Toronto Maple Leafs Blue Line
Funny to say this after all the ink spilled by people deriding the Leafs blue line, but its now the deepest in the NHL.
The Toronto Maple Leafs have eleven NHL quality defensemen. Rielly, Brodie, Muzzin, Holl, Dermott, Sandin, Liljegren, Rosen, Bogosian, Lehtonen and Marincin.
I went through every team in the league and no one else has anything close to that. In fact, almost every team is dressing a player on their third pairing who would be highly unlikely to make the Leafs, given the competition.
Yes, I understand that Lehtonen has never played in the NHL, but you don’t rip up the KHL like he’s doing if you can’t at least cut it as a replacement NHL player. Sandin and Liljegren are rookies, but neither would be the worst player in the NHL if they played regularly. Marincin is – despite his unpopularity – a player who is constantly effective when he plays. The depth is great, but what about the high-end talent?
Morgan Rielly has been better than Victor Hedman for two of the last three year (by WAR) and doesn’t seem to get his due as a legitimate #1 stud defenseman. Despite an injury filled year last season, he is just that.
TJ Brodie was worth just under 2 Wins last year, while Jake Muzzin was worth just over 2. This makes them better than 87% of defensemen, and classifies both players as elite. While the Leafs have three great options for their top pairing, I think all three of Muzzin, Brodie and Rielly are underrated to some degree, lessoning the love people have for this blueline.
Justin Holl, while he may not do it again, played some of the NHL’s toughest minutes last year while posting better statistics than Colton Parayko.
Travis Dermott has been one of the NHL’s best third-pairing players over the last couple of years. Rasmus Sandin projects to be a star player, possible a #1, definitely a top pairing player on a good team.
It’s clear when you look into the Leafs blueline that its now one of the best in the NHL. Few teams can match their top three, and no one can touch their depth.