The Toronto Maple Leafs seem to have - at least in the short term - struck gold with the Chris Tanev/Jake McCabe pairing.
Additionally, the recently re-signed Phillippe Myers has paired well with Morgan Rielly and the two have posted a 59% xGoals rating while together. This is a huge upgrade over the 49% Rielly was posting with OEL, and way, way better than he did when tried with Benoit, McCabe or (however briefly) Hakkanpaa. (stats naturalstattrick.com).
Oliver Ekman-Larsson hasn't exactly been good for the Leafs so far, but he's a much better fit on the third pairing. The only problem is that Simon Benoit hasn't been good at all, and is clearly where the Leafs need to upgrade.
Now, I've been quite vocal that the Leafs should trade for a star defenseman to take their blue-line from the middle of the pack to the top of the league. That, however, might not be possible given the Leafs cap constraints and obvious need for more forwards.
If Myers and Rielly maintain, it's possible the Leafs could get away with just upgarding over Simon Benoit. A look into his performance suggests this should be done sooner than later.
How Is This Player Still Getting Regular Minutes on the Maple Leafs Blue-Line?
The problem most people have with evaluating NHL defenseman is that they think of the game's two facets - offense and defense - as two seperate things, instead of one holistic thing.
Benoit is good defensively. When the play is static, such as on a PK, he is quite effective. The problem is that outside of penalty killing, the NHL game is not static at all. Benoit cannot move the puck at an NHL level, and this means that the team often has to defend more when he's on the ice.
For whatever reason, Berube seems reluctant to move OEL over to his natural side and let Connor Timmins play the right side of the third pairing. If I had to guess, it's that he loves Benoit's style of play. The only problem is that it's less effective than Timmins because even if Timmins won't play as solid a defensive game, the fact that he can move the puck makes him way better overall.
Benoit can hit, block shots and clear the crease of the other team's players. But he can't clear the puck from his own zone and and can't make up for any of his mistakes by contributing offensively.
OEL with Benoit: 46% Expected Goals.
OEL with Timmins: 57% Expected Goals.
Ultimately, Benoit's numbers are just absolutely brutal. The Leafs only get 44% puck-possession when he is on the ice. They only get 45% of the shots, and scoring chances are 266 to 190 in the opposition's favor when he is on the ice, while the Leafs are only getting 41% of the dangerous chances.
Benoit has 4 assists in 37 games, and a 41% Expected Goals Rating. The Leafs are getting dusted whenever he plays, and they have six other defenseman and three pairings that have shown they can win their minutes.