The Toronto Maple Leafs have allowed 708 goals over their last four games.
Well, maybe not that many, but you get the point – the Toronto Maple Leafs defense and goaltending have horrible this week.
The Leafs are still a great team and I think there is a good chance they win the Stanley Cup this year.
They just need to fix what ails them. And, fortunately, they can do that pretty easily. They just need a major overhaul in the form of benching their two worst players.
Gardiner and Dermott Injuries
A big part of what is ailing the Leafs right now is missing two of their best defensemen. That doesn’t excuse how they’ve been playing, and they still need to make some changes.
Dermott should be back in a couple of weeks, but Chris Johnston is reporting that Gardiner is not progressing. This is problematic, because he is one of their best players.
As long as the Leafs have both players back for the Playoffs, they’ll be OK. You can get frustrated at their recent play, but the Leafs are missing two of their top four defensemen, and that is going to be hard for any team to overcome.
Gardiner has proven so intrinsic to the teams success that we should maybe rethink the fact that letting him walk has become all but a forgone conclusion. It’s looking more and more like the Leafs will have to bring him back. And why not, if they can find that money? It’s not like you can replace him.
Cutting Two Regulars
As much as the return of Gardiner and Dermott will go a long way in fixing the Leafs, it won’t be enough.
To truly save their season, the Leafs have to cut their two worst players: Ron Hainsey and Nikitia Zaitsev
They are terrible.
Last night, guess who were the worst players on the team?
Zaitsev put up a 43% CF, -12% relative to his team.
Hainsey was 45% CF -11% relative to his team. (stats naturalstattrick.com)
Not only are their efforts terrible, and not only do they constantly get hemmed in their own zone, fail to make good breakout passes and get beaten easily on the rush, but they both drag down whoever they play with.
Muzzin is one of the best defenseman in the NHL when he’s not paired with Zaitsev, who just demolishes his stats line. And Rielly goes from 49% with Hainsey to 55% without him. How can the Leafs let this go on?
Watching these guys try and play hockey for a contending team is incredibly frustrating. Arguably neither is an NHL player at this point.
And Babcock continues to give them so much ice time. Which, sure, I know two main guys are out, but any two Marlies would suffice over Hainsey and Zaitsev.
Justin Holl, Igor Ozhiganov and Martin Marincin should all get more ice time than Hainsey and Zaitsev. Ron Hainsey should retire, that’s how bad he is. Nikita Zaitsev should give back the money he’s being paid.
The Leafs should be calling up Calle Rosen any day now, as he returns from injury, and they should also be calling up Timothy Liljegren, Rasmus Sandin, or both. When Andreas Borgman is healthy, get him up here too.
This is what the Leafs defense should like when healthy:
Rielly – Muzzin
Gardiner – Dermott
Rosen – Holl
Here is what it could look like while Gardiner and Dermott recover:
Rielly -Holl
Muzzin – Ozhiganov
Rosen – Liljegren
A Major Shakeup is needed, and the best way to do that would be to cut and or banish to the pressbox the Leafs two worst players.
A shot at the Stanley Cup depends on it. The Toronto Maple Leafs need to do something, they can’t just go on as they have been.