Editor In Leaf
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Assessing the Toronto Maple Leafs Post Trade Deadline

By James Tanner

DETROIT, MI - FEBRUARY 01: Jake Muzzin #8 of the Toronto Maple Leafs skates during warm-ups prior to an NHL game against the Detroit Red Wings at Little Caesars Arena on February 1, 2019 in Detroit, Michigan. (Photo by Dave Reginek/NHLI via Getty Images)
DETROIT, MI - FEBRUARY 01: Jake Muzzin #8 of the Toronto Maple Leafs skates during warm-ups prior to an NHL game against the Detroit Red Wings at Little Caesars Arena on February 1, 2019 in Detroit, Michigan. (Photo by Dave Reginek/NHLI via Getty Images) /
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The Toronto Maple Leafs roster is set.

With the passing of the NHL’s trade deadline, the Toronto Maple Leafs, barring injury or call-ups, are set for the playoffs.

So what do we think?

Is this team good enough to go on an extended Playoff run?

Did they do enough at the deadline?

Toronto Maple Leafs Set for Playoffs

While the Toronto Maple Leafs only made one minor trade yesterday, sending Par Lindholm to the Winnipeg Jets in exchange for Nic Petan, they also added Jake Muzzin about one month ago.

Other than the Vegas Golden Knights (whose roster is not anywhere close to as good as the Leafs) who added Mark Stone, no team picked up a better player at the deadline than the Leafs did, and that includes the one-dimensional Matt Duchene.

Jake Muzzin is one of, if not the best, possession driving defenseman in the NHL.   The fact that the Toronto Maple Leafs were able to acquire him without using any of their best assets (they retained both their top prospects and both Kasperi Kapanen and Andreas Johnsson) is a massive win for the Leafs.

Everyone wanted the Leafs to improve their blue-line, and they did.

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The problem, however, is that since acquiring Jake Muzzin, the Leafs head coach, Mike Babcock, has continued to use Ron Hainsey and Nikita Zaitsev more than he should, and more than Muzzin.

This led people to conclude that the Leafs would need an upgrade on Ron Hainsey, and the Leafs apparently pushed pretty hard on the Dougie Hamilton front, but ultimately they stuck with what they have.

And when you consider that they’ve got NHL ready Igor Ozhiganov and Justin Holl in the pressbox, as well as Andreas Borgman, Calle Rosen, Timothy Liljegren and Rasmus Sandin in the minors, it was only worth upgrading if the cost was worthwhile.

Let’s not forget that the Leafs were essentially at the max salary cap, so any move would have needed a corresponding deletion from the roster.

I’ve long argued that the Leafs have the best roster in the league, and that only some bad luck for them and some good luck for Tampa has been the difference in the NHL standings.  I maintain that the Leafs roster is the best. 

Yes, I would have liked them to get rid of Hainsey, Zaitsev, or both.  There is, however, always the chance that with 20 odd games before the Playoffs that the Leafs will continue to experiment with their blue line and find a combo that works.

As optimistic as I am, I do not think it was wise to go into the playoffs with Ron Hainsey on the top pairing, or with a third of the blue line consisting of players I don’t even think should be in the NHL.  I am, however, satisfied that Kyle Dubas knows what he is doing.

Next. Toronto Maple Leafs Top Ten Prospects (2019). dark

The Toronto Maple Leafs came within some very bad luck from going to the second round two years in a row, and since last year they’ve added two elite players to their roster, while Marner, Matthews and Nylander have all added a year of growth and experience.

The Leafs will go into the playoffs better than they were last year, and I expect them to win the Stanley Cup.

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