Simon Benoit just didn’t fit into Maple Leafs plans anymore

A mildly surprising part of Tuesday’s trade between the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Philadelphia Flyers was Simon Benoit.

Benoit’s name had been on the block during the trade deadline. But it didn’t seem like anyone was really interested in the 27-year-old. Well, it seems that after the second-round sweep at the hands of the Carolina Hurricanes, Philly figured it needed a little more muscle on the blue line.

That said, Benoit had to go. He just didn’t fit the Maple Leafs’ plans moving forward.

In particular, Benoit was the sort of player who fit Craig Berube’s “hard-hitting” old-school approach. He was the sort of defenseman that could play a shutdown role in a more traditional defensive system.

For the most part, that was what Benoit did. He played a solid role during the 2024-25 season, becoming a bit of a revelation after the Anaheim Ducks cast him off. But it was this season that opponents exposed the biggest weaknesses of Benoit’s game. He is slow and just can’t seem to keep up with faster opponents. While his hard-checking style is appreciated, he wasn’t exactly the sort of bruiser who could subjugate opponents via intimidation tactics.

Moving forward, this trade tips off something that we have been suspecting for a while. The incoming Maple Leafs’ coach will value more puck-moving, smooth-skating blueliners. GM John Chayka made that clear in a video presentation in which he explained the move. While he didn’t single out Benoit as skating on molasses, he did drill down on the fact that Emil Andrae provides a more mobile upside.

That will be a crucial trait as the Leafs’ next coach will likely want to play a more uptempo possession-driven game akin to the system Sheldon Keefe had in place once upon a time.

Philippe Myers likely to inherit Benoit’s role

Trading Benoit likely came down to the Maple Leafs choosing between him and Philippe Myers. And it seems the Leafs chose Myers.

For one thing, both players have a very similar style. As such, having both made them redundant. Myers, for his part, comes with a much lower cap hit. That makes the choice easy.

Assuming that Chris Tanev returns fully healthy next season, also assuming that Morgan Rielly sticks around, then adding Andrae, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Brandon Carlo, and Jake McCabe, Myers would be in play for the sixth defenseman role. That is, of course, if Chayka doesn’t swing a deal for another blueliner. That would drop Myers to the seventh or eighth defenseman slot, where he most likely belongs.

If Tanev, McCabe, and Ekman-Larsson all return healthy and play the entire season, the Leafs would have plenty of muscle on the blue line. Rielly and Andrae offer decent offensive punch from the back end.

Yes, we would love to see a legit number-one blueliner on the roster. But that may not be in the cards, at least not right now. While anything can happen, the Maple Leafs' defense corps looks a little more encouraging now.

Let’s see if Chayka has any other rabbits he can pull out this summer.

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