Analyzing the Toronto Maple Leafs New Monster Ben Harpur

 The Toronto Maple Leafs added Ben Harpur this summer in a trade with the Ottawa Senators.

The Toronto Maple Leafs received the  6’6, 223lbs, LHD Ben Harpur as part of the Connor Brown/Nikita Zaitsev trade.

Will the big man be exposed to the waiver wire or will he feature for the 2019/20 Leafs?

In my previous article I looked into the potential positives behind the Toronto Maple Leafs acquiring former Senator, Cody Ceci. In that move the Leafs also acquired another defenceman that has been the target of much ridicule over the past month.

Following on from the key point of my Ceci article, I’m going to try give Leafs fans some positives to hopefully quell some of negativity that is currently surrounding this player.

Before I begin the real analysis of Ben Harpur, I must first make you aware of my bias. When you open Ben Harpur’s EliteProspects page you’re greeted with a glorious little Australian national flag which immediately raises Ben Harpur’s stock in my books.

Whilst Ben isn’t actually Australian (his mother is), this is the closest thing to the real deal the few of us Australian hockey fans will get (I’m aware of Nathan Walker, however, he is not a Leaf).

Now that’s been said let’s get into the real analysis.

Ben Harpur’s Career

When looking at Ben Harpur it is easy to forget that he is from the same draft class as Freddy Gauthier. Recognizing that Harpur is still relatively young and inexperienced at the National League level is important when looking into what he “is” as a player.

Ben Harpur was drafted in the 4thround in 2013 by the Ottawa Senators. Having recently switched from forward to playing defense, Harpur’s draft calibrate was heavily reliant on his athleticism and not his production (15pts in 67GP).

Following his draft year, Harpur spent another two full seasons in junior, with his final season being his true breakout year. Harpur tallied career highs in points, goals and assists with 5-26-31 in his final OHL season.(Hockeydb.com)

That was enough to also see Harpur selected in the OHL All-Star team. The following season Harpur went pro, split between the NHL (5GP), ECHL (4GP) and AHL (47GP), where he spent the majority of his season.

Harpur never found his feet in his first year pro and managed only 6 points in his 47 AHL appearances.

The 2016/17 was much improved for the towering defenceman. Even on what was a very poor Binghamton Senators team, Harpur managed 27pts in 63GP. That saw him tied for the top scoring defenceman on his team and he was voted Binghamton’s MVP for the season. He also managed to earn an end of the season call up and was part of 9 playoff games in Ottawa’s cup run.

Continuing on what appeared to be a trend in Harpur’s career, his next year would be a rough one. He was a late cut from camp, yet he put 11pts in 19 games in the AHL before being called up by Ottawa. He struggled at the NHL level and managed only a solitary point in 41 appearances.

2018/19 was Ben Harpur’s first season as a full-time NHLer. As Ottawa has a tendency of doing, he was a young, inexperienced defenceman thrust into a huge role on what was undoubtedly the worst team in the NHL. Unsurprisingly, he faltered.

Analysing Harpur’s game

When you truly take time to look into the career path of Harpur, it’s evident that he takes time to acclimatize to the next step. Yet, at every step he has managed to find his feet once given adequate time. I certainly don’t believe Ben Harpur is some hidden gem, but I do believe given the right environment to foster his skillset he can become a useful 6th or 7th defenceman.

There is no denying, at 5v5, Ben Harpur’s NHL career to date looks very poor. He is heavily outshot, out chanced and outscored. In fact, he was one of the worst defencemen on Ottawa when it comes to these numbers at even strength.

Ottawa certainly didn’t do anything to insulate Harpur’s usage at even strength though. He averaged over 14 minutes at even strength per night and over 17 and a half minutes in total time on ice. That is more than any of Toronto’s bottom pairing defenceman last season, including Travis Dermott.

It’s also worth noting that Harpur was tasked with matching up against tougher competition and pairing with weaker teammates when compared to league average for defenceman playing his number of minutes.

Also worth noting, this graph is based on defenceman which play around 17:30 a night, which given Ben Harpur’s numbers, he should not be. All in all, this shows Harpur was tasked with a job that was outside of his skillset and in his first full season in the NHL.

Image Courtesy of HockeyViz.com 

There is however one positive that is actually quantifiable to Ben Harpur’s game. Ben Harpur was by all accounts last season a very good penalty killer for Ottawa. He was tasked with the toughest minutes on the PK outside of Cody Ceci, and outperformed most of his teammates.

Ben Harpur’s shot suppression (see below) was better than any of his team mates on the penalty kill. He also had relatively good scoring suppression and limited high danger chances well compared to his team.

Image Courtesy of NaturalStatTrick.com

Toronto Maple Leafs or Marlies?

The big question is whether or not Ben Harpur finds himself a role with the Toronto Maple Leafs. He has proven himself a very good AHLer in the past on poor teams and if he gets sent down would be a great addition for the Marlies. However, I believe it’s likely we see Harpur appear in some games for the Leafs this coming season.

Harpur brings a huge physical presence which the Toronto Maple Leafs lack. This is a tool he has only began adding the past couple seasons, which shows his willingness to adapt his game to remain in the NHL. Given his specialty skillset which is non-existent with in the current line-up, it seems unlikely that Ben Harpur is put through waivers, at least at the start of the season.

Considering the positivity that has surrounded the Leafs acquiring cheap alternative players (Schmaltz, Spezza, Agostino, Shore) I find it difficult to understand the overblown reaction to a 24 year old defenceman on a one year deal earning only $725,000.

As I said previously with Ceci, give him a shot and hold off on the negativity at least until you see how he is actually used, even if for no reason other than he is somehow partly Australian.