The Toronto Maple Leafs did get tougher in the last week.
Over the last few days, Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Kyle Dubas has added some impact players to roster, and Leafs Nation will no doubt be holding its collective breath that these additions finally lead the Buds from the bulrushes into the gloryland of Stanley Cup contention.
Most significant of these additions – when it comes to making the team harder to play against – is probably Kyle Dubas’s initial move of acquiring Wayne Simmonds from the Buffalo Sabres.
The addition of the veteran forward addresses a serious need of muscle in a very direct way. The additions of T. J. Brodie and Zach Bogosian add some skill and size, respectively, on the blue line. The acquisition of Joey Anderson in exchange for Andreas Johnsson gives the Leafs a young two-way forward who reportedly plays with some grit.
Addressing the Toronto Maple Leafs Toughness
These recent additions to the Toronto Maple Leafs ranks are encouraging signs, but are they enough to give the team enough sandpaper to silence the critics and make the team harder to play against? I personally suspect not.
With the exception of Brodie, none of these recent acquisitions are guaranteed to see big minutes. Simmonds will probably ply his trade on the third or fourth line much like the departed Kyle Clifford did last season. Simmonds and Clifford as a tandem would certainly make an impact, but sadly, that cannot happen.
Less than twenty years ago, Leafs management added some hard-nosed veteran players such as Shayne Corson, Gary Roberts and Dave Manson to a roster that contained a collection of skilled, but even-tempered players such as Mats Sundin, Robert Reichel, Alexander Mogilny and Mikhael Renberg, and rode a wave of success to the Buds’ last conference finals appearance.
The 2001-2002 team wasn’t nearly as soft as the current edition of the Toronto Maple Leafs. In addition to those veteran pickups, that team also boasted the likes of Tie Domi, Darcy Tucker and Wade Belak. So, as much as the addition of Simmons is an encouraging sign, clearly Dubas shouldn’t stop there. When a player like Jason Spezza has to drop the mitts to inspire his catatonic teammates as he admirably did against the Blue Jackets in the elimination round, there is definitely something wrong.
It’s worth pointing out that Shayne Corson, Gary Roberts, and Dave Manson were all in their mid-thirties during that fine 2001-2002 season, so adding thirty-something players with grit may be a workable option for Kyle Dubas to add character, leadership and toughness over the next few years while still managing to pay his core of star players and still remaining under the cap.
The additions of physical players such as Pat Maroon and Barcley Goodrow to the Tampa Bay Lightning roster this past year certainly appeared to be fruitful. Though to be fair, they were replacing Ryan Callahan and J.T Miller, not exactly wall flowers themselves.
Kyle Dubas has done a good job these past few days to improve his team and likely make them somewhat more difficult to play against, but only on the fringes. The Toronto Maple Leafs roster still remains, more or less, built the same it has been. The team believes in their core and in the offense-first approach.
Will some bottom of the lineup toughness make a difference? We’ll have to wait and see.