We’ve been saying for years now that the Toronto Maple Leafs need a stronger goalie or defense, and I believe this offseason we finally got our wish.
The Toronto Maple Leafs’ defense will be far better this season, notwithstanding my distaste for the money or terms of some of the free agent acquisitions made this offseason.
Even though they didn’t play well offensively in Game 7 of the First Round against the Boston Bruins, the team lost because of a defensive blunder that shouldn’t occur this year.
Along with Timothy Lilejgren, Jake McCabe, Simon Benoit, and Morgan Rielly, the two major additions for the upcoming season are Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Chris Tanev.
Both are extremely experienced, seasoned defensemen who have recently seen success in the playoffs, which could ideally carry over to Toronto.
The Leafs won a number of games throughout the regular season of the previous year, but they also needed to outscore opponents in order to record a victory.
That means that in order for this squad to win, they needed to win the 5-4 or 4-3 games as opposed to the 2-1 or 1-0 contests. You can get away with things like that in the regular season, but Ekman-Larsson and Tanev will try to avoid doing that in the postseason.
The Leafs were dead last among the 16 clubs that made it to the playoffs, despite having the ninth-worst penalty-kill record in the NHL.
Even if you felt the Leafs choked in the regular season, they really had no chance when the playoffs got underway. One of the most crucial aspects of the playoffs is having a lethal penalty kill.
This year, though, we should see a change in that, as Tanev and Ekman-Larsson were both on top-8 penalty-killing teams. Significantly, Ekman-Larsson will be in the second unit, while Tanev will be in the team’s top penalty-kill unit.
It will be a lot better for them to be paired with Benoit, McCabe, Rielly, or Liljegren than it was with them last season.
This year, Toronto will be considerably more dependent on their defense, with Tanev leading the way, as they have two unproven goalies. He’s the team’s most seasoned defenseman, and he needs to carry on where he’s been all his career: a machine that blocks shots.
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