Editor In Leaf
Fansided

Toronto Maple Leafs: Regular Season Defensive Pairing Predictions

By Carter Loewen

MONTREAL, QC - MAY 24: Goaltender Jack Campbell #36 of the Toronto Maple Leafs defends his net with the help of his teammates Justin Holl #3 and Rasmus Sandin #38 against Corey Perry #94 and Paul Byron #41 of the Montreal Canadiens during the second period in Game Three of the First Round of the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs at the Bell Centre on May 24, 2021 in Montreal, Canada. (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images)
MONTREAL, QC - MAY 24: Goaltender Jack Campbell #36 of the Toronto Maple Leafs defends his net with the help of his teammates Justin Holl #3 and Rasmus Sandin #38 against Corey Perry #94 and Paul Byron #41 of the Montreal Canadiens during the second period in Game Three of the First Round of the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs at the Bell Centre on May 24, 2021 in Montreal, Canada. (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
5 of 5
Next
Toronto Maple Leafs
OTTAWA, ON – JANUARY 15: TJ Brodie #78 of the Toronto Maple Leafs  (Photo by Matt Zambonin/Freestyle Photography/Getty Images) /

Leafs Penalty Kill

As a similar theme to this list, the first penalty kill pairing should surprise no one. Jake Muzzin and Justin Holl lead all Toronto Maple Leafs on TOI for PK last year with an average of 2:33 and 2:32 per night. They take away passing lanes and are never afraid to get in the way of shots. Nothing to complain about there.

It’s the second unit of PK where it gets interesting, last year the majority of time left on the PK would be shared by Brodie and Bogosian. Now with Bogosian returning to the lightning, there is a void to be filled. Who will it be?

I’d have to say the likely candidate will be Travis Dermott. While not close to perfect defensively, Dermott has done it in the past and provides a solid replacement for the PK when it’s in need of a crunch.

I would love to put Morgan Rielly in that last spot but with the amount he’ll be playing 5-on-5 and on the power-play, it’s difficult to justify giving him more time on ice on the PK, when frankly – while not terrible – his defense could still use a little work.

Even Strength

Rielly-Brodie

Muzzin-Holl

Sandin-Dermott

Extras: Liljegren/Biega/Menell

Power-Play

Rielly-Matthews

Sandin-Kase

Penalty Kill

Muzzin-Holl

Brodie-Dermott

Next. Those That Want the Leafs to Fail Will Be Upset This Year. dark

Last season we saw the deepest Leafs blueline in years and I see no reason for that to change this year apart from a couple of minor changes. Let us look forward to the season opener on the 13th and Bring our boys home with a full crowd!

Home/Editorials