Toronto Maple Leafs Opening Night Defensive Pairings

The Toronto Maple Leafs have one of the NHL’s deepest teams.

Because they are so deep, and because the lineup options are nearly limitless, it is fun to come up with various lineup  scenarios – well at least for me.  Yesterday we talked forwards,  and I suggested that the Leafs copy the Bruins and run a super line of Nylander-Matthews-Marner. 

This would be probably the best line in the NHL, and since we all know that Nylander wants to play left wing, and that Sheldon Keefe isn’t shy about using a stacked line (as we saw in the playoffs) the Leafs should definitely be using it.

As for the defense, here are my opinions on the lines they should use.  Keep in mind that I am not guess which lines they will use, I am giving my opinion on the lines they should use.

Toronto Maple Leafs Blue Line

The Leafs have a crazy amount of options because they have 11 players who (at worst) would all be solid 3rd pairing players: Rielly, Brodie, Muzzin, Holl, Lehtonen, Sandin, Liljegren, Dermott, Bogosian, Rosen, Marincin.

If there is an NHL team that can match that, I’m not aware of them.  The hilarious thing is that the Leafs have both depth and high-end talent, even though they supposedly ruined their salary cap (they didn’t, they’re just way smarter than their critics) and were going to have to trade core players in order to compete (instead they just signed and developed players who could replace their expensive non-core players at a cheaper cost).

The absolutely brilliant cap management by the Leafs has produced an incredible group of defenseman.  The top line should be:

Morgan Rielly – T.J Brodie 

Rielly, when healthy is one of the NHL’s top five defensemen, and Brodie is the kind of player who doesn’t score or hit enough to earn star status in a league where only those two things can make you a star.  Still, his on-ice results say he’s in the top 10% of the league, and he will be Rielly’s best ever partner.  This combo is a no-brainer.

Jake Muzzin – Justin Holl 

Playing among the hardest minutes in the NHL last year, this pairing was unbelievable.  Holl’s turn towards being a star player in his late 20s is reminiscent of ex-Blue Jay Jose Bautista’s, although Holl is unlikely to ever get any MVP votes.

In a stat by stat comparison, Justin Holl outperformed popular Toronto Maple Leafs Trade Target and likely Team Canada defenseman Colton Parayko .  Holl put up the defensive equivalent of a 40 goal season last year, and what team would look to demote a 40 goal scorer?  Holl keeps his spot unless he struggles, which is entirely possible. (Remember, what he did at age 27 is exceedingly rare).

Also, complaints that Muzzin did all the work are not fair.  Other players who played with Muzzin didn’t put up these numbers (last year or previously) and when Muzzin was out of the lineup, the Leafs were also missing Rielly.

Rasmus Sandin – Mikko Lehtonen 

The Leafs bought a ton of insurance in case these guys don’t work out, but you have to figure that this is their best option.  Lehtonen is among the best non-NHL players in the world, and frankly, so is Sandin.

Quite possibly (I’d say even likely) these are the AHL and KHL’s best defensemen, respectively.

The ceiling on this pairing it insane, and if you consider how well players like Travis Dermott have done playing almost exclusively on the third pairing, this line gives the Leafs a lot of options.   Last year, the Muzzin/Holl pairing played some unusually tough minutes.  The Leafs now have the option of spreading out the tough minutes or sheltering a third pairing with first pairing talent.

It’s win win either way.

The Toronto Maple Leafs are going to need to get Bogosian, Liljegren and Dermott some ice time, so I suspect they will frequently dress seven defensemen.  I also figure Dermott will be traded as soon as it’s clear that both Sandin and Lehtonen are real NHL players and not just theoretical ones.