Your ideal Defense pairings

[ACC1224]

Team is rolling along pretty well but there still seems to be some discussion/concerns on the pairings and who sits.

I've excluded Rielly/Brodie as that seems set in stone and playing well.

If there is a setup overlooked, post it and I'll add it to the options.

Click to read more...

 

[justashadowof]

When thinking of "ideal" I strongly prefer natural handedness. Therefore the first choice. It's a nice luxury to have a 7th defenseman as capable as Dermott who can not only handle both sides but also keep his head above water on different pairings, sides and partners.

The ultimate ideal as far as I'm concerned will be to delete Holl from the 2nd pairing and add an experienced RHD through trade leaving Sandin, Liljegren and Dermott sharing the 3rd pairing duties.

Also ideal would be a bigger more robust defender in Dermott's place as the 7th defenseman. I fear that only Liljegren is physically equipped to handle a playoff opponent with many large physical forwards.

 

[ACC1224]

When thinking of "ideal" I strongly prefer natural handedness. Therefore the first choice. It's a nice luxury to have a 7th defenseman as capable as Dermott who can not only handle both sides but also keep his head above water on different pairings, sides and partners.

The ultimate ideal as far as I'm concerned will be to delete Holl from the 2nd pairing and add an experienced RHD through trade leaving Sandin, Liljegren and Dermott sharing the 3rd pairing duties.

Also ideal would be a bigger more robust defender in Dermott's place as the 7th defenseman. I fear that only Liljegren is physically equipped to handle a playoff opponent with many large physical forwards.

Yes, Id' agree with the bolded but just wanted to include the current players.

 

[zeke]

The only real question is if any of the guys dominating on the bottom pairing can do the job on one of the top pairings.

Dermott got the first shot and that went very poorly.

Sandin would force us to switch someone else to their offside so that's tricky.

Liljegren is sure looking like he could do it soon, but there's no guarantees there yet.

I'm sure as the season goes on Lilly will get a shot there eventually and we'll see how it goes.

 

[TMLAM34]

Damon Severson. Would really solidify our defence.

Rielly - Brodie
Sandin - Severson
Muzzin - Liljegren

OR

Rielly - Brodie
Muzzin - Severson
Sandin - Liljegren

 

[Gary Nylund]

The ultimate ideal as far as I'm concerned will be to delete Holl from the 2nd pairing and add an experienced RHD through trade leaving Sandin, Liljegren and Dermott sharing the 3rd pairing duties.

Yes, Id' agree with the bolded but just wanted to include the current players.

I miss Bogosian.

 

[Buds17]

Muzzin/Holl, Sandin/Liljegren. Don't see the need to accelerate Liljegren into what could be too much responsibility while still in his rookie season. Holl isn't going to be Rielly, Brodie or Muzzin. However, I do believe he can complement them well enough for 20 min. per game to an extent that the others can't quite yet achieve. Any cap issues aside, Dermott would be great to keep around as a fill-in that can switch sides as needed.

 

[Stephen]

For me, the name of the game is flexibility. So sometimes we need more of a skill element with some good mobility and I can see a Dermott, Liljegren and Sandin grouping. But sometimes we also want to play the role of spoiler and Holl can thrive in that situation too with Muzzin. So it just depends.

 

[Mickey Marner]

No real preference, but I think we should experiment with different pairings now that we're sitting on a ~10 point playoff cushion. When a defenseman inevitably gets injured during the playoffs, I'd like to know what works and what doesn't.

 

[LeafGrief]

What we've got is great. Liljegren can fight to steal Holl's job, but in the meantime I think they're set up as well as they could be.

If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

 

[Gary Nylund]

Muzzin/Holl, Sandin/Liljegren. Don't see the need to accelerate Liljegren into what could be too much responsibility while still in his rookie season. Holl isn't going to be Rielly, Brodie or Muzzin. However, I do believe he can complement them well enough for 20 min. per game to an extent that the others can't quite yet achieve. Any cap issues aside, Dermott would be great to keep around as a fill-in that can switch sides as needed.

Agree 100%. The rookie's are doing great, best to let them keep developing and consolidate where they're at now, keep building their confidence etc.

Of course we're constantly re-evaluating as the season goes on but it could be that the rookies do so well on the 3rd pairing that they get as much ice time as the 2nd pairing. Nothing wrong with that as far as I can tell, Muzzin's not as young as he once was so him being relied upon a bit less wouldn't be a bad thing at all. If we have a top pairing followed by 2A/2B pairings, that would awesome and you could give 2A or 2B more of a load depending on the opponent or who is more on that night or whatever else.

Other than Campbell, the emergence of the rookie defence pairing is the best thing to happen this season so for now, just let them keep doing what they're doing!

 

[zeke]

Damon Severson. Would really solidify our defence.

Rielly - Brodie
Sandin - Severson
Muzzin - Liljegren

OR

Rielly - Brodie
Muzzin - Severson
Sandin - Liljegren

Why is NJ trading him tho?

 

[Gary Nylund]

No real preference, but I think we should experiment with different pairings now that we're sitting on a ~10 point playoff cushion. When a defenseman inevitably gets injured during the playoffs, I'd like to know what works and what doesn't.

There's something to this POV but there's also something to be said for fighting to finish 1st in our division. On one hand, you definitely don't want to burn out chasing that but on the other hand, 1st place is a huge prize and could be the difference between playing someone like CLB or the Rangers in the 1st round.

 

[Gary Nylund]

What we've got is great. Liljegren can fight to steal Holl's job, but in the meantime I think they're set up as well as they could be.

If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Seems so obvious, doesn't it? This team is so not broken ATM, I wouldn't change a damn thing.

 

[Leafs87]

Top 4 is pretty much written in stone. For the bottom pairing I like Lil/Sandin. Dermott is okay but really not spectacular with less upside left than Lil and I’d rather develop him than play Dermott

 

[ACC1224]

Muzzin/Holl, Sandin/Liljegren. Don't see the need to accelerate Liljegren into what could be too much responsibility while still in his rookie season. Holl isn't going to be Rielly, Brodie or Muzzin. However, I do believe he can complement them well enough for 20 min. per game to an extent that the others can't quite yet achieve. Any cap issues aside, Dermott would be great to keep around as a fill-in that can switch sides as needed.

I don't see it as acceleration, just a natural progression. If this was later on in the season, agreed run with what they know but this early in the season there is plenty of time to bring Lilly along.
I'm surprised people aren't more excited about his ability, he blows Holl out of the water.

 

[PromisedLand]

Other:

Rielly Brodie
Muzzin XXX
Sandin Lily

OR

Rielly Brodie
Muzzin Lily
Sandin XXX


I have ZERO faith in Dermott and Holl. We desperately need an upgrade.

 

[Buds17]

Seems so obvious, doesn't it? This team is so not broken ATM, I wouldn't change a damn thing.

I'd 'like' this more than once if that were possible.

 

[Oscar Peterson]

For me, I'd like to see Muzzin-Liljegren and Sandin-Dermott get an extended look. Haven't been able to watch most of the games lately, saw the entire Anaheim game though and Holl was still driving me nuts, for the life of me I can't tell what others see in him. But that being said, the team is rolling right now and I can see the argument for easing Liljegren in rather than putting him on the shutdown pairing in his first year. So I don't think it's ultimately a big deal, at the end of the day having either Holl, Dermott, or Liljegren as our 7th option only reinforces how much better our D have gotten compared to a couple years ago.

 

[Buds17]

I don't see it as acceleration, just a natural progression. If this was later on in the season, agreed run with what they know but this early in the season there is plenty of time to bring Lilly along.
I'm surprised people aren't more excited about his ability, he blows Holl out of the water.

I guess I'd prefer not having to scale back in the event that's what would be required. Liljegren isn't even playing in every game right now (it's fair enough to disagree with that being the correct move). I'm just not entirely sure about him playing the amount per that Holl logs at this time.

 

[zeke]

It might be better to try Lilly with Rielly so he doesn't have to face the toughest matchups, while making the Muzzin-Brodie pairing the top matchup pair (which is likely our best defensive matchup pairing anyways).

 

[Its not your fault]

Agree 100%. The rookie's are doing great, best to let them keep developing and consolidate where they're at now, keep building their confidence etc.

Of course we're constantly re-evaluating as the season goes on but it could be that the rookies do so well on the 3rd pairing that they get as much ice time as the 2nd pairing. Nothing wrong with that as far as I can tell, Muzzin's not as young as he once was so him being relied upon a bit less wouldn't be a bad thing at all. If we have a top pairing followed by 2A/2B pairings, that would awesome and you could give 2A or 2B more of a load depending on the opponent or who is more on that night or whatever else.

Other than Campbell, the emergence of the rookie defence pairing is the best thing to happen this season so for now, just let them keep doing what they're doing!

Hes at the age that once you loose that edge it's gone. I'd play him the same amount he would need to play in the playoffs. Upping the minutes last minutes on the aging body that's played 75 to 82 games isn't always easy to do either.

 

[ACC1224]

I guess I'd prefer not having to scale back in the event that's what would be required. Liljegren isn't even playing in every game right now (it's fair enough to disagree with that being the correct move). I'm just not entirely sure about him playing the amount per that Holl logs at this time.

Yeah I get that. I see Holl(like many do) as the teams weakest link and worry that come playoff time he will be targeted and exploited.
Lilly IMO, is ready for that challenge.
Does Holl log that much more ice than Lilly?

 

[Buds17]

Yeah I get that. I see Holl(like many do) as the teams weakest link and worry that come playoff time he will be targeted and exploited.
Lilly IMO, is ready for that challenge.
Does Holl log that much more ice than Lilly?

Holl - 20:22/per, Liljegren - 15:17/per. Holl has played in three more games.

 

[Brobust]

I don't think Holl's a bad player, he's just someone who can't keep up with Toronto's style of play. Hopefully another GM sees that and is able to give some value back for him.