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5 New Year’s Resolutions Bound to Benefit Maple Leafs Through 2021

By Shaun Filippelli

TORONTO, ONTARIO - AUGUST 07: John Tavares #91 of the Toronto Maple Leafs celebrates his third period goal at 16:54 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 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) /
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Jake Muzzin, Toronto Maple Leafs
TORONTO, ON – OCTOBER 21: Jake Muzzin #8 of the Toronto Maple Leafs   (Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images) /

Resolution #5: Defense Comes First

It’s clear that the Maple Leafs are a team focused on scoring. Their 238 goals for through 2019-20 saw them finish third overall in that regard, with two recent Stanley Cup winners leading that list. Clearly, this part of their game isn’t a problem. The fact that they allowed 227, however, is.

Although it’s easy to go straight to goaltending when assessing these types of stats, it’s irresponsible to ignore the defensive influence on those numbers. While the job of a netminder is to stop the puck, the role of those in front of them is to limit the amount they see in the first place.

Toronto had over 2,200 pucks hit their net last season. Placing them in the bottom half of the league for that category, around teams like the New Jersey Devils, Montreal Canadians, and Arizona Coyotes. Those clubs finished the year in 26th, 24th, and 22nd place respectively. Not the type of company this Maple Leafs team should strive to keep.

Management hopes that acquiring veterans T.J. Brodie and Zach Bogosian will improve their blue line, while they also anticipate young prospects like Rasmus Sandin taking the next step in their careers. Toronto has begun to clean up what was once a defensive mess.

However, even if all of their ingredients mix effectively, the Maple Leafs still need to be doing more to make defense an effective aspect of their overall strategy. That has to come from a shift in thinking, setting the right type of expectations for each respective role.

Resolution: With the scoring prowess Toronto has upfront, those on the backend have to prioritize stopping their opponents from doing the same in their own end. Fewer chances will result in a lowered workload for their goalies, too. Defensemen need to put defense first and treat producing as a bonus, not their objective.

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