How do you make the Leafs a great defensive team?

[Sypher04]

On defense, I don't see any problem with pairings that have one blueliner who can get the puck out to start offensive plays, and a more defensive defenseman. For offensive blueliners, they usually
incur some risk. Turnovers happen. The issue is, how many turnovers compared to their offense?

#3 Jake Gardiner...... 105 giveaways 16th in scoring. 52 points.................. -13
#14 Ron Hainsey ........85 giveaways 83rd in scoring. 23 points................... -79
#16 Morgan Rielly ......79 giveaways 15th in scoring. 52 points.................. -1
#21 Nikita Zaitsev ......76 giveaways (60 gp) 139th in scoring. 13 points.................. -118
#126 Travis Dermott ..36 giveaways (37 gp) 149th in scoring. 13 points.................... -23

I think it's clear, the offensive force should be Reilly, Gardiner, and Dermott. Hainsey and
Zaitsev are more dangerous with the puck then Polak who'd just launches it up the rink for
an icing. There's some really bad return on the Leaf's risk investment. Also to note, there could
also be an issue of how well forwards help out. If Matthews sets himself up for an outlet
pass while Plekanec doesn't, one blueliner's ability to make a safe play might be different
then another's.

On the defensive side, to me it's hard to have a defensive blueliner who throws less then one hit per game. They need a physical presence.
This has been a HUGE issue of goals being scored in front of the Leaf's net in the playoffs.

Hits per game. Blocked Shots per game. Combine?
Borgman 2.5 / 0.8 3.2
Polak 2.4 / 1.6 4.0
Zaitsev 1.9 / 2.2 4.1
Dermott 1.3 / 1.0 2.3
Hainsey 1.1 / 2.1 3.2
J. Holl 1.0 / 1.5 2.5

I think this paints the picture of Zaitsev, Polak, Haisey being the best at their role. I'm not a big fan of Hainsey, so I do have that bias.
But really a stay-at-home needs to be tough to handle guys in front, and Hainsey doesn't offer that. Borgman was the exact opposite.
I know how everyone talks about the Mike Greens of the world, but I think the Leafs need at least one blueliners who can throw close
to 2 hits a game and block 2 as well. Polak, Christian Folin, Luke Schenn... they'll get ripped apart by the fans, but they'll do a much
needed job in front of the net.

Good post overall. The one issue i would take with it is that you don't wanna draw definite conclusions from it regarding the roles. The fact that Zaitsev struggled this year and wasn't healthy versus Rielly and Gardiner who both had career years really hurts him badly in these comparisons. Also Zaitsev and Hainsey are not deployed in the same fashion. No powerplay, heavily taxes shorthanded, and not the puck carrier of their pairing. While we can comfortably say Hainsey should not be played offensively for us, Zaitsev is very different. I mean, before his problems this season, he had registered 36 points as a rookie NHLer (albeit an older one, but still)

 

[The_Chosen_One]

I think the departure of Bozak and JVR will help solidify our defensive game among the forwards as would the introduction of Johnsson. There's also the possibility to bring up Aaltonen as the 4C and have Nylander play center or consider free agency. Say we see...

Johnsson - Matthews - Brown
Marleau - Kadri - Marner
Hyman - Nylander - RW or Hyman - Big Joe - Nylander
LW - Aaltonen - RW

Seeing that we are contending for the cup, try to sign Big Joe ( as Tavares seems unlikely) and pair him Nylander. Meanwhile, the fourth line can be filled with Marlies or more likely, via free agency as I expect smart signings. Kapanen could be on the third line, but Babcock will decide that.

On the other hand, we need some patience with the D core. Simply put, Zaitsev needs to be a consistent #3 and needs to be able to reduce Hainsey's load. In fact, if he can elevate his game to the level of Gardiner, we'd be quite set especially with a more mature Dermott. Instead, I think signing someone like Alexander Petrovic who play Polak's role but with a more consistent physical game is probably a more prudent

 

[HamiltonNHL]

Leafs aren’t in win now mode. Definitely not.
This mini cup run didn’t cost a lot.

Acquiring Tavares would put us in Win Now mode.

Slow rebuild is what I am hoping for.

John Tavares accelerated the rebuild.

It was a foolish move.

You don't acquire a UFA forward when you have lots of forwards and not much D.

Dubas needs to go.

 

[HamiltonNHL]

You need to bring in a great (or at least really good) defenceman.

It will take a trade involving a significant asset and/or significant picks to get one.

Never happened

 

[Pookie]

Never happened

Jake Muzzin for a 1st round pick and 2 prospects?

 

[HamiltonNHL]

That is true. What we have done is misjudged how far along we were and let a fair amount of asset value walk.

Year after year.

You can't expect a small, soft teams built for skating to be strong defensively because you need strength and often size to be able to win puck battles.

Babcock loves Hyman because he can do that, but too few Leafs are equipped with his puck pursuit abilities and dog on a bone mentality of relentless effort to win those board and puck battles.

Leafs are bottom 5 in the league in shots against and shots against lead to goals against. To be better defensively you need to cut down shots by winning more puck battles and maintaining better puck possession.

Our team has zero grit. And zero passion.

Sparks said there was no passion and he was whisked away hours later.

 

[HamiltonNHL]

Jake Muzzin for a 1st round pick and 2 prospects

That's fair.

Happened a little.

 

[HamiltonNHL]

Leafs aren’t in win now mode. Definitely not.
This mini cup run didn’t cost a lot.

Acquiring Tavares would put us in Win Now mode.

Slow rebuild is what I am hoping for.

And it never happened.

Rushed rebuilds are so Leafy.

 

[al secord]

Bring back Gary Valk

 

[mydnyte]

How do you make the Leafs a great defensive team?

Is it possible? This question has been in my head ever since we got bounced from the playoffs. I'll concede that our defense isn't that bad. We can call it average if you'd like. Babcock and Dubas have both said that they are fine with our defense. And that's fair. But how do we make it our strength? How can we turn ourselves into a great defensive team? Is it possible?

I doubt anybody on here believes Leafs are a great defensive team... so how do we get from here to there?

you become a great defensive team by changing your style to 'safe mode' no more stupid pinches, at no time should both our d-men be around the opponents net at the same time. every forward hustles back and covers their guy, and no skating past the net and doing a time wasting loop. 100% effort on every shift. and play every shift hard.

 

[Racer88]

John Tavares accelerated the rebuild.

It was a foolish move.

You don't acquire a UFA forward when you have lots of forwards and not much D.

Dubas needs to go.

It accelerated and ended the rebuild all in one move…….such a shame

 

[Maplebeasts]

Replace the goalie.

 

[Hockey 4 Life]

Adding a starting goaltender and Nichishkin would go a long way to improving this team.

 

[LEAFANFORLIFE23]

How do you make the Leafs a great defensive team?

Is it possible? This question has been in my head ever since we got bounced from the playoffs. I'll concede that our defense isn't that bad. We can call it average if you'd like. Babcock and Dubas have both said that they are fine with our defense. And that's fair. But how do we make it our strength? How can we turn ourselves into a great defensive team? Is it possible?

I doubt anybody on here believes Leafs are a great defensive team... so how do we get from here to there?

Get them a goaltender that can make a save and isn't going to suck for 4 straight months

 

[SwedishFire]

Fire Dubas, trade Tavares.

Or try to convince Tavares to take over as a GM, and his cap dissapears(?).

Get a solid backup goalie, get three more defensemen. OfC, keep the prospects ypu have.

Reilly - somebody like D Toews/ Pelech
Muzzin - Liljegren
Somebody again, like Kulak/Scouy - Brodie
Defensive D sub

All three defensive minded D men. Those are the one who fits the bill. It had become a overflow of only offense only D mens.

Lubushihsushkin maybe fit in as the 7th D?

 

[notbias]

Fire Dubas, trade Tavares.

Or try to convince Tavares to take over as a GM, and his cap dissapears(?).

Get a solid backup goalie, get three more defensemen. OfC, keep the prospects ypu have.

Reilly - somebody like D Toews/ Pelech
Muzzin - Liljegren
Somebody again, like Kulak/Scouy - Brodie
Defensive D sub

All three defensive minded D men. Those are the one who fits the bill. It had become a overflow of only offense only D mens.

Lubushihsushkin maybe fit in as the 7th D?

What...........

 

[SwedishFire]

What...........

Truth

 

[TorMapleJays]

Barry Trotz

 

[Morbo]

Get a real starting goalie.

 

[Jeffrey Pedler]

Teach the stars to block shots.

 

[Martin Skoula]

The D play on aggregate is fine now, the problem is individual D plays in high pressure situations.

Honestly even if we allowed 100 goals against all season, I'd still feel nervous being up a couple goals in a playoff game with pressure mounting.

 

[usernamezrhardtodo]

The D play on aggregate is fine now, the problem is individual D plays in high pressure situations.

Honestly even if we allowed 100 goals against all season, I'd still feel nervous being up a couple goals in a playoff game with pressure mounting.

That's because we teach a risky style and the risk shows up even more when the other teams tone it down. We still play the same way thinking its the exact same game as the regular season. You could literally pinpoint every series loss to a few plays-Boston 2 times was a Fred and Gardiner issue. Montreal was a Dermott and Gally issue etc. If we didn't have people who are brain dead playing and a coach who could instill some IQ into them we might have at least won 1or 2 of the series by now. We have this stupid idea that being on the attack at all times is what we need to do. The problem is Colorado winning will just enforce that idea even though we don't have the D that they do...nor the role players.

 

[Martin Skoula]

That's because we teach a risky style and the risk shows up even more when the other teams tone it down. We still play the same way thinking its the exact same game as the regular season. You could literally pinpoint every series loss to a few plays-Boston 2 times was a Fred and Gardiner issue. Montreal was a Dermott and Gally issue etc. If we didn't have people who are brain dead playing and a coach who could instill some IQ into them we might have at least won 1or 2 of the series by now. We have this stupid idea that being on the attack at all times is what we need to do. The problem is Colorado winning will just enforce that idea even though we don't have the D that they do...nor the role players.

I don't see it that way honestly, I'd rather Keefe go all attack when we're up a couple goals rather than turtle. We do some sort of half assed hybrid when we're up in the playoffs and the only time it wins is when the clock saves us. Either turtle or all attack is better than whatever we're doing, it almost seems like a confidence issue of letting the other team dictate play rather than call the shots ourselves and risk making the wrong call.

 

[weems]

That's because we teach a risky style and the risk shows up even more when the other teams tone it down. We still play the same way thinking its the exact same game as the regular season. You could literally pinpoint every series loss to a few plays-Boston 2 times was a Fred and Gardiner issue. Montreal was a Dermott and Gally issue etc. If we didn't have people who are brain dead playing and a coach who could instill some IQ into them we might have at least won 1or 2 of the series by now. We have this stupid idea that being on the attack at all times is what we need to do. The problem is Colorado winning will just enforce that idea even though we don't have the D that they do...nor the role players.

It's actually mind boggling that a fringe player like Galchenyuk would try such a high risk play like that in overtime.

It's one thing when your best players attempt stuff like that which I dont even care for but entirely different when role players are trying to make cute, fancy and dangerous plays in area's where it can really burn you.

 

[Mess]

2 Step process.

Step #1: Hire Barry Trotz
Step #2: Sit back and relax.

Need proof ....

The 2017-18 non-playoff NYIs finished 31st overall 296 goals against, then hired Barry Trotz and the 2018-19 finished 1st overall in goals against with 196 (-100 GA, and went to the final 4 before losing to the Cup champs TB,

From worst to first in the NHL defensively mainly due to hiring Trotz a competent coach, and from non-p;layoff to final 4 was the reward of that decision. Oh BTW the GM that made that move won Exec of the year.