Line Combos: How Much Is The Lost Defensive Acumen Going To Hurt?

[Jimmy Firecracker]

With most of the free agency movement likely over, it's a clear consensus that the Leafs got better offensively, but worse defensively. In fact, based on Dom Luszczyszyn's model the Leafs have gotten a collective 14 goals worse after these departures and additions. Now of course there's still a lot of offseason left and more moves could be made, but I doubt whatever Tree has up his sleeve will drastically shift that number. Now from the jump you might think the Leafs have clearly gotten worse because of this, but my contention is that the lost defensive strength will not hurt as much as some may perceive.

What's been this team's identity for the past three seasons? The offence running through Five Guys, supported by a cast of players who are defensively responsible, intelligent, and safe. This approach has led to a lot of regular season success, but when it comes time to the NHL's second season, the lack of offensive depth becomes a glaring issue, and despite the defensive strength of the team they've lacked the grit and physicality to truly wear down our opponents. Goaltending has also played into our failures, as our lack of offence fails to beat great goaltending, our goalies have been outdueled, unable to rise to the occasion and really put the finishing touch to strong defence.

It's no surprise that in the one year since the bubble that the Leafs somewhat addressed their lack of offence and toughness that they finally won a round, with the additions of Knies and O'Reilly able to provide much needed secondary offence, guys like Acciari, McCabe, and Schenn bringing hard hitting physicality to the lineup, and Samsonov providing good goaltending and clutch saves when the team needed him most (something Andersen and Campbell could never do here in the playoffs). It ultimately still wasn't enough as O'Reilly's age began to show, Knies and Samsonov were knocked out of the playoffs, and the Core Five failed to produce against the Panthers. Granted, Bobrovsky played out of his mind (and continued to as he victimized Carolina more than us) but with the series as close as it was, one more goal here or there easily could've been the difference between a Leafs Conference Finals appearance and the early exit they did suffer.

After three seasons of this formula, it's clear that relying on five players to carry the offensive load isn't working. I know they're all paid like they should be able to carry this team offensively, but it's just not feasible. You look at the recent Cup winning teams in Tampa, Colorado, and Vegas, yes they were lead offensively by their best players, but they also got offensive contributions from middle of the lineup guys like Toews, Lehkonen, Kadri, Shattenkirk, Killorn, Palat, Gourde, Coleman, Theodore, Barbashev, Stephenson, and Karlsson. Adding legitimate scoring options in Bertuzzi, Domi, and Klingberg gives the Leafs a much more potent lineup that should be capable of getting that extra goal or two we've desperately needed.

I also think the lost defensive play is overstated (not just from Dom, from everywhere). For starters, O'Reilly, Acciari, Schenn, and McCabe were not here for most of the season and the Leafs were a strong defensive team even before them. If anything they got worse in the regular season when these guys came aboard as Sheldon couldn't settle on a lineup and the new additions caused the lineup to have compatibility issues. Of the guys who were here all season and have now departed, only Kerfoot and Holl were strong defensively, while Bunting was average to mediocre at that aspect. To give credit to Sheldon, despite his glaring flaws, he has gotten this team to buy into a solid defensive system, with the Leafs ranking 10th in total goals against, 9th in goals against per game, and 9th in PK% since 2020-21. Having a full season of McCabe and Lafferty (who killed penalties in Chicago and was a shorthanded threat) should help mitigate the lost penalty killers, and Knies already showed good defensive instincts in the playoffs, indicating that he could be a non-liability out on the ice. Plus, the Leafs still have an MVP Centre, a Selke nominated winger, and one of the best defensive defenseman in the league on the team still, and all three will still see a lot of ice time. Not to mention we've still got a solid stable of safe defensively responsible players on the roster in Kampf, Jarnkrok, Giordano, and Liljegren.

More than anything, good defence requires a strong system from the coaches and strong effort from the players. We've already got one half of that down. All it will take to mitigate the incoming defensive deficiencies of the new guys is sheltering on the part of the coach (like stapling Brodie or McCabe to Klingberg) and the will of the players to actually learn and play in the system. We've seen Bertuzzi show a willingness to lay it on the line to prevent a goal, and Domi has expressed wanting Toronto to be his long term home so his willingness to learn and improve to be part of this franchise should be high. If these guys can be not complete liabilities on the ice while providing solid offence, I think their weaknesses won't be so pronounced and the lost defence won't be all that missed.

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[Clyde Brewer]

With most of the free agency movement likely over, it's a clear consensus that the Leafs got better offensively, but worse defensively. In fact, based on Dom Luszczyszyn's model the Leafs have gotten a collective 14 goals worse after these departures and additions. Now of course there's still a lot of offseason left and more moves could be made, but I doubt whatever Tree has up his sleeve will drastically shift that number. Now from the jump you might think the Leafs have clearly gotten worse because of this, but my contention is that the lost defensive strength will not hurt as much as some may perceive.

What's been this team's identity for the past three seasons? The offence running through Five Guys, supported by a cast of players who are defensively responsible, intelligent, and safe. This approach has led to a lot of regular season success, but when it comes time to the NHL's second season, the lack of offensive depth becomes a glaring issue, and despite the defensive strength of the team they've lacked the grit and physicality to truly wear down our opponents. Goaltending has also played into our failures, as our lack of offence fails to beat great goaltending, our goalies have been outdueled, unable to rise to the occasion and really put the finishing touch to strong defence.

It's no surprise that in the one year since the bubble that the Leafs somewhat addressed their lack of offence and toughness that they finally won a round, with the additions of Knies and O'Reilly able to provide much needed secondary offence, guys like Acciari, McCabe, and Schenn bringing hard hitting physicality to the lineup, and Samsonov providing good goaltending and clutch saves when the team needed him most (something Andersen and Campbell could never do here in the playoffs). It ultimately still wasn't enough as O'Reilly's age began to show, Knies and Samsonov were knocked out of the playoffs, and the Core Five failed to produce against the Panthers. Granted, Bobrovsky played out of his mind (and continued to as he victimized Carolina more than us) but with the series as close as it was, one more goal here or there easily could've been the difference between a Leafs Conference Finals appearance and the early exit they did suffer.

After three seasons of this formula, it's clear that relying on five players to carry the offensive load isn't working. I know they're all paid like they should be able to carry this team offensively, but it's just not feasible. You look at the recent Cup winning teams in Tampa, Colorado, and Vegas, yes they were lead offensively by their best players, but they also got offensive contributions from middle of the lineup guys like Toews, Lehkonen, Kadri, Shattenkirk, Killorn, Palat, Gourde, Coleman, Theodore, Barbashev, Stephenson, and Karlsson. Adding legitimate scoring options in Bertuzzi, Domi, and Klingberg gives the Leafs a much more potent lineup that should be capable of getting that extra goal or two we've desperately needed.

I also think the lost defensive play is overstated (not just from Dom, from everywhere). For starters, O'Reilly, Acciari, Schenn, and McCabe were not here for most of the season and the Leafs were a strong defensive team even before them. If anything they got worse in the regular season when these guys came aboard as Sheldon couldn't settle on a lineup and the new additions caused the lineup to have compatibility issues. Of the guys who were here all season and have now departed, only Kerfoot and Holl were strong defensively, while Bunting was average to mediocre at that aspect. To give credit to Sheldon, despite his glaring flaws, he has gotten this team to buy into a solid defensive system, with the Leafs ranking 10th in total goals against, 9th in goals against per game, and 9th in PK% since 2020-21. Having a full season of McCabe and Lafferty (who killed penalties in Chicago and was a shorthanded threat) should help mitigate the lost penalty killers, and Knies already showed good defensive instincts in the playoffs, indicating that he could be a non-liability out on the ice. Plus, the Leafs still have an MVP Centre, a Selke nominated winger, and one of the best defensive defenseman in the league on the team still, and all three will still see a lot of ice time. Not to mention we've still got a solid stable of safe defensively responsible players on the roster in Kampf, Jarnkrok, Giordano, and Liljegren.

More than anything, good defence requires a strong system from the coaches and strong effort from the players. We've already got one half of that down. All it will take to mitigate the incoming defensive deficiencies of the new guys is sheltering on the part of the coach (like stapling Brodie or McCabe to Klingberg) and the will of the players to actually learn and play in the system. We've seen Bertuzzi show a willingness to lay it on the line to prevent a goal, and Domi has expressed wanting Toronto to be his long term home so his willingness to learn and improve to be part of this franchise should be high. If these guys can be not complete liabilities on the ice while providing solid offence, I think their weaknesses won't be so pronounced and the lost defence won't be all that missed.

"one of the best defensive defenseman in the league"

Who are you referring to here? Brodie maybe?

I'm quite confident in our forwards and although our goaltending is still questionable, I feel Samsonov and Woll can handle the load. However, I'm not confident in our defense core. I think Klingberg well help us move the puck and provide a type of offense we've been missing there, so we're better from an offensive perspective, but we are physically weak. Giordano looks his age and Brodie looked like he was getting bullied. Reilly brings it in the playoffs, but Lily needs to add some toughness to his game. As of now, McCabe is all we have.

 

[Jimmy Firecracker]

"one of the best defensive defenseman in the league"

Who are you referring to here? Brodie maybe?

I'm quite confident in our forwards and although our goaltending is still questionable, I feel Samsonov and Woll can handle the load. However, I'm not confident in our defense core. I think Klingberg well help us move the puck and provide a type of offense we've been missing there, so we're better from an offensive perspective, but we are physically weak. Giordano looks his age and Brodie looked like he was getting bullied. Reilly brings it in the playoffs, but Lily needs to add some toughness to his game. As of now, McCabe is all we have.

Yes Brodie is who I’m referring to. I do agree that our lack of physicality on the backend is an issue, as well as age. Giordano really slowed down near the end and in the playoffs, and while Brodie had a poor series against Florida he did do a good job shutting down Tampa’s big guns in round 1.

A mean and physical defenseman would really round out the d-corps. Doesn’t matter the handedness. Nemeth is still out there and may be cheap but he is up there in age. Cal Foote is also intriguing given his size, willingness to drop the gloves, and possible untapped potential, though until we get the results of the 2018 WJ investigation he’s persona non grata.

 

[Notsince67]

With most of the free agency movement likely over, it's a clear consensus that the Leafs got better offensively, but worse defensively. In fact, based on Dom Luszczyszyn's model the Leafs have gotten a collective 14 goals worse after these departures and additions. Now of course there's still a lot of offseason left and more moves could be made, but I doubt whatever Tree has up his sleeve will drastically shift that number. Now from the jump you might think the Leafs have clearly gotten worse because of this, but my contention is that the lost defensive strength will not hurt as much as some may perceive.

What's been this team's identity for the past three seasons? The offence running through Five Guys, supported by a cast of players who are defensively responsible, intelligent, and safe. This approach has led to a lot of regular season success, but when it comes time to the NHL's second season, the lack of offensive depth becomes a glaring issue, and despite the defensive strength of the team they've lacked the grit and physicality to truly wear down our opponents. Goaltending has also played into our failures, as our lack of offence fails to beat great goaltending, our goalies have been outdueled, unable to rise to the occasion and really put the finishing touch to strong defence.

It's no surprise that in the one year since the bubble that the Leafs somewhat addressed their lack of offence and toughness that they finally won a round, with the additions of Knies and O'Reilly able to provide much needed secondary offence, guys like Acciari, McCabe, and Schenn bringing hard hitting physicality to the lineup, and Samsonov providing good goaltending and clutch saves when the team needed him most (something Andersen and Campbell could never do here in the playoffs). It ultimately still wasn't enough as O'Reilly's age began to show, Knies and Samsonov were knocked out of the playoffs, and the Core Five failed to produce against the Panthers. Granted, Bobrovsky played out of his mind (and continued to as he victimized Carolina more than us) but with the series as close as it was, one more goal here or there easily could've been the difference between a Leafs Conference Finals appearance and the early exit they did suffer.

After three seasons of this formula, it's clear that relying on five players to carry the offensive load isn't working. I know they're all paid like they should be able to carry this team offensively, but it's just not feasible. You look at the recent Cup winning teams in Tampa, Colorado, and Vegas, yes they were lead offensively by their best players, but they also got offensive contributions from middle of the lineup guys like Toews, Lehkonen, Kadri, Shattenkirk, Killorn, Palat, Gourde, Coleman, Theodore, Barbashev, Stephenson, and Karlsson. Adding legitimate scoring options in Bertuzzi, Domi, and Klingberg gives the Leafs a much more potent lineup that should be capable of getting that extra goal or two we've desperately needed.

I also think the lost defensive play is overstated (not just from Dom, from everywhere). For starters, O'Reilly, Acciari, Schenn, and McCabe were not here for most of the season and the Leafs were a strong defensive team even before them. If anything they got worse in the regular season when these guys came aboard as Sheldon couldn't settle on a lineup and the new additions caused the lineup to have compatibility issues. Of the guys who were here all season and have now departed, only Kerfoot and Holl were strong defensively, while Bunting was average to mediocre at that aspect. To give credit to Sheldon, despite his glaring flaws, he has gotten this team to buy into a solid defensive system, with the Leafs ranking 10th in total goals against, 9th in goals against per game, and 9th in PK% since 2020-21. Having a full season of McCabe and Lafferty (who killed penalties in Chicago and was a shorthanded threat) should help mitigate the lost penalty killers, and Knies already showed good defensive instincts in the playoffs, indicating that he could be a non-liability out on the ice. Plus, the Leafs still have an MVP Centre, a Selke nominated winger, and one of the best defensive defenseman in the league on the team still, and all three will still see a lot of ice time. Not to mention we've still got a solid stable of safe defensively responsible players on the roster in Kampf, Jarnkrok, Giordano, and Liljegren.

More than anything, good defence requires a strong system from the coaches and strong effort from the players. We've already got one half of that down. All it will take to mitigate the incoming defensive deficiencies of the new guys is sheltering on the part of the coach (like stapling Brodie or McCabe to Klingberg) and the will of the players to actually learn and play in the system. We've seen Bertuzzi show a willingness to lay it on the line to prevent a goal, and Domi has expressed wanting Toronto to be his long term home so his willingness to learn and improve to be part of this franchise should be high. If these guys can be not complete liabilities on the ice while providing solid offence, I think their weaknesses won't be so pronounced and the lost defence won't be all that missed.

Good post!
Interesting topic.
My feelings is that defense will struggle. The defensive corps may be exposed because the acquisition of Bertuzzi and Domi while giving better offense, may actually provided negative defense. These guys have shown plain bad defense. It will be interesting if Keefe can get them to buy into playing defensively when the opposition has the puck.
Klingberg is a horror show. He needs to be persuaded into taking far less risks or it will an opposition buffet for free pucks.
These guys all have talent but defense is only a word for them. I expect a few benching until they comply.

 

[TakeTheBody]

Won't hurt at all. No one on the team can spell acumen. The only one who could was Kerfoot and that's addition by subtraction.

 

[crump]

As long as we clinch the playoffs without much stress and play well in them I don’t care about giving up 14 more goals this year.

With the added offense on forward and D our GD with probably be close

 

[TMLBlueandWhite]

The objective isn't just to get better.

It's to be the best.

I'm not convinced this defense is much improved. Let lone good enough to win the cup. They swapped Holl out for Klingberg and added Benoit.

Making a shit bottom four a little less shit doesn't turn this team into a contender.

How anyone can look at this defense and think "Stanley Cup Winner" is beyond me. No matter how much I scratch my head I can't figure it out. These guys are all too old and delicate.

The whole defense are soft, no balls, no hit slugs.

Their first priority is to not get hurt. An ideal play is a fly by from safe distance to poke the puck loose. Never let anyone in their safety circle.

The one consistency they have is a complete and utter unwillingness to engage physically.

A decade ago a team with Rielly, Brodie, Giordano, and Klingberg on it might have been considered cup contending. I don't know what you would call it now. There's 1,001 terms you could use to describe this defense.

Cup contending isn't one of them.

 

[horner]

The objective isn't just to get better.

It's to be the best.

I'm not convinced this defense is much improved. Let lone good enough to win the cup. They swapped Holl out for Klingberg and added Benoit.

Making a shit bottom four a little less shit doesn't turn this team into a contender.

How anyone can look at this defense and think "Stanley Cup Winner" is beyond me. No matter how much I scratch my head I can't figure it out. These guys are all too old and delicate.

The whole defense are soft, no balls, no hit slugs.

Their first priority is to not get hurt. An ideal play is a fly by from safe distance to poke the puck loose. Never let anyone in their safety circle.

The one consistency they have is a complete and utter unwillingness to engage physically.

A decade ago a team with Rielly, Brodie, Giordano, and Klingberg on it might have been considered cup contending. I don't know what you would call it now. There's 1,001 terms you could use to describe this defense.

Cup contending isn't one of them.

We added Schen and McCabe at the deadline last yr.

Last yr regular season before the deadline

Mo
Brodie
Holl
Ljilgren
Gio
Sandin
Timmins
Benn


This yr

Mo
Brodie
McCabe
Klingberg
Ljiligren
Gio
Timmins
Simone Benoit

Personally I think we have a better D to start the season.

We will move the puck better with Klinkberg

Gio will be rotated with Tmmins or Beniot

Treliving will make whatever changes he needs to do at the deadline. Probably a dman in the mold of Schenn.

Bunting was not good in the done enter Bertuzzi who is much better offensively .

Domi for a full yr instead of ORielly

Knies instead of Kerfoot

I think our team will have more speed this yr and tougher

 

[nuck]

The objective isn't just to get better.

It's to be the best.

I'm not convinced this defense is much improved. Let lone good enough to win the cup. They swapped Holl out for Klingberg and added Benoit.

Making a shit bottom four a little less shit doesn't turn this team into a contender.

How anyone can look at this defense and think "Stanley Cup Winner" is beyond me. No matter how much I scratch my head I can't figure it out. These guys are all too old and delicate.

The whole defense are soft, no balls, no hit slugs.

Their first priority is to not get hurt. An ideal play is a fly by from safe distance to poke the puck loose. Never let anyone in their safety circle.

The one consistency they have is a complete and utter unwillingness to engage physically.

A decade ago a team with Rielly, Brodie, Giordano, and Klingberg on it might have been considered cup contending. I don't know what you would call it now. There's 1,001 terms you could use to describe this defense.

Cup contending isn't one of them.

Yeah I have concerns about the D for sure but this isn't game 1 yet and they can make and adjustment at the TDL to shore things up too. I think this is a really big year for Lilly as he needs to cement himself in the top 4 or get leapfrogged by whoever they are going to rely on in the playoffs.

 

[Maple Leaf]

Why not have luke Screebn instead of klingberg

 

[Sypher04]

We added Schen and McCabe at the deadline last yr.

Last yr regular season before the deadline

Mo
Brodie
Holl
Ljilgren
Gio
Sandin
Timmins
Benn


This yr

Mo
Brodie
McCabe
Klingberg
Ljiligren
Gio
Timmins
Simone Benoit

Personally I think we have a better D to start the season.

We will move the puck better with Klinkberg

Gio will be rotated with Tmmins or Beniot

Treliving will make whatever changes he needs to do at the deadline. Probably a dman in the mold of Schenn.

Bunting was not good in the done enter Bertuzzi who is much better offensively .

Domi for a full yr instead of ORielly

Knies instead of Kerfoot

I think our team will have more speed this yr and tougher

Actually Timmins was acquired in November. Unless you meant to have Mete in the original list.

Edit: nevermind I misread your post. I thought we were talking to start the last season, carry on lol

 

[Notsince67]

We added Schen and McCabe at the deadline last yr.

Last yr regular season before the deadline

Mo
Brodie
Holl
Ljilgren
Gio
Sandin
Timmins
Benn


This yr

Mo
Brodie
McCabe
Klingberg
Ljiligren
Gio
Timmins
Simone Benoit

Personally I think we have a better D to start the season.

We will move the puck better with Klinkberg

Gio will be rotated with Tmmins or Beniot

Treliving will make whatever changes he needs to do at the deadline. Probably a dman in the mold of Schenn.

Bunting was not good in the done enter Bertuzzi who is much better offensively .

Domi for a full yr instead of ORielly

Knies instead of Kerfoot

I think our team will have more speed this yr and tougher

Klingberg is a bit of a concern. If he keeps his game simple and not engage in the gambles he has in the past, he will be fine. Preventing Dzone giveaways is what Keefe needs to drill in training camp.

 

[IPS]

Treliving said that he was going to make some move son defense but he's done nothing of the sort. The current iteration of defense doesn't really jump off the page as anything too impressive.

 

[Stephen]

Klingberg is a bit of a concern. If he keeps his game simple and not engage in the gambles he has in the past, he will be fine. Preventing Dzone giveaways is what Keefe needs to drill in training camp.

I agree Klingberg carries a lot of risk (and upside) but I'm actually not sure if he needs to keep it simple under Keefe's system.

A good comparison is Justin Holl. I think they gave him a lot more leash to join the rush, pinch, make plays with the puck, etc. than a typical team would have with a player of his talent level. He gambled a lot, helped sustain o-zone pressure but majybe didn't directly translate immediately offense, but usually didn't hurt the team either. He was fairly good defensively, not reliable as a physical presence, prone to occasional catastrophic breakdowns and was often out of position due to his adventuring.

From a Klingberg comparison, I'm curious to see what kind of offense he'll be able to generate with a "Justin Holl pass" and if there's an uptick in offense due to his superior skillset compared to Holl. But also keep an eye on what kind of defense he brings too, since that has to be balanced out.

 

[horner]

Klingberg is a bit of a concern. If he keeps his game simple and not engage in the gambles he has in the past, he will be fine. Preventing Dzone giveaways is what Keefe needs to drill in training camp.

Klingberg Is replacing Holl
Offensively
Klinkberg
PP
Klingberg
Breakout of the dzone
Klinkberg

Pk
Holl

Defensively
Even

 

[Ianturnedbull]

Treliving said that he was going to make some move son defense but he's done nothing of the sort. The current iteration of defense doesn't really jump off the page as anything too impressive.

Don't call me "son". I'm not your "son"!

 

[Ianturnedbull]

It will only hurt if it's actually lost. If we could actually play 15-20 regular games we might be able to comment.

When Kadri was traded for Kerfoot/Barrie we had to wait and see. Many felt that Kadri was the best player in the deal. How did it turn out? Even though Kadri got suspended again, it wasn't going to off set the poor performance/fit by Barrie & Kerfoot. The rest is history: Kadri wins a cup and Barrie/Kerfoot were journeymen. The one season of Barrie was a complete disaster. The other seasons of Kerfoot were mediocre to average mixed with some epic boneheaded plays (from an Ivy Leaguer no less!).

 

[tmlfan98]

The addition by subtraction of Holl alone is going to positively impact the defense a lot more than many here seem to think.

 

[justashadowof]

I definitely agree that the team is going to be challenged to maintain a strong defensive performance in 2023-24. Not since 2019-20 has the team tried carrying an offensive-only defender like Klingberg (Barrie) and that team was a defensive disaster.

A good defensive showing for this roster is probably as the 10th to 15th ranked defense. I do think top 5 offense should also be an expectation for this roster. Is that the stuff of a Stanley Cup champion? We'll see.

 

[Hellcat]

With most of the free agency movement likely over, it's a clear consensus that the Leafs got better offensively, but worse defensively. In fact, based on Dom Luszczyszyn's model the Leafs have gotten a collective 14 goals worse after these departures and additions. Now of course there's still a lot of offseason left and more moves could be made, but I doubt whatever Tree has up his sleeve will drastically shift that number. Now from the jump you might think the Leafs have clearly gotten worse because of this, but my contention is that the lost defensive strength will not hurt as much as some may perceive.

What's been this team's identity for the past three seasons? The offence running through Five Guys, supported by a cast of players who are defensively responsible, intelligent, and safe. This approach has led to a lot of regular season success, but when it comes time to the NHL's second season, the lack of offensive depth becomes a glaring issue, and despite the defensive strength of the team they've lacked the grit and physicality to truly wear down our opponents. Goaltending has also played into our failures, as our lack of offence fails to beat great goaltending, our goalies have been outdueled, unable to rise to the occasion and really put the finishing touch to strong defence.

It's no surprise that in the one year since the bubble that the Leafs somewhat addressed their lack of offence and toughness that they finally won a round, with the additions of Knies and O'Reilly able to provide much needed secondary offence, guys like Acciari, McCabe, and Schenn bringing hard hitting physicality to the lineup, and Samsonov providing good goaltending and clutch saves when the team needed him most (something Andersen and Campbell could never do here in the playoffs). It ultimately still wasn't enough as O'Reilly's age began to show, Knies and Samsonov were knocked out of the playoffs, and the Core Five failed to produce against the Panthers. Granted, Bobrovsky played out of his mind (and continued to as he victimized Carolina more than us) but with the series as close as it was, one more goal here or there easily could've been the difference between a Leafs Conference Finals appearance and the early exit they did suffer.

After three seasons of this formula, it's clear that relying on five players to carry the offensive load isn't working. I know they're all paid like they should be able to carry this team offensively, but it's just not feasible. You look at the recent Cup winning teams in Tampa, Colorado, and Vegas, yes they were lead offensively by their best players, but they also got offensive contributions from middle of the lineup guys like Toews, Lehkonen, Kadri, Shattenkirk, Killorn, Palat, Gourde, Coleman, Theodore, Barbashev, Stephenson, and Karlsson. Adding legitimate scoring options in Bertuzzi, Domi, and Klingberg gives the Leafs a much more potent lineup that should be capable of getting that extra goal or two we've desperately needed.

I also think the lost defensive play is overstated (not just from Dom, from everywhere). For starters, O'Reilly, Acciari, Schenn, and McCabe were not here for most of the season and the Leafs were a strong defensive team even before them. If anything they got worse in the regular season when these guys came aboard as Sheldon couldn't settle on a lineup and the new additions caused the lineup to have compatibility issues. Of the guys who were here all season and have now departed, only Kerfoot and Holl were strong defensively, while Bunting was average to mediocre at that aspect. To give credit to Sheldon, despite his glaring flaws, he has gotten this team to buy into a solid defensive system, with the Leafs ranking 10th in total goals against, 9th in goals against per game, and 9th in PK% since 2020-21. Having a full season of McCabe and Lafferty (who killed penalties in Chicago and was a shorthanded threat) should help mitigate the lost penalty killers, and Knies already showed good defensive instincts in the playoffs, indicating that he could be a non-liability out on the ice. Plus, the Leafs still have an MVP Centre, a Selke nominated winger, and one of the best defensive defenseman in the league on the team still, and all three will still see a lot of ice time. Not to mention we've still got a solid stable of safe defensively responsible players on the roster in Kampf, Jarnkrok, Giordano, and Liljegren.

More than anything, good defence requires a strong system from the coaches and strong effort from the players. We've already got one half of that down. All it will take to mitigate the incoming defensive deficiencies of the new guys is sheltering on the part of the coach (like stapling Brodie or McCabe to Klingberg) and the will of the players to actually learn and play in the system. We've seen Bertuzzi show a willingness to lay it on the line to prevent a goal, and Domi has expressed wanting Toronto to be his long term home so his willingness to learn and improve to be part of this franchise should be high. If these guys can be not complete liabilities on the ice while providing solid offence, I think their weaknesses won't be so pronounced and the lost defence won't be all that missed.

Good post, I think the addition of Boucher can't be ignored but I agree the players added are not known to be defence minded, Domi, Bertuzzi, Klingberg are all offence first type players. Not to mention the Toronto effect, when Toronto players get a little frisky the ref's tend to have a quick whistle. I think our 5 on 5 GA will go up and our PK is going to get A LOT of work, I think we will be one of the top teams in terms of PIM against.

 

[Fogelhund]

Some people will look at the roster and think it’s gotten better, some will look at it and think it’s worse. Personally, I don’t know. What happens on paper, isn’t a predictor of what happens on ice. We don’t know about the chemistry of new players, the work younger guys have put into their games over the summer, the health of Matthews wrist… How will the team will perform? Stay tuned and watch the games.

 

[Maplebeasts]

Klingberg is worse defensively than Holl but vastly better at everything else. There is no way you could convince me he isn't at least a small upgrade overall. On paper we're losing some defensive ability for a (hopefully) sizeable jump up in offensive production from the back-end.

 

[Jimmy Firecracker]

Since I’ve made this thread a few more numbers have come up showing that the Leafs have over-relied on the Big Four forwards for offence the past few years. The most recent showing the difference of offensive production between our top four forwards and recent Cup Champs.



The second and one I’ve posted before is just how little offence was produced from forwards not named Matthews, Marner, Nylander, or Tavares.

Having only five players capable of driving offence is infeasible. Hell Knies wasn’t even a regular when the playoffs began, who knows what may have happened against Tampa if hadn’t played at all, or how things would’ve went against Florida if he didn’t get injured by Bennett.

The two red arrows in the chart above are Domi and Bertuzzi. Combined with Knies we finally have guys behind the Big Four who are capable of creating offence. It’s about time we’ve gotten some forwards who aren’t just out there to kill time.

 

[namttebih]

Why not have luke Screebn instead of klingberg

They were never going to realistically be able to match Nashville's offer. He got close to 7 mill. That said, I'd rather him in year 3 than Reaves.

 

[The Iceman]

SURE the Leafs are weaker today than "post" trade deadline.
Dom was comparing the Leafs team that ended 2023 and included Ryan O’Reilly, Erik Gustafsson, Luke Schenn, and Noel Acciari.

If we add 4 similar players at this years trade deadline we are right back in business.