10 Thoughts on Life and the Toronto Maple Leafs

TORONTO, ONTARIO - AUGUST 07: John Tavares #91 of the Toronto Maple Leafs celebrates his third period goal at 16:54 with Morgan Rielly #44, William Nylander #88, Auston Matthews #34, Zach Hyman #11 amd Mitchell Marner #16 against the Columbus Blue Jackets in Game Four of the Eastern Conference Qualification Round prior to the 2020 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at Scotiabank Arena on August 07, 2020 in Toronto, Ontario. (Photo by Andre Ringuette/Freestyle Photo/Getty Images)
TORONTO, ONTARIO - AUGUST 07: John Tavares #91 of the Toronto Maple Leafs celebrates his third period goal at 16:54 with Morgan Rielly #44, William Nylander #88, Auston Matthews #34, Zach Hyman #11 amd Mitchell Marner #16 against the Columbus Blue Jackets in Game Four of the Eastern Conference Qualification Round prior to the 2020 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at Scotiabank Arena on August 07, 2020 in Toronto, Ontario. (Photo by Andre Ringuette/Freestyle Photo/Getty Images)
4 of 5
Toronto Maple Leafs
VANCOUVER, BC – FEBRUARY 08: T.J. Brodie #7 of the Calgary Flames skates with the puck in NHL action against the Vancouver Canucks at Rogers Arena on February 8, 2020 in Vancouver, Canada. (Photo by Rich Lam/Getty Images)

Thought #7: Stop placing TJ Brodie alongside Jake Muzzin.

Do you know who are Morgan Rielly’s most common partners since he has joined the league? In order from 2013-14 until 2019-20, the list is as follows: Jake Gardiner, Roman Polak, Matt Hunwick, Nikita Zaitsev, Ron Hainsey, Ron Hainsey, and Cody Ceci (source; The Athletic). Other than Jake Gardiner, that’s a downright appalling group of defensemen.

Going into this offseason, Kyle Dubas had one priority: finally acquire a legitimate partner for their number one defensemen. So that is exactly what Dubas did. The day free agency opened, the Leafs inked TJ Brodie, a bonafide top-pairing defensemen, to a four-year contract.

And now, after spending $20 million in order to find their “unicorn”, everyone has decided to take him away from their franchise defensemen. Morgan Rielly deserves the opportunity to play alongside an actual NHL defensemen. For years he has had so-called “anchors” weighing him down, but in 2020-21, Rielly deserves the opportunity to be free.

I envision Sheldon Keefe’s top-four on opening night to look something like this:

Morgan Rielly – TJ Brodie

Jake Muzzin – Travis Dermott

I do not know what is going to happen with Justin Holl. He and Muzzin formed the Leafs best pairing last season, but at $2 million, the question must be asked if that money is better allocated somewhere else in the lineup. Furthermore, as it stands right now, the Leafs best defensive prospect, Rasmus Sandin, is 8th on the depth chart, not the best spot to be in for his development. Would the Leafs be better off moving a defensemen to give Sandin more minutes?

The wild card in all of this is Mikko Lehtonen. Several trusted sources believe the “Finnish Bobby Orr” may be able to step into the Leafs top four right away. Check out this take on Lehtonen’s capabilities from the Head of European scouting at DobberProspects.com:

If he can play top-four minutes from the get-go, and Dermott proves he cannot handle the more difficult matchups, Keefe may be inclined to run a top four of Rielly-Lehtonen and Muzzin-Brodie. In this scenario, Rielly would still be getting a very good partner and the Leafs would be creating a monster of a defensive par. But for now, the two kids from Vancouver, BC and Chatham, ON will be given every chance to succeed together.

Thought #8: All Canadian Division for 2020-21?

Bill Foley, the owner of the Vegas Golden Knights, did a radio interview recently, and let a couple of interesting news pieces slip.

While the last part of that tweet may be a depressing reality hockey fans may have to face, for a minute let’s pretend that Foley never said that and turn our intention to the first part of that tweet. Due to COVID-19 restricting travel across the Canadian-American border, an All-Canadian division may make a lot of sense – and also probably give the Leafs an easier path to the Stanley Cup Finals.

Assuming the playoff format returns to the 2018-19 form, just with the new divisions, Toronto would not have to go through the likes of Boston or Tampa Bay to advance past the first round. Instead, most likely, they would be competing with Edmonton, Calgary, Vancouver, and Winnipeg for the top spot. But unlike before, the Leafs may be considered the best of that bunch, especially after this offseason.

The Oilers made no upgrades to their goaltending position and will be without their most important defensemen, Oscar Klefbom, for an extended period to start next season, if not, unfortunately, for the whole season.

The Canucks lost key UFAs Jacob Markstrom, Chris Tanev, and Tyler Toffoli as well as promising youngster Troy Stecher. While Braden Holtby is no Markstrom, and without adequate replacements to take over for Toffoli and Stecher, it is conceivable to say Vancouver might be taking a step back next season.

In what almost looked like a failure of an offseason for GM Jim Benning, he managed to swing a deal for top-pairing defensemen Nate Schmidt which was a fantastic get, however, the damage may have been done.

The Flames did however make solid upgrades to their roster over the past week or so. Stealing Markstrom away from their provincial rival gives them a tremendous backbone in net and adding Tanev as a replacement for the departed TJ Brodie is a nice consolation prize as well.

The Jets, who once looked like Canada’s best shot at winning it all, have taken a serious beating to their core roster over the past two seasons. Losing Byfuglien, Trouba, Myers, and Chiarot as well as Little upfront took a massive toll on the Jets. Without bringing in solid players to replace those departed, the Jets look likely to disappoint again in 2020-21.

And in Toronto, the Leafs added a legitimate top-pair defensemen in Brodie, defensive depth and meanness in Zach Bogosian, and “functional toughness” in Wayne Simmonds.

Adding those pieces to the already established core of Auston Matthews, John Tavares, Mitch Marner, William Nylander, Morgan Rielly, Jake Muzzin, and Frederik Andersen, and the Toronto Maple Leafs may very well be on their way to exercising their first-round playoff demons.

Predicted standings:

1. Toronto

2. Calgary

3. Edmonton

4. Vancouver

5. Winnipeg

6. Montreal

7. Ottawa