Leafs address the 6 out of 7 Defenders as Lefties situation [2014-2024]

[HamiltonNHL]

Franson is the only righty.
People have suggested Franson might not stay.
That would mean we would have only left handed defencemen left.
That seems like bad planning.

Phaneuf plays "on the wrong side" to make up for the lack of Right handed Defence.

Click to read more...

 

[BigWilly]

The quality of the defenseman is much more important than their handedness. Exhibit A: Cody Franson.

 

[Diatomic]

The quality of the defenseman is much more important than their handedness. Exhibit A: Cody Franson.

pretty much.

 

[HamiltonNHL]

Hmmm ...
Seems like a Left Handed shot playing Left D would have alot easier time clearing the puck up the boards in the D Zone, and keeping the puck in on Offence.

I'll see if other teams similar lack of balance.

Someone mentioned that Phaneuf played "on his wrong side" this year. Seems like Defencemen do prefer playing one side over another.

 

[HamiltonNHL]

Random Team: Hawks.

Equal left and right D.

 

[HamiltonNHL]

Random Team #2:

Perfect Balance.

 

[GordieHoweHatTrick]

Lets be honest here, those weren't random

 

[HamiltonNHL]

Looks like Granberg and Percy probably prefer right D (are righties).

I wonder if any Dman prefer to play on the "opposite side" ?

 

[HamiltonNHL]

Lets be honest here, those weren't random

Pick your own two teams then !

 

[-DeMo-]

Detroit only has 2 right handed shots on the entire team, Alfredsson and Glendening, the other 19 skaters are all lefties. including all 7 Dmen.

 

[BackHandShelf22]

Lets be honest here, those weren't random

 

[Phion Keneuf]

You know what doesn't make sense? The fact that our defence can't play defence.

 

[Sonofamitch]

I see this as a big deal.

Chicago, Boston, LA, San Jose, pitsburgh, New York, and St Louis all have balanced defences were there is a good ratio of right handed dman to left handed dman.

 

[edbrubaker*]

It's a big deal because we're a team that struggles to get the puck out of the zone. Granberg deserves a hard look. Someone mentioned Percy but I believe he's a LHD

http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdisplay.php?pid=122896
http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/teams/players/bio/?id=9065

Both links say he's a lefty.

It's less of a concern for Gardiner and Rielly as they're carrying the puck out of the zone rather than firing up to the wing.

Franson is a RHD but what Franson's downside is when he tries to make too many cross ice passes, his decisions in his zone are pretty bad so him being RHD isn't an asset when he's can't make a smart simple play.

We really need a RHD version of Gunner.

I would love to try to get Larsson for Kadri, Larsson would be an ideal fit to grow alongside Phaneuf.

 

[capfit9]

Looks like Granberg and Percy probably prefer right D (are righties).

I wonder if any Dman prefer to play on the "opposite side" ?

Percy is a lefty

 

[Daisy Jane]

for the life of me - I never knew this was such a thing, until Babcock made it into this whole I NEED to have left/right, and all of a sudden Cody Franson will get money because he's a righty and puts up powerplay points.

 

[snizzbone*]

Phaneuf actually plays RD because he prefers that, not because we need people for RD.

 

[Cor]

I believe Morgan Rielly prefers the right side as well

 

[FlareKnight]

Franson was a pretty big black hole defensively this year despite the magical right shot. He sank a lot of his pairings despite the left/right balance.

I think it'd be nice to have balance, but I sure hope roster spots aren't handed out simply for that reason.

 

[Rielly4]

Wow this guy fully got me all excited that Percy was a righty. I always thought he was lefty, and now after looking realizing he is a lefty im a little rattled.

Honestly, we need more balance in handedness. You want to build a defense that has rightys playing the right side and leftys playing the left, especially 5 on 5... Although i would not mind having 2 rights 4 leftys in the top 6.

Fransons probably gone as he just doesnt fit the big picture... But i think Granberg or Holzer could make the team bottom pairing for that very reason.

 

[Rielly4]

I believe Morgan Rielly prefers the right side as well

Not true... Guys a gem so he can play whatever but hes a LD because hes left handed...But in Moose Jaw he played both whatever minutes he can get the kid will take.

 

[Rielly4]

It's a big deal because we're a team that struggles to get the puck out of the zone. Granberg deserves a hard look. Someone mentioned Percy but I believe he's a LHD

http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdisplay.php?pid=122896
http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/teams/players/bio/?id=9065

Both links say he's a lefty.

It's less of a concern for Gardiner and Rielly as they're carrying the puck out of the zone rather than firing up to the wing.

Franson is a RHD but what Franson's downside is when he tries to make too many cross ice passes, his decisions in his zone are pretty bad so him being RHD isn't an asset when he's can't make a smart simple play.

We really need a RHD version of Gunner.

I would love to try to get Larsson for Kadri, Larsson would be an ideal fit to grow alongside Phaneuf.

RHD version of Gunner... His name is Granberg...Granberg is like a more physical harder working Gunner, but obviously younger and less developed.

 

[HamiltonNHL]

Percy is a lefty

Thanks. Noted.

The Hockeysfuture.com site says he shoots right.
http://www.hockeysfuture.com/prospects/stuart_percy/

 

[Smif]

It's a huge deal, some games it doesn't make a difference at all but there's times here and there where it totally prohibits you from making what seems to be a standard play. Keeping the play in the O zone when the puck is coming around the boards is especially hard on your off hand.

 

[Ari91]

The quality of the defenseman is much more important than their handedness. Exhibit A: Cody Franson.

Pretty much nailed it here. I don't know about the system and strategies of the game to know if having a L/R combination is automatically better than a R/R or L/L but so long as we can find D that can play defense well and protect their own end of the ice, I don't care how many of them are lefties or righties.