Breaking down the Toronto Maple Leafs 2024-25 Blue-Line

Conor Timmins / Simon Benoit / Topi Niemela / Mikko Kokkonen / Cade Weber / Jani Hakanpaa

Conor Timmins and Simon Benoit both make more than the league minimum, which is absolutely asanine. The Leafs pay so much money to their top players that they are supposed to be getting by with league-minimum players at the bottom of the roster.

And yet, they have some of the most overpaid 4th line and 3rd pairing players in the NHL. If Treliving wasn't prepared to stick with the Studs and Duds style his predessessor set up, then he shouldn't have re-signed William Nylander, and kept the Morgan Rielly, John Tavares and Mitch Marner on the roster. The Leafs are instead stuck with an unworkable hybrid version of two competing philosphies and it's highly unlikely to work, barring Joseph Woll winning the Vezina.

Niether Timmins nor Benoit has the upside to be worth paying more than the league minimum, and as such both players should be traded and replaced with rookies. It would only be a slight savings, but every dollar counts.

Timmins never really got a shot under Keefe, and while he's posted OK numbers whenever called upon, it's unclear if he has a future on the Toronto blue-line.

Simon Benoit was one of the worst players in the NHL before coming to Torotno, but he had a strong season last year and posted decent numbers. The Leafs might have something here, who knows? Benoit is a phsyical player, but he's really bad with the puck, unfortunately, and that limits his usage.

Ideally, he's a solid injury replacement that you can trust as a number-seven defenseman. With McCabe and Tanev, the Leafs aren't desperate for size and toughness on the blue-line, but with Rielly, OEL and Liljegren they aren't exactly that intimidating either. Therefore Benoit has as good a chance as anyone to earn ice-time as the team's sixth defender.

Two players standing in his way are Topi Niemela and Mikko Kokkonen. Both of these long serving Leafs prospects are approaching make or break time with their NHL careers. The time to transition to the NHL, if they are going to, is probably this year. Niemela is the better puck-mover, and Kokkonen is likely going to top out as a decent third pairing guy, if he makes it.

Both should compete for jobs in camp, and frankly, given the Leafs cap situation and their overall blue-line composition, they should have just come into the season with jobs up for grabs and then filled in those jobs as necessary at the trade deadline.

Cade Weber was acquired from the Predators at the dealine, he might be something as he's absolutely huge, but he is unlikely to make a difference. Same goes with Jani Hakanpaa who may or may not even end up on the team due to a pre-existing injury. He is another player the Leafs inexplicably paid more than necessary to have him compete for ice time against rookies.