Muzzin is making no excuses
John Tavares, the Maple Leafs captain, said it took him most of an hour to get out of his driveway. Which was saying something, considering Tavares drives a truck.
Linemate Alex Kerfoot tried his best to manoeuvre his vehicle to the nearest plowed thoroughfare. But given how Kerfoot drives a small car, not much good in the snow, he eventually gave up and got an Uber ride to practice.
Defenceman Jake Muzzin, meanwhile, said he spent more than an hour shovelling out his driveway after the GTA woke up Monday to a rare blizzard. On the upside, traffic wasn’t a problem and Leafs practice wasn’t scheduled to start until noon. And if there were a few stragglers, everybody arrived, eventually.
“A little extra work this morning,” Muzzin said.
A little extra work in a season that, for Muzzin, has appeared to be more of a labour than usual. While Muzzin has built a name as a lowmaintenance, defensive linchpin since he arrived in town in a predeadline trade in 2019, his play has been a red flag in an otherwise promising Maple Leafs run that, on a lot of nights, the veteran blueliner hasn’t played up to his usual standard.
Not that Muzzin hasn’t been dealt some less-than-optimal circumstances. Like a lot of Leafs, his Christmas break intersected with a stint on the COVID protocol list, this in the days after Muzzin took the rap for an inadvertent practice collision with teammate Mitch Marner that put Marner out for most of a month. Muzzin also has been expected to paper over the inconsistencies that have at times sent longtime defensive partner Justin Holl to the press box as a healthy scratch. On Saturday, with Holl on the COVID list, it was Muzzin carrying the load on Toronto’s second defensive pairing while third-pair regular Timothy Liljegren moved up with mixed results.
All that said, five games into Muzzin’s return from the holiday hiatus, the Leafs are still looking for better from the veteran who turns 33 next month.
“I think (Muzzin’s play has) been pretty similar to where it was before the pause — not to the level that he has shown in the league,” Toronto head coach Sheldon Keefe said Monday.
Muzzin has been on the ice for a team-high 32 goals against in 5on-5 play this season, a startling figure when you consider he was on the ice for 34 all of last season. On Saturday, Muzzin and Liljegren were on the ice for three of St. Louis’s five goals. While the mood was hardly dour after the Leafs pulled off a 6-5 win — their first victory in the seven games in which they’ve allowed five or more goals this season — it was hardly a great night for the duo. Liljegren scored his first NHL goal but, on the other side of the puck, there were struggles.
“I wasn’t very good, either,” Muzzin said. “I’ve got to be better for him, for sure. Especially (as) an older guy, you’re trying to help out a younger guy. But he was fine. Most of it was on me.”
Maybe not most of it. But a couple of unsure Muzzin touches led to the Ryan O’Reilly goal that made it 3-2. And it was a botched clearing attempt by Muzzin that preceded the Robert Thomas goal that made it 4-4. If you’ve been watching the Leafs this season, you’ll know those types of errors, off the stick of No. 8, have shown up more than usual.
Given that Muzzin has logged more ice time than any Maple Leaf not named Morgan Rielly, and given that Muzzin is Toronto’s most frequent penalty killer and the defenceman often saddled with the toughest opposing matchups, Keefe was careful to preface any critique with a bevy of praise.
“(Muzzin is) still a very valuable player for us. He takes on very difficult minutes. He plays on the penalty kill. He’s our most physical defenceman by far. So he’s doing lots of really good things. But I think there’s been some inconsistencies there, particularly with the puck. That’s when things have gone bad for him,” Keefe said. “But we’re a team that’s won a lot of hockey games this season. And we’re not doing that if Muzz isn’t taking on those minutes that he has.”
Keefe said there is zero organizational doubt that Muzzin is doing everything in his power to address his weaknesses and make a competitive jump.
“He’s as committed as anyone at improving and working at his game, and (he is) aware of what he’s going through,” Keefe said. “He’s got more to give us, and better to give us.”
Some of the struggle, of course, could be chalked up to his most frequent defence mate. Holl has struggled mightily at times, sitting out a stretch of early season matches as a healthy scratch. And Liljegren, while there’s been a move to use him up the lineup, is clearly best suited as a third-pairing contributor alongside Rasmus Sandin. To ask more of either youngster is likely a disservice both to their development and the team’s competitive prospect. The problem for Keefe, of course, is the options aren’t exactly copious.
For now, the Muzzin and the Maple Leafs will continue to make the best of another in a line of COVIDtinged seasons.
Muzzin said “a little bit of everything” went into Saturday’s rough night in St. Louis.
“Long road trip. Tough teams. New guys playing. Coming off COVID. I mean, it’s not your normal,” Muzzin said. “But a lot of teams are going through this. With different road trips, different personnel in the lineup due to COVID and what have you. Injuries … There’s no excuse. You’ve just got to keep on battling.”
Keep on battling. Keep on shovelling. And, if you’re Leafs general manager Kyle Dubas, keep on scouring the NHL for the No. 1 item on Toronto’s pre-trade-deadline shopping list: A right-handed defenceman with the experience and skill to help Muzzin with the heavy lifting.