The Toronto Maple Leafs will never succeed without an elite defenseman
The Toronto Maple Leafs best defenseman is probably 34 year-old Chris Tanev, whom they signed to an absolutely ridiculous and ill-advised six year contract.
That deal could at least pay off if the Toronto Maple Leafs happen to win the Stanley Cup this season or next before Tanev is done, if he lasts that long, but the odds of that happening are low because they do not have an elite defenseman on their roster. It's a much more palatable deal if the Leafs can add someone better than both Tanev and Rielly.
The Florida Panthers won the Cup last year with Gustav Forsling and Aaron Ekblad, both of whom would be the Leafs best defenseman. The Oilers have Evan Bouchard, the Stars have Miro Heiskanen, and the Rangers have Adam Fox. Extending out to the Final Eight, the Avs have Makar, the Canes have Slavin and the Bruins have MacAvoy.
The year before, the Final Four was Florida, Las Vegas (Pietrangelo), Carolina (Slavin) and Dallas. That means that in the last two years, eight out of a possible eight Final Four Cup Contenders had an elite number-one defenseman.
The Leafs notably did not make the Final Four in either of those two years, and they do not have an elite defender on their roster. And yet, teams who have a top ten defender on their roster seem to frequent the third and fourth rounds of the playoffs.
The Toronto Maple Leafs will never succeed without an elite defenseman
The problem with this year's Leafs isn't just that they don't have an elite defenseman, it's that they don't even have somebody who could grow into one.
There isn't a prospect in the system that anyone in the world thinks will be a top pairing NHL defenseman, let alone an Adam Fox or Evan Bouchard level one. Then again, no one thought Tomas Kaberle would become one, so it's not impossible that they have one on their team. Sadly, the Leafs don't promote prospects and tend to make it impossible to find a diamond in the rough.
If Shanahan and Treliving were in charge back in 1999, it's possible Tomas Kaberle never gets a shot.
Look, I don't know where the Leafs could get an elite defenseman. Once upon a time the Leafs traded a washed up Felix Potvin for a 22 year-old Brian Berard, but that kind of deal doesn't come along very often, clearly.
It would be nice to trade for Noah Dobson, but why would he be available? Then again, the Panthers found Forsling on waivers. Dougie Hamilton has changed teams several times.
Are the Devils going to give a lot of ice-time to Simon Nemec and Luke Hughes? There might be something there they could go for. I don't know.
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What I do know is that it's extremely unlikely the Leafs can overcome not having an elite defenseman. I don't know how Brad Treliving spends his days, but everything he does short of acquire a legitimate number-one defenseman is a waste of time.