Mid-Season Grades For the Toronto Maple Leafs Defense

The Toronto Maple Leafs have had an up-and-down season to this point, despite Auston Matthews scoring goals at a 70-goal pace and William Nylander having a career campaign.  Fans of the team were looking for a big year after last season’s playoff breakthrough, yet the Leafs are in a battle simply to make the playoffs.

Much has been made of the Toronto Maple Leafs goaltending woes.  Joseph Woll has missed extensive time due to an ankle injury.  Ilya Samsonov played so poorly he cleared waivers and was sent to the AHL.  Martin Jones gets an A for effort, but he is clearly a stop-gap measure only.

The forwards also need to share some of the blame for the Leafs current position in the standings.  Although Matthews, Nylander and Mitch Marner have been carrying the team all season, John Tavares has regressed this season from his career point-per-game pace, with only 40 points to date in 51 games (stats from naturalstattrick.com).

Then we really see the lack of secondary scoring.  The next forward on the Toronto points list is Max Domi with a mere 27.  The team has been hoping for more out of guys such as Tyler Bertuzzi and Calle Jarnkrok, but so far it just hasn’t happened.

However, as I and many others have been writing since October, the Toronto Maple Leafs biggest weakness has been the defense corp.  Other than Morgan Rielly, who is having another fine season, the roster is full of players who really don’t belong in the top 4 D of an NHL roster.

Let’s dig a little deeper and talk about what each defenseman has done so far, what the future may hold for them, and finally, assign everyone a midseason grade for each player.

Morgan Rielly

As mentioned, Morgan Rielly is having a strong year, and is obviously the Toronto Maple Leafs best defenseman.  Although Rielly is “good but not great” defensively, he is the only Leaf D to consistently display offensive skill.

Rielly is currently 4th in team scoring (7G, 36A, 43P) and enables the team to break out of the defensive zone with either smart passes or strong skating and puck carrying.  He leads the team in ice time and anchors the top powerplay unit.

With no offense meant to team captain John Tavares, the captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs should really be Morgan Rielly.  He is a skilled veteran, the longest tenured current Leaf (in his 11th season) and is well liked and respected on and off the ice.

Rielly earned more respect from his teammates recently with his reaction to the Ottawa Senators Ridly Greig rookie mistake of taking a slapshot into an empty net.  Whatever Greig’s reason for the slapper, it was a clear sign of disrespect for the opponent.

Like it or not, team culture in the NHL demands a response to disrespect.  Rielly immediately went after Greig to deliver the response.  I don’t believe Rielly’s crosscheck was meant to end up on Greig’s face, and for that carelessness he deserved a suspension (the length doesn’t really matter).  The point is, the Leafs were rightly criticized earlier this season for not responding appropriately to provocation, and Rielly made sure it didn’t happen again.

Grade: A+

Jake McCabe

Jake McCabe has had a bit of a “Jeckyll and Hyde” season so far.  Since missing 6 games with a groin injury early in the season, McCabe has been very inconsistent.  He’ll play a strong game one night and then look completely lost the next.

On the positive side, McCabe has added some grit and toughness to the Toronto Maple Leafs blue line.  Offensively, McCabe doesn’t contribute a lot, but with 19 points already he will easily pass his career high of 22, set three seasons ago with Chicago.

McCabe has registered 117 hits (2nd on the team), kills penalties, and despite having just average size for an NHL defender, does a pretty good job of being physical in clearing out the front of the net.

So what’s the issue?  First, the Toronto Maple Leafs have too many D that struggle moving the puck up the ice quickly, and McCabe is in that group.

More importantly, McCabe is prone to dumb plays and bad turnovers.  Under pressure, he tends to blindly get rid of the puck, which generally ends up on an opponent’s stick.  After the Leafs give up a goal, too often we see a look of frustration on McCabe’s face as he realized it was “his” man that scored.

Overall, the positives outweigh the negatives, but McCabe can be better.

Grade: B-

TJ Brodie

Since signing a 4-year contract with the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2020, TJ Brodie has been a stalwart on the team’s blue line.  Until late last season, he was a model of stability and reliability.  But for whatever reason, Brodie started playing poorly, and was not good at all during the playoffs.

Unfortunately, that poor play has continued this season. It’s possible that Brodie’s decline is age related, but at 33 years old, his gas tank shouldn’t be empty quite yet.  Perhaps he’s playing through one or more undisclosed injuries?

In Brodie’s case, the numbers fully support the “eye test”, which is to say he has been terrible.  Although Brodie has never contributed much offensively, the last time he scored was December 31, 2022.

Brodie has by far the fewest hits (28) of any regular Toronto Maple Leafs defender.  He has by far the worst CF% (44.2%) of any regular defender.  He has by far the lowest XGF% (42.82%) of that same group.

Opposing forwards are outskating him, outmuscling him and just outplaying him completely.

At this point, it’s questionable whether Brodie has a future with the Toronto Maple Leafs beyond this season.  A trade or a buyout may be on the horizon.

Grade: F

Simon Benoit

Simon Benoit was signed to a one-year minimum value contract in the offseason by Toronto Maple Leafs GM Brad Treliving, mainly as a depth option.  In other words, Benoit was meant to play for the Toronto Marlies, and be available as an occasional callup to the Leafs.

Injuries to various Toronto defenders (McCabe, Liljegren, Timmins, Giordano) enabled Benoit to not only draw into the Leafs lineup, but to also play significant minutes.  Benoit has averaged 16:24 of ice time over 39 games, which is way more than anyone expected.

Benoit contributes pretty much zero on the offensive side of things.  He has a mere 3 points in those 39 games, which is not an anomaly for him (18 points in 176 career NHL games).  He is as guilty as most of the other Toronto Maple Leafs D in his ability to quickly transition the puck from defence to offense.

However, Benoit does offer something this team needs more of – toughness.  When Ryan Reaves is not in the lineup (and sometimes when he is), the role of designated tough guy has usually fallen to Benoit.  Not really a fighter, Benoit has stepped up as needed and held his own in several fights this season, and has become a fan favourite with a collection of thundering bodychecks to unsuspecting opponents.

Benoit uses his 6’4” 205 lb frame well in the defensive zone, and trails only Jake McCabe for the team lead in hits (129).

Statistically, Benoit’s CF% (46.78) and XGF% (48.90%) are near the bottom of Toronto’s D corps, not surprising for a guy with no offense.  Ideally, Benoit should (at best) be playing sparingly on the third pairing, but zero team depth has dictated otherwise.

Grade: B (for his never-quit attitude, not his actual skills)

Timothy Liljegren

Last season, Timothy Liljegren and Rasmus Sandin shared the title of “most promising young Leafs defenseman”, until Sandin was dealt to the Washington Capitals.  Liljegren now carries that moniker precariously on his shoulders.

Still just 24 years old, Liljegren continues to show flashes of being a potential top pairing D, but so far he’s been unable to consistently elevate his game to that level.  Part of that may be due to him missing 17 games earlier this year with an ankle injury, the result of a controversial hit from public enemy #1 Brad Marchand of the Boston Bruins.

Since his return to play, his statistics indicate he’s been the “best of the rest” when it comes to Toronto Maple Leafs defensemen.  Morgen Rielly has the best D numbers on the team by far, but Liljegren is ahead of all the others, with a 49.17 CF% and a 51.94 XGF%.

Also, Liljegren is one of the few Toronto D who can skate effectively with the puck, find the open forward with breakout passes, and do a decent job of quarterbacking a powerplay.

Liljegren will be a restricted free agent at the end of this season.  As the only right shooting regular defender on the Toronto Maple Leafs roster, and someone with untapped potential upside, the Leafs will undoubtedly re-sign Liljegran.  His play over the remainder of the season will determine the length and amount of his new contract.

Grade: B