Jake Muzzin by Nick Barden
Jake Muzzin gets a B+ for the Toronto Maple Leafs at the trade deadline.
One thing I believe that maybe some people don’t is that Jake Muzzin is 100% the defenseman the Leafs needed at the trade deadline.
This season, Muzzin had 37 points, his lowest total since the 16/17 season. I wanted to give Muzzin a higher grade, and in some parts of his game, he deserved it.
The way him and Zaitsev played against Boston in the playoffs was phenomenal, and even him just being able to contribute with Zaitsev beside him is remarkable. If you want to get into analytics a bit, his CF% was his highest since the 16/17 season and his PDO is the highest it’s ever been.
The reason why his grade is a B+ is because with the good season he’s had, there’s been things that have been difficult too. His move from LA to Toronto wasn’t as smooth as we would’ve hoped, but 4 points in his first 11 games isn’t bad either.
Of course, he’s not going to come to this team and ‘bloom’ right away. He’s has to get comfortable with the guys and get used to the systems. He wasn’t bad and he also wasn’t great, but a B+ grade is pretty good. With the way his season ended, I can tell next year will be a big year for him and I know he will take advantage of every opportunity he gets.