Constructing the Toronto Maple Leafs Optimal Defensive Pairings

Recall last season when the Toronto Maple Leafs had a bunch of quality defencemen following the trade deadline last year, they began to use various combinations for their defensive pairings down the stretch.

Some of the pairings turned out alright for the Toronto Maple Leafs, whereas others just flat out failed.

However, with a fair number of them now no longer with the team, including Luke Schenn, Erik Gustafsson, and Justin Holl, it has left pretty much a set top six for the upcoming 2023-24 season.

As a result, Morgan Rielly, John Klingberg, T.J. Brodie, Mark Giordano, Jake McCabe, and Timothy Liljegren should be all coming out of training camp as starters entering the season.

The Toronto Maple Leafs Optimal Defensive Pairings

What would be the optimal pairings among these six defensemen? With that in mind, the following criteria should be met:

1)      Someone should be a strong, puck-moving defenseman that can join rushes if needed (this won’t be a problem, all six of the Leafs defenseman are strong puck-movers.

2)      Someone should be effective defensively as a stay-at-home defenseman and be able to block shots or lay hits on opposing players, and be able to cover for their partner that may be involved in the offence.

3)      The pairing should be a combination of a veteran and a younger player, so that you have the combination of experienced smarts/positioning and potential speed.

So ideally, the optimal pairings for the Maple Leafs defense this year should be:

Morgan Rielly – T.J. Brodie

Jake McCabe – John Klingberg

Mark Giordano – Timothy Liljegren

In the top pairing, Rielly is the younger, puck-moving defenseman that could contribute offensively, while Brodie is the veteran, stay-at-home defenseman. Also, they have been paired together effectively in the past, so they are definitely familiar with each others’ play, along with each others’ strengths and weaknesses.

The second pairing consists of the younger, defensive stalwart McCabe, teaming up with the more experienced, offensively-minded Klingberg. This could be problematic because nothing about Klingberg’s recent play suggests he should play in any team’s top-four.  He does, however, have a lot of talent, and it might work in a balanced set-up like the one I am proposing.

The third pairing has also been shown to be successful in the past, as we have the elder statesman, yet rock solid defensively in Giordano, and the younger, faster, puck-moving defenseman in Liljegren.

So basically under no circumstance the Leafs should try something like a Rielly-Klingberg combination, or else they will struggle big time defensively in their zone with defending not being one of their strengths.

Other candidates may end up challenging for a spot in the defensive group during training camp. But even if they do make it, they will most likely start off as the team’s seventh defenseman, with Conor Timmins potentially being the early favorite based on his play with the Leafs last season.

Nevertheless, starting the 2023-24 season with these combinations should provide the most balanced group of defensemen both offensively and defensively for the Leafs. As they say, defense wins championships, so getting the most effective combos right from the get-go is winning half the battle already.