Everyone knows how Auston Matthews, John Tavares, and company are doing. It’s hard to avoid if you’re a hockey fan. So let’s take a look at the Toronto Maple Leafs Defensemen and see how they’re fairing so far this season.
Toronto Maple Leafs Defensemen So Far This Season
Morgan Rielly
Morgan Rielly is off to a hot start with 13 points in eight games. It’s hard not to get off to a hot start when you play with Matthews and Tavares who have combined for 16 goals so far.
Drew Doughty agrees “It would be nice to be the D-man there, Morgan Rielly, just dish it to him (Matthews), you get some cheesy apples, it’s pretty simple.”
The debate as to whether or not Rielly is a number one defenceman may rage for a while longer. But on top of his 13 points, which leads all NHL defencemen as of Saturday, Rielly has a Corsi-For of 52.3 percent and a relative Corsi of +3.7 this season. Considering he’s playing with 37-year-old Ron Hainsey most of the time, that’s pretty good.
If Rielly’s play so far is an indication of how he’s going to play for the rest of the season, he will have Norris trophy consideration. He’s never had a Norris trophy vote. For him to truly be considered a number one defencemen, that will have to change.
A Couple Surprises
Every Maple Leafs fan was hoping someone could step in and improve the team’s right side defence. It was exposed against the Boston Bruins in last year’s playoffs. And the team did nothing notable to plug that hole. Calle Rosen, Andreas Borgman, and freshly plucked from the KHL Igor Ozhiganov came into camp as potential options to improve that side of the defence. Rosen and Borgman didn’t make the team and are with the Toronto Marlies. But Ozhiganov has been a welcome addition to Toronto’s blue line.
Ozhiganov is one in a long line of veteran players the Maple Leafs have pulled from other leagues. The most notable to date is Nikita Zaitsev. The idea is if you throw enough, um, stuff, at a wall, something will stick like Zaitsev did, although there’s something smelly there. Ozhiganov, despite a considerable language barrier, is adjusting well to the smaller, NHL ice surface. He looks calm in his own zone and seems to be quite good at controlled zone exits. A weak area for Maple Leafs defencemen.
He doesn’t have his first NHL point yet, but his Corsi-For is 55.4 percent and his relative Corsi is +4.8. It’s still too early to claim Ozhiganov is a top-four defenseman but he makes the defence better. It will be interesting to see how good he is when he starts actually understanding what Mike Babcock is telling him.
Maybe Not As Surprising
Travis Dermott played 37 games last season and looked good in them. There was cautious optimism that he could take a spot in the top four. Dermott could play the right side, or Rielly could make the move to allow Dermott to see top-four minutes from the left side. Although Babcock is reluctant to make such changes. Whether he moves into the top four or not, Dermott continues to grow and impress. He leads the Maple Leafs with a Corsi-For of 58.7 percent and a relative Corsi of +11.9.
Both Ozhiganov and Dermott are seeing some sheltered minutes, but they’re still doing very well as depth defencemen. The players they’re looking to pass on the depth chart have struggled this season. That means one or both of Ozhiganov, who plays the right side, and Dermott are likely to see time with Rielly or Jake Gardiner at some point this season and maybe soon. How they do against tougher competition will indicate if they really are top-four capable.
Nikita Zaitsev
Zaitsev has a team worst Corsi-For of 43.5 percent. He does start in the defensive end 62.6 percent of the time. That’s the highest defensive zone start percentage for all Maple Leafs defencemen. But those numbers are still bad. Last year’s struggles appear to be continuing into this season.
Zaitsev had a great rookie season in 2016-2017. That prompted the Maple Leafs to sign him to a seven-year contract worth $4.5 million AAV. Last season his play dropped off. Much of that was blamed on injury, which is likely an accurate assessment. But now the question is if he can regain his rookie season form or not. If he can’t, that’s a hefty contract for someone that is either on a bottom pairing or not playing at all.
As hard as it may be to move Zaitsev’s contract, it may become a necessity for the Maple Leafs. The team is going to have difficulty fitting everyone under the cap, and $4.5 million is a big chunk that can be used to help with the team’s current and pending restricted free agents, Matthews, Mitch Marner, and William Nylander.
Misjakes
I would love to take credit for the term ‘misjakes‘.
Gardiner has been Gardiner. The biggest question with him is if the Maple Leafs are going to be able to afford to keep him next season. If Dermott can keep his play up, the Maple Leafs may not have to worry as much about it. But despite the negative side to Gardiner’s game, it would be a loss to the Maple Leafs if he walks in free agency. And that, unfortunately, is likely to happen.
There is an avenue of thought that Toronto may be best suited to trade Gardiner this season rather than lose him in free agency. But considering they didn’t do that last year with James van Riemsdyk, don’t expect it to happen with Gardiner.
Ron Hainsey
Hainsey hasn’t been terrible. He gets more flak than he deserves. Yes, he’s slowing down and probably isn’t suited for top pairing minutes with Rielly. But he does have a place. He has a Corsi For of 50.7, which is fourth amongst Maple Leafs defencemen. And he can still kill penalties.
Last season his play dropped off considerably by the time the playoffs rolled around. It won’t bode well for the Maple Leafs if that happens again. His minutes played will need to be managed as the season goes along.
Team Defence
Toronto is 19th in goals against per game and 16th in shots against per game heading into Saturday’s games. That needs to improve, but they’re not quite as bad as many believe them to be. If Dermott and/or Ozhiganov can replace Hainsey, if age catches up to him, and Zaitsev can find his game, the Maple Leafs defence could be a middle of the pack group. That may be enough to take a decent shot at a Stanley Cup this season.
They also have $12 million in unused cap space. A fair chunk of that will go to Nylander when he signs, but the rest could be used to add a player near the trade deadline.
