Two Very Important Bubble Players For the Toronto Maple Leafs

Kyle Dubas and Sheldon Keefe both have their work cut out for them when trying to solve the Toronto Maple Leafs’ problems.

The biggest concern for the Toronto Maple Leafs currently is their defense. If they want to make a legitimate run at the Stanley Cup, they obviously have to be better.

Whether that’s experience for players like Timothy Liljegren and Rasmus Sandin, to even bringing in a player like Alex Pietrangelo (which is possible).

How the Toronto Maple Leafs will solve it remains a mystery, yet there’s two players in the organization who could help stop the bleeding, if needed (hopefully it’s never needed).

Both Martin Marincin and Calle Rosen are under contract until the end of next season. While their cap hit is low, their importance to the team is still very high.

Obviously the two won’t get much ice time in the regular season, unless an injury occurs. But that’s what makes them so vitally important to the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Let’s say a defenseman gets injured, one of either Rosen or Marincin can step into the lineup and help. It may not be a lot, and yes at times it might be a bit stressful, but they provide the depth needed when another player can’t play.

Both Marincin and Rosen mean a lot to the Toronto Maple Leafs, but in different ways.

Rosen could be technically an 8th defenseman for the Toronto Maple Leafs, while Marincin holds down the 7D role.

Marincin is much more of a multi-functional player.

At five-on-five and even on the penalty kill, he has a higher corsi-percentage than Rosen. That’s also with Marincin having significantly more ice time.

Along with his highlight reel goal, which made me buy his jersey, Marincin generates more shots and generally — more points too.

He’s also a very good penalty killer. With his height and stick length, he’s able to retrieve the puck through stick lanes and clear it.

Although there are parts of Rosen’s game which are better than Marincin’s, he doesn’t bring as much to the table.

Both though are equally as important. With the playoffs being more about matchips, if Keefe see’s that Marincin or Rosen match up with a player better than Liljegren or Sandin, he could bring them into the lineup.

Again, that’s highly unlikely because both Sandin and Liljegren need all the experience they can get. But it’s still possible.

They are players who could be needed in dire situations, if the time comes. And if it doesn’t, they’re still vital pieces to this puzzle that Dubas is trying to solve.