2022-2023 Toronto Maple Leafs Defensemen Grades

The Toronto Maple Leafs haven’t had very much playoff success in the Auston Matthews Era, but there really isn’t anything more they could have done – they have entered the playoffs with a top team for at least each of the last four years.

Each variation of the regular season Toronto Maple Leafs over the past seven years can be compared to Groundhog Day. Records are broken, power-play percentage skyrockets, hope blooms come spring; and then the same result: the Leafs vanish, like a shadow in the dark, from the post-season faster than the speed of light.

And, the one common variable is team defense. In the 82 games that the 2022-23 Leafs played, they were in the top-10 for: lowest amount of shots against, highest save percentage and goals against.

Come playoff time, the ice shrinks and it is harder to buy real estate than in the Upper West Side. The game moves faster. Time and space are harder to come by; and so are goals. That’s when the Leafs D is exposed for what it is: not championship caliber. A look at the meaningful defensive statistics from October to April shows that the Leafs need to upgrade their back-end big time to be able to play in June.

The Toronto Maple Leafs were 23rd out of 32 teams when it came to hits and 16th when it came to blocked shots. It is therefore not surprising that they have trouble clearing the front of the net and too often turn the puck over in dangerous areas. Their defenseman do not possess the ruggedness and aversion to pressure that is necessary to make a long run at the Stanley Cup.

Short, quick, smart passes to the talented forwards. It seems simple, but too often, the Leafs cannot clear the puck passed their own blue line and it turns into elimination.

Here is the last installment of the Toronto Maple Leafs 2022-23 player grades. We will cover the four returning defenseman and will go in descending order according to age.

The previous entries to this series can be seen here: Player Grades Part 1; Part 2; and Part 3.