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5 Toronto Maple Leafs That Have Been Major Disappointments

By Edward Eng

TORONTO, CANADA - OCTOBER 11: Tyler Bertuzzi #59 of the Toronto Maple Leafs skates against the Montreal Canadiens during the 1st period in an NHL game at Scotiabank Arena on October 11, 2023 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Maple Leafs defeated the Canadiens 6-5 in a shootout. (Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images)
TORONTO, CANADA - OCTOBER 11: Tyler Bertuzzi #59 of the Toronto Maple Leafs skates against the Montreal Canadiens during the 1st period in an NHL game at Scotiabank Arena on October 11, 2023 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Maple Leafs defeated the Canadiens 6-5 in a shootout. (Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images) /
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Toronto Maple Leafs
Oct 26, 2023; Dallas, Texas, USA; Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman John Klingberg (3)   Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports /

John Klingberg

John Klingberg was signed this past offseason to help upgrade the offensive potential of the Leafs from the back end.

That was because last season, the Leafs were among the lower third in the league with points by defensemen with only 166, with the Colorado Avalanche leading the league with 220.

In doing so, Klingberg was quickly given the reigns of the first power play unit, taking over from Morgan Rielly in the role.

Other than his first two games of the season in which he tallied three assists, he has only managed to hit the scoreboard in two others games and have been held pointless in his last six games.

At the same time, defense has also been a weakness for him in the past, and has remained so this season as often the Leafs got hemmed in their zone whenever Klingberg was on the ice. (All stats from hockeyreference.com)

The trade-off you get when obtaining an offensive defenseman was the fact that you hope the player’s offence can make up for the lapses on defense.

But if they are no longer producing much offence and at the same time, get dominated defensively, then they are providing negative value for the team, which is the case currently happening for Klingberg.

He will definitely need to step up his game, especially now that the Leafs have a pair of their defenseman injured, before the entire team’s defensive structure begins to collapse.

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