Not many teams in the league have a meaner Dcore than us

[notbias]

Honestly I can't recall having a defense this strong defensively and straight up gritty and mean in a long time. Our D might not be the best all around Dcore around, but Treliving had a vision and has certainly executed it. Walking through

Rielly - We saw he takes no shit several times in his career. I will always remember him beating the hell out of Tampa players and rocking the dual black eyes. And who can forget Grieg last year?

Tanev - One of the most well known warrior type D in the league

McCabe - Another complete warrior

Benoit - You guys score the goals, I'll bang bodies

Haakanpaa - 6 foot 7 guy who arrives to the rink in a bad mood.

The only guys who are not tough are Liljegren and OEL who likely project as our bottom pair, but both provide vital puck moving ability.

Too bad a lot of teams have better D....

I also don't think Hakanpaa and Benoit are both playing

Tanev is mean? Since when?

Treliving built a very mean team in Calgary, they are not doing so great now, I want him to build a good team.

McCabe and Benoit are really the only two people need to watch out for...

 

[notbias]

Timmins is 25, Liljegren is 23, Benoit is 25, Rielly is 30, McCabe is 30/31. I don't think they are even close to being one of the oldest lol

Liljegren is 25

They've got to be close to one of the oldest

Assuming they go with this:
Rielly (30) - Tanev (34)
McCabe (31) - Liljegren (25)
OEL (33) - Hakanpaa (32)

Average age of 31

That's got to be top 5 oldest

 

[OVO16]

Not good for you guys if he hates playing in a Canadian market, then.

But he was always glowing about Vancouver when he was here.

And he was also a giant useless muffin watching a lot of him in Arizona before we got him.

If you think OEL is going to be a physical presence for you, you are going to be horribly disappointed.

Lmao again, im literally quoting his own teammates. No one is expecting him to lay massive open ice hits

He was a completely different player in Florida then he was in Vancouver. There's a reason he got the contract he got.

His time ion Vancouver was abysmal and thats all you can think about

 

[MS]

Lmao again, im literally quoting his own teammates. No one is expecting him to lay massive open ice hits

He was a completely different player in Florida then he was in Vancouver. There's a reason he got the contract he got.

His time ion Vancouver was abysmal and thats all you can think about

I watched him extremely closely in Arizona as well, especially in 20-21 after we almost traded for him in 2020.

This is not a physical player.

He was better in Florida mostly because he was given 60% zone starts in 18 minutes/game instead of being asked to play 22 minutes of high-leverage matchups.

He was also pretty good in Vancouver for most of his first season. But still not physical, at all.

And I wouldn't be surprised to see him be a solid #5D for you or whatever. But it won't be on the basis of any physical play.

 

[Sypher04]

If you think OEL is going to be a physical presence for you, you are going to be horribly disappointed.

You obviously didn't watch much of him in Florida. He's not the guy leading the charge, but he absolutely takes part.

 

[Jimmy Firecracker]

Meanness aside, if this D-Corps is healthy and no unfortunate or unforeseen drop-offs in play, this should be the best and deepest defence in the Matthews era. Looing at D-Corps of years past this years at least a solid argument. Compare this defence to our better defences in previous seasons:

2024-25​	2022-23​	2020-21​	2018-19​
Rielly-Tanev Ekman-Larsson-McCabe Hakanpaa-Liljegren Benoit​	Rielly-Schenn McCabe-Brodie Giordano-Liljegren Gustaffson-Holl​	Rielly-Brodie Muzzin-Holl Dermott-Bogosian Sandin​	Rielly-Hainsey Muzzin-Zaitsev Gardiner-Dermott​

I ignored the early years of the Matthews Era and the years where we had to reset after going all in the previous season (2020, 2022, 2024) and/or the D-Corps frankly just wasn't as good.

 

[Sypher04]

People need to stop acting like early 30s players are old and about to fall off a cliff or suffer a major injury at literally any moment.

 

[notbias]

Meanness aside, if this D-Corps is healthy and no unfortunate or unforeseen drop-offs in play, this should be the best and deepest defence in the Matthews era. Looing at D-Corps of years past this years at least a solid argument. Compare this defence to our better defences in previous seasons:

​

2024-25​	2022-23​	2020-21​	2018-19​
Rielly-Tanev Ekman-Larsson-McCabe Hakanpaa-Liljegren Benoit​	Rielly-Schenn McCabe-Brodie Giordano-Liljegren Gustaffson-Holl​	Rielly-Brodie Muzzin-Holl Dermott-Bogosian Sandin​	Rielly-Hainsey Muzzin-Zaitsev Gardiner-Dermott​

I ignored the early years of the Matthews Era and the years where we had to reset after going all in the previous season (2020, 2022, 2024) and/or the D-Corps frankly just wasn't as good.

2020-21 was better.

Brodie was Tanev or better and Muzzin was better than McCabe by a fair bit.

OEL is the wildcard; he could make this D better, but 2020-21 was better right now.

 

[HockeyVirus]

Too bad a lot of teams have better D....

We'll see this year won't we?

Treliving built a very mean team in Calgary, they are not doing so great now, I want him to build a good team.

We already have a good team. He is clearly swapping out the insulating pieces around the core with grit and prioritizing defense in a way we haven't done under Dubas.

 

[rumman]

I don't recall a single instance of gritty play in OEL's two years in Vancouver. And he's just soft as hell in coverage generally speaking.

Will the real OEL please make your presence known…….

 

[Gabriel426]

Health will be the issue with our Dcorps.
Lilly is the Wild Card and hope OEL can help him more with the way he moves the puck.

OEL will also play a role on PP1 too.

I like this defence better than a yr ago for now. Will need to see how they play before proclaiming they are the best ones in recent years.

 

[rumman]

You're also forgetting he hated playing for the canucks and had zero motivation to do anything

He signed with Vancouver, hope he’s not the kind of guy to mail it in when things don’t go his way……..

 

[notbias]

We'll see this year won't we?



We already have a good team. He is clearly swapping out the insulating pieces around the core with grit and prioritizing defense in a way we haven't done under Dubas.

We brought in random muscle every year, but sure, this year is different.

The team lives and dies with the core like usual, we've swapped random pieces.

 

[Gabriel426]

Will the real OEL please make your presence known…….

OEL is not a face puncher gritty but he is also not shy from contacts or will be overpowered in the corner.

 

[rumman]

OEL is not a face puncher gritty but he is also not shy from contacts or will be overpowered in the corner.

So far more physical than Lilly?

 

[Gabriel426]

So far more physical than Lilly?

A lot more, lol.

 

[Ianturnedbull]

Not good for you guys if he hates playing in a Canadian market, then.

But he was always glowing about Vancouver when he was here.

And he was also a giant useless muffin watching a lot of him in Arizona before we got him.

If you think OEL is going to be a physical presence for you, you are going to be horribly disappointed.

I heard a funny quote from Jason Strudwick. Paraphrasing:

" OEL used to be afraid to high five his own team mates in Vancouver for fear of injury. In Florida I couldn't believe it was the same guy."

I hope he changed.

 

[Jimmy Firecracker]

2020-21 was better.

Brodie was Tanev or better and Muzzin was better than McCabe by a fair bit.

OEL is the wildcard; he could make this D better, but 2020-21 was better right now.

Ehhh it's close but I think this year's will perform better. Rielly-Brodie and Rielly-Tanev are probably about the same, maybe a slight edge this year due to Tanev's handedness but regardless yeah it's about equal. Holl in the top four really drags down 2021 though IMO. If McCabe is the Muzzin equivalent I'd rather have OEL and Liljegren over Holl for sure. Muzzin was better than McCabe but collectively that 2nd pairing should be stronger. Whichever one of OEL or Liljegren loses the battle for the second pair I'd take over Dermott on the third pair.

Benoit or Hakanpaa against Bogosian... that's actually closer than I would've first believed. Bogo performed well in a third pairing role for us. Looking at some publicly available stats from Bogo's year with us, his past season in Minny, and Benoit and Hakanpaa's 2023-24s, Bogosian grades out slightly better. The only things in favour of the Leafs two is 1) Benoit being younger with room to improve and perform at a higher level than 30+ Bogosian has, and 2) Hakanpaa returning to his 22-23 and previous form with Dallas where he graded out better than Bogosian and maybe he's healthy enough this year to do that. Either way I don't think the margins are big enough to go strongly one way or the other. And whoever ends up being our 7th D will be better than a rookie Sandin was for us that season.

2021-2025

Rielly = Rielly
Brodie = Tanev
Muzzin > McCabe
Holl < OEL/Liljegren
Dermott < OEL/Liljegren
Bogosian = Benoit/Hakanpaa
Sandin < Benoit/Hakanpaa

Good case 2021s Top Three is better than this years, but when we get to 4 and below the edge goes to 2025.

 

[Ianturnedbull]

Honestly I can't recall having a defense this strong defensively and straight up gritty and mean in a long time. Our D might not be the best all around Dcore around, but Treliving had a vision and has certainly executed it. Walking through

Rielly - We saw he takes no shit several times in his career. I will always remember him beating the hell out of Tampa players and rocking the dual black eyes. And who can forget Grieg last year?

Tanev - One of the most well known warrior type D in the league

McCabe - Another complete warrior

Benoit - You guys score the goals, I'll bang bodies

Haakanpaa - 6 foot 7 guy who arrives to the rink in a bad mood.

The only guys who are not tough are Liljegren and OEL who likely project as our bottom pair, but both provide vital puck moving ability.

I hope so. I really do...

 

[Ianturnedbull]

That's great and all, but can they move the puck effectively to our forwards is the primary issue we've had regarding our defense these last few years

Tanev/OEL are both solid puckmovers so I'm hoping we've made progress in this regard.

I think the issue is more complicated. TOR hasn't had a mucker/grinder in their top 6 since Hyman. Moving the puck effectively in my opinion is chipping it just beyond center, or deep into the O-zone. It's not always skating it out, and making a great pass. If Nylander isn't entering the zone with the puck, there's s no possession to speak of. I hope Berube mixes it up.

 

[thewave]

Liljegren is 25

They've got to be close to one of the oldest

Assuming they go with this:
Rielly (30) - Tanev (34)
McCabe (31) - Liljegren (25)
OEL (33) - Hakanpaa (32)

Average age of 31

That's got to be top 5 oldest

Nothing wrong with that. One of the reasons I think we may actually have a deep run this year.

 

[darrylsittler27]

Too bad a lot of teams have better D....

I also don't think Hakanpaa and Benoit are both playing

Tanev is mean? Since when?

Treliving built a very mean team in Calgary, they are not doing so great now, I want him to build a good team.

McCabe and Benoit are really the only two people need to watch out for...

Yeah I'd say don't count on Hakaanpaa yet. I'd rate it as above average but we lack that top 2 stud who can play against all lines in most situations.

 

[phillipmike]

Since it’s a on paper comparison, I would argue 2010-11 is as good as any Leaf D on paper when it comes to defense, grit and even add the right-left element;

Phaneuf-Schenn
Kaberle-Komisarek
Gunnarsson-Beauchemin

And just before that, the 2007-09 group wasn’t bad too;

McCabe-Kaberle
Gill-Kubina
White-Colaicovo
Stralman

 

[Maple Leaf]

I liked luck schenn should have kept him

 

[Da Cool Rula]

It shouldn't be much of a factor. At least not until the playoffs.

Hang in there fren. Us 1967 guys gotta have faith. Now back to my Johnny Blue.