Toronto Maple Leafs: Defense Continues to Get By With Depth Players

While he has been far from flawless, Mac Hollowell has performed admirably since his call-up to the Toronto Maple Leafs active roster.

Given that he started the season, easily somewhere between 12th and 15th on the Toronto Maple Leafs defensive depth chart, the fact he’s now seen six consecutive games speaks to other challenges.

With Morgan Rielly, Jake Muzzin, T.J. Brodie, Jordie Benn and Carl Dahlstrom all injured, it’s become necessary for Sheldon Keefe to call upon guys like Mac Hollowell to fill in the inevitable gaps on the blue-line.

Of course, there’s been moments where you notice a gulf in talent; most recently when Nikita Kucherov drew a penalty with a burst of speed, but that’s all part of learning to play at the NHL level.

Mac Hollowell Getting In Done For The Toronto Maple Leafs

Yes, there have been mistakes and missteps in his six NHL games thus far, but the Toronto Maple Leafs certainly won’t be too upset with what they’ve seen from Mac Hollowell.

When he was drafted in the fourth round (118th overall) of the 2018 NHL Entry Draft and as a slightly smaller stature defensemen, it wasn’t crazy to think that he’d be on the cusp of the NHL but not quite there for his entire career.

Instead, he’s worked hard to hone his craft, spending time with the Newfoundland Growlers and a brief stint over with TUTO Hockey in Finland before finding a regular spot in the Toronto Marlies line-up.

Indeed, last year’s 26 points in 45 AHL games would’ve certainly elevated his standing in the organization somewhat, hence Hollowell grabbing his chance this year even when Filip Kral was an option to promote too.

His NHL promotion may have come out of necessity, but he’s not getting caved in the big league. The Toronto Maple Leafs are being careful with their ice-time management, especially with Hollowell, but it’s not for necessarily negative reasons.

Along with Victor Mete, his most consistent defensive partner in the Toronto Maple Leafs line-up, they’ve been used 57.14% of the time for offensive zone starts during 5-on-5 action (per Natural Stat Trick).

They understand that he, as a player, is slightly more of an offensive leaning defenseman and want to limit the risks while also giving him the opportunity to succeed – his slap-pass setup of Auston Matthews’ opening goal versus the San Jose Sharks is testament to that.

You need only look at his usage versus the Tampa Bay Lightning, a game that was rife with penalties, to realize that he hasn’t yet given his coach a stand-out reason to trust him against a high-powered team in all situations.

His 10:10 at all strengths versus Tampa represented his lowest ice-time since his promotion to the Toronto Maple Leafs roster.

All in all, put into a hard spot; Mac Hollowell has performed admirably, on-ice for 6 goals for and 3 goals against; he might not have been in the toughest spots but he’s showing himself to be able to slot in with the Leafs roster and not be overawed.

Certainly it might not last with Conor Timmins now a member of the roster, but for now you’d have to think Hollowell is enjoying himself.