Drew Doughty, P.K Subban, Victor Hedman, Seth Jones, Erik Karlsson, Dougie Hamilton – all Rielly’s peers have a better partner, so it’s time Leafs management did him a solid and followed suit.

They’ve already cut back his minutes against top competition, and he is already starting over 50% of his shifts in the O-zone (compared to Gardiner’s 43%) so without a new partner, there really isn’t much else they can do.  Rielly has played really well, but you can’t have your best defenseman posting a negative three shot differential every 60 minutes.

Ron Hainsey is terrible.  He is old, he is slow, it’s sad that the Leafs continue to play him every night.  Hainsey may be a plus whatever, but plus/minus is a meaningless stat, and his PDO is an insane 105. He provides no offense, his defense is terrible (there isn’t a worse player at defending the rush in the NHL) and it’s long been proven that special teams skills aren’t worth a roster spot.

If the Leafs upgrade on Hainsey, they get better at two positions, so they really can’t do this soon enough