Leafs invest in forwards and not defencemen
If you can’t skate and move the puck, you can’t be on Leafs
It’s like people didn’t watch last year’s Stanley Cup final.
In that final, neither the Washington Capitals nor the Vegas Golden Knights could boast of a Norris Trophy-winning defenceman, or even a backliner who had ever come close to winning the award. For the Caps, John Carlson got Norris votes but finished far behind winner
Victor Hedman (94 first-place votes to three), while the Knights had mostly defencemen either gleaned from the expansion draft or picked up in trades by general manager George McPhee.
Washington used Brooks Orpik, Dmitri Orlov, Matt Niskanen, Michal Kempny and Christian Djoos, along with Carlson. Vegas iced a group that included Shea Theodore, Nate Schmidt, Colin Miller, Brayden McNabb, Luca Sbisa and Deryk Engelland. Not one of those Golden Knights defencemen would have been considered a legitimate top-four rearguard before last season.
Yet, despite the relative absence of star power on the Washington and Vegas defences, those were the two finalists. Odd, given that every day here in Toronto we are subjected non-stop to the narrative that any team with serious Cup dreams must have a stud on defence, a Bobby Orr-like player capable of logging 30 minutes and dominating a game. Except that it’s not true. It might be nice, but it’s not necessary. Moreover, as the NHL draft this past June demonstrated, there is an evolution in thinking among many teams these days in terms of exactly what constitutes the protypical defenceman.
Rasmus Dahlin, not a big fellow, went first overall. Quinn Hughes, a five-foot-nine defenceman, went seventh followed by another smallish Swede, defenceman Adam Boqvist. Ty Smith, Ryan Merkley, Filip Johansson, Jacob Bernard-Docker, Nicolas Beaudin and Nils Lundkvist were all defencemen drafted in the first round, and all were six feet in height or less.
All these picks reflected a new philosophy among many teams that speed and mobility, plus the ability to quickly exit the defensive zone, are the elements now most valued when it comes to NHL defencemen. Not size. Not brawn or height.
The Maple Leafs took fivefoot-11 rearguard Rasmus Sandin 29th, yet more evidence of the way in which Kyle Dubas and Co. think when it comes to building a defence corps.
Indeed, there is no evidence, as Dubas takes over from Lou Lamoriello, that the Leafs organization is buying into the argument it must dramatically upgrade the blue-line from an external source to have any hope of winning a Cup. Given the personnel moves and player investments they’ve made over the past several years, it’s clear the Leafs believe in investing primarily in forwards, both in terms of high draft picks and payroll.
They could have drafted Julius Honka or Travis Sanheim in 2014, but they took William Nylander. They could have taken Noah Hanifin the next year, but drafted Mitch Marner.
They did take Sandin last June and Timothy Liljegren in the first round in 2017, but neither was acquired with a pick in the top half of the first round.
They spent US$77 million on centre John Tavares this summer, and gave $19 million to Patrick Marleau last summer. They don’t pay any defenceman more than $5 million per season. Starting goalie Frederik Andersen makes $5 million.
So that’s how the Leafs believe in spending their money — the theory being the primary job of a defenceman is to move the puck quickly to all those forwards who are getting the big bucks. If you can’t do that well, you can’t play for the Leafs.
Roman Polak, who played 54 games last season off a remarkable comeback from injury and then averaged 17 minutes while playing in all seven Leaf playoff games, was let go. At the same time, five-foot-nine Jordan Subban was signed to a two-way contract.
It’s about zone exits, not clearing the front of the crease. It’s about joining the rush, not simply keeping the shots down on Andersen, which really is a team-related challenge anyway. You may think differently, but this is how the Leafs think and that’s not likely to change.
When people look at Morgan Rielly, Jake Gardiner, Travis Dermott and Nikita Zaitsev and say that group’s not good enough or big enough or mean enough, well, that’s because they’re not evaluating defence the way the Leafs are.
Make no mistake about it, those Toronto blueliners all need to continue to improve, and the team needs more blue-line depth, a better third pairing for sure. But those four play defence the way the Leafs believe defence needs to be played in the NHL circa 2018. Ideally, Sandin and Liljegren will graduate to the big club at some point, and they are exactly those type of rearguards, as well.
Does that mean Dubas would never go out and get a player like Erik Karlsson, as the San Jose Sharks did? Or wouldn’t have been interested if Drew Doughty had made it to unrestricted free agency next summer?
Not necessarily, but it seems more likely the Leafs intend to build their defence from within for reasons of philosophy and economy. Last season, that approach helped produce the NHL’s fourth-best offence and 12th-best defence.
These are the facts. It doesn’t mean the narrative that the Leafs will never win until they get a blue-line stud will go away. Or the belief the Leafs don’t have the right type of defencemen, that they’re too small at the back.
Lots of people will go with those storylines this season. Doesn’t mean you have to.
Damien Cox is a former Star sports reporter who is a current freelance columnist based in Toronto. Follow him on Twitter: @DamoSpin.