Forget Nick Foligno, Rasmus Sandin Is the Maple Leafs Big Add

The Toronto Maple Leafs may be on a five-game losing streak, but I am actually feeling pretty positive about the team.

The Toronto Maple Leafs have been getting some bad goaltending, and it was bound to happen because Jack Campbell was never going to be perfect forever.  As for David Rittich, any time you play your 3rd/4th string goalie, you should know what you’re in for (a loss, most of the time).

But I think Jack Campbell has shown more than enough to be an excellent starting goalie and I have no problem with him going forward, so I’m not worried at all.

The Leafs have lost five in a row, and only the  game against the Canadiens was one in which they deserved to lose.  The other four games, including last night’s, are games in which they are almost always going to win if they play the exact same way.

My philosophy is to only get upset when bad play causes the losses.  If the team plays like they played the last two nights they will win most of the time, so who cares?  The thing to talk about today is the play of Rasmus Sandin.

Toronto Maple Leafs and Rasmus Sandin

Sandin played last night and he played well.  Watching him, it’s clear that he isn’t a player who should be in the AHL or on the Taxi Squad.  In fact, he’s so good that it seems kind of irresponsible for a team with Cup asperations to not play him.

Travis Dermott is steady and reliable. Like T.J Brodie, he’s almost invisible in a good way – he just goes about his business and he doesn’t stand out.  Since non-offensive defenseman usually only stand out for the wrong reasons, this is a great compliment and not faint-praise.

Zach Bogosian supposedly brings those intangibles that you supposedly need, but those aspects are more myth than fact – and Bogosian hurts the team more than he helps it.  People vastly overrate the importance of having these kinds of players, despite the mountain of evidence to the contrary.  Bogosian is surprisingly adept at knowing when to jump into plays – he just handles the puck like it’s a live grenade.  Every time he tries it realize a) why he was drafted so high and b) why he never came close to living up to it.

Bogosian hasn’t played bad, in fact in his role as the 6th dman, he has very good numbers.  He isn’t making such a difference defensively, however, that his inability to handle the puck is worth putting up with when there are better players available.  Sandin is on another level and should never sit out another game where he is healthy, but Dermott should play before Bogosian if the Leafs want to ice their best team.

Unlike Bogosian, Sandin is the ideal defenseman for this team. He’s talented, calm, smart, and handles the puck like a star.  He will pair very well with Travis Dermott to form a much more dynamic, much more effective, much higher ceiling pairing.  That’s if the Leafs don’t overthink it and try to dress Ben Hutton in Bogosian’s place.  That will be the temptation but it’s a bad idea.

The idea that you need that kind of player is outdated and wrong.  Dermott is a far more effective player than Bogosian and doesn’t deserve to sit. If he can play the right side, he shouldn’t miss any more games.  But no matter who is healthy or what the combos are, one thing is apparent: Rasmus Sandin needs to play every night.

Last night he played 15 minutes of 58% hockey that ended with a 74% expected goal percentage.  (naturalstattrick.com).  He is so good that adding Sandin to the regular lineup should actually end up having more of an impact than Nick Foligno.