3 Players the Toronto Maple Leafs Need to Bench in the Playoffs
By James Tanner
The Toronto Maple Leafs appear to have a lot of depth on their team, but it's somewhat misleading.
For example, the Toronto Maple Leafs have nine NHL defenseman. That seems good.
But then again, when they dress their six best, they still have one of the worst blue-lines in the NHL.
Same goes for their goalies. It's great that they have a 3rd stringer with NHL playoff experience, but Martin Jones hasn't finished a season with a save percentage above .900 in five years so he isn't really giving you much beyond name-brand recognition.
The Leafs are not as deep as they were last year when they had Ryan O'Reilly on the third line, and were healthy-scratching Timothy Liljegren and Erik Gustuffson.
Injuries might say otherwise, but assuming a healthy roster, here are the players the Leafs should bench in the playoffs.
3 Players the Toronto Maple Leafs Need to Bench in the Playoffs
Joel Edmundson
Since joining the Leafs Edmundson has only played in seven games. He is brutal offensively, which leads to bad defensive play overall and other teams feast on the Leafs when he is on the ice.
His current stats are misleading because the Leafs have a 98% save-percentage when he has been on the ice, leading to a 6-1 goals advantage. However, all of his other numbers are brutal.
When Edmundson plays, the Leafs get hemmed in their own zone and are unable to generate any offense. Any criticism of Edmundson comes with a boring and ignorant retort about "playoff hockey" but he stinks and he shouldn't play.
Simon Benoit is better, and he earned his way onto the team. If you have to dress one of these guys, it should be Benoit just because he has been here all season long. You can't play both, and so the Leafs should play the 25 year-old, not the 30 year-old.
Ryan Reaves
The Leafs are losing 19-9 when he plays, and only get 45% of the scoring chances.
Ilya Samsonov
I don't really find the Ilya Samsonov Story to be all that inspiring.
The Leafs were the second-best team in hockey for a period of 27 games between January 18th and and March 23rd. Only a loss to the 1st place Hurricanes prevented them from being the best team during this period.
And while the Leafs were the highest scoring team in the NHL during this time, they had only the 15th best goaltending.
Another way to put that is that during the Leafs best run of the season, their starting goalie was only slightly above league-average. That isn't really the redemption story we've been sold, but wins aren't really a goalie stat either.
Personally, I've said this for months and won't be changing my mind: You don't start a goalie you put on waivers in the playoffs, no matter what.
manual
Joseph Woll needs to be the Leafs starting goalie for the playoffs, while Ryan Reaves and Joel Edmundson need to be watching from the press-box.