Questioned for years, the Toronto Maple Leafs had the best blue-line last year that they’ve had in the Auston Matthews Era.
Though they lacked the top-flight superstar in the style of Cale Makar, the Toronto Maple Leafs collection of defenseman was effective enough to get them to fourth overall despite the 27th best goaltending in the league.
While we all thought things were looking brighter in Leaf land last season with the emergence of Timothy Liljegren and Rasmus Sandin, and the acquisitions of Mark Giordano and Ilya Lyubushkin, that didn’t last long, as today there are more questions than answers:
Sandin is unsigned, the Top Four from last year are all still here, Lyubushkin is gone, and Victor Mete and Jordie Benn are in, one assumes as depth players only. Clearly the Toronto Maple Leafs aren’t done, so how to fix the blue-line?
Fixing the Toronto Maple Leafs Blue-Line
#1 Trade Out Deadweights
Justin Holl and Jake Muzzin are two guys that just don’t work for the Toronto Maple Leafs anymore.
With Muzzin making $5.625 million and Holl $2 million, the Leafs could obviously better spend that money.
Justin Holl isn’t that good for a top-four defenseman, and Jake Muzzin had two concussions last spring, not to mention his advanced age and declining game.
Kyle Dubas needs to find a way to move this once shutdown pair to new destinations to free up some much-needed cap space. My guess is Holl goes home and plays for the Wild and Muzzin, assuming he waives his NTC, returns to LA where he played his best hockey; winning two Stanley Cups. These would both be “cap dumps” so don’t expect to get a boatload of assets in return, I think we would all be pleased with a couple of mid-round picks.
#2 Look at the holes
Clearing up the almost 7.7$ million in cap space leaves some holes on the back end. With those moves made the defensive core is made up of Rielly, Brodie, Sandin, Liljegren and Giordano, plus whatever other depth guys can compete for jobs.
The team is still clearly lacking in some right-handed defensemen, but with Muzzin and Holl gone, there is room to graduate Liljegren and Sandin into the top four, though not necessarily playing together.
Giordano either needs a partner, or the Leafs need a player to push Brodie and Lilljegren down the lineup.
#3 Filling the holes via Free Agency
There are two ways the Toronto Maple Leafs can now address these gaps in their blueline, either via trade or by signing leftover free agents.
Lets start off with potential free agent options, keeping in mind we have about 8$ million to work with. Calvin De Haan is a guy who can play both the left and right side. His years on Chicago were a disaster but mind you that was on two horrible team.
Looking back at his time on the Island De Haan is a solid bottom-pairing option. He’s not a crazy point getter but he is a solid defensive defensemen and that is something the Toronto Maple Leafs heavily lack. I think you could bring this play in on a 2 year deal around the 2$-3$ million range, a solid player to help fill a void.
#4 Getting a Stud via Trade
Let’s say Dubas is able to snag De Haan for 2.5$ million, that leaves us a good 5.5$ million to go out and get us a stud blueliner, with Alex Kerfoot’s $3.5 available if necessary.
The target I have my eyes on is St. Louis Blues giant Colton Parakyo.
It was rumored in 2020 before the draft the Toronto Maple Leafs had a trade in place with the Blues to acquire Parakyo, but who knows what truth there was to it.
Parakyo is just what the doctor order; a 6’6 giant at 230lbs, physical with a bomb of a slapshot, and not to mention he plays the right side. This is what Morgan Rielly has needed on his right side for years.
Certainly there is some combination of prospects and picks that can get this done, and if not, the Toronto Maple Leafs should pursue a similar player.
#5 The Aftermath
This new lineup, including the depth the Toronto Maple Leafs picked up yesterday,
would easily be the best this d-core has been in Dubas era, if not these exact defenders let’s hope Dubas makes the right calls on his backend this season.