The Toronto Maple Leafs have had an excellent off-season.
You’d be hard-pressed to find a single credible person to offer any valid criticism of the Toronto Maple Leafs offseason.
The Leafs turned two superfluous wingers into two prospects, a draft pick and over $5 million in savings, and they got better, and deeper while putting on a master class in Salary Cap management.
T.J Brodie addressed their most significant weakness and he’s an elite, first pairing defensemen who makes the team a lot better. They signed two KHL stars, four NHL vets (including one legend) and made a generally strong team even stronger.
But I do have a slight concern that they have too many good players.
Toronto Maple Leafs Depth Is Great, but…
The ability to have internal competition is a great thing for a team, in theory. It can backfire if a player won’t take risks for fear of coming out of the lineup if he screws up, but I’d guess that overall its probably a very positive thing to have.
Depth is going to be especially helpful in a season that may be condensed and involve more games in few nights. Can’t go wrong there.
So overall, I don’t really think there is anything wrong with the Leafs offseason, however I do have one concern:
The Leafs have three potential star players that don’t have a path to regular ice-time. Nick Robertson can only play in the NHL or the OHL and frankly, after the season he had last year it would be stupid to put him back in the OHL.
Rasmus Sandin is already the best defenseman in the AHL. What is the point of having him there?
And Mikko Lehtonen is the best defenseman in the KHL.
Yes, Joe Thornton, Jimmy Vesey, Wayne Simmonds, Travis Dermott and Zack Bogosian are nice players to have. But can you picture an NHL coach, even one as young, smart and progressive as Sheldon Keefe saying “I think we should sit the 6’6 former 3rd overall pick and recent cup winner to play the Russian kid?”
Or what about “Joe, hit the showers, cause we got this kid who was born around the time you scored your 200th NHL point.”
Given everything I know about NHL coaches and how they pick lineups, I don’t see a path to regular ice time for Roberson, Lehtonen or Sandin. But I think that playing all three as regulars (assuming they earn it) is important for the Toronto Maple Leafs to have success.
Its all about high-end skill. In the NHL, elite players move the needle.
Nick Robertson could be a weapon on a line with Auston Matthews. How do you defend against two players on the same line who both have among the best shots in the NHL?
What if Lehtonen is the defensive version of Artemi Panerin? (A UFA Russian who came to the NHL late and blossomed into one of the best players in the entire world?).
As for Sandin, he could be the Leafs best defenseman a year from now.
Sure, those are extreme examples of best-case-scenarios, but in a professional league with a salary cap and full parity, you need best-case-scenarios to win. I definitely agree with the Leafs idea of adding depth and creating competition, I am just concerned it may end up hurting them if they can’t find a place for Robertson, Sandin and Lehtonen.