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Defense was a position of strength for the Leafs last season; that's not the case this year
The Leafs are off to a very mediocre start this season, owning a 4-3-0 record that could just as easily have been 7-0-0 had the team bothered to show up against Montreal, Arizona and Vegas - three of last year's non-playoff teams.
A big part of the problem this year has been the Leafs' D corps not generating much of anything from the back end. In terms of defensive pairings that have played together at least 40 minutes so far this season, the Leafs do not have a single pairing ranked inside of the top 25 in terms of expected goals % and no pairings in the top 15 in terms of expected goals against - though they do boast two pairings in the top 20 in that category.
Mark Giordano and Rasmus Sandin has been the team's best pairing in terms of expected goals for percentage, ranking 27th in the league with a 56%. The Buds' top pair of Morgan Rielly and T.J. Brodie rank 6 spots lower at 54.4%. For context, the Ottawa Senators have two pairs listed in the top 10; Sanderson-Hamonic own a 62.7% expected goals percentage, while Holden-Brannstrom own a 61.9%.
When we shift the parameters over to expected goals against, through a nearly identical 46 minutes together, the Muzzin-Holl pairing and Sandin-Giordano pairing own a 2.1 and 2.2 expected goals against, respectively. Those rank 18th and 20th in the league among pairings with at least 40 minutes together. Using the Holden-Brannstrom pairing as a measuring stick once again, they own a 1.6 expected goals against in over 50 minutes. Obviously, with Muzzin out for who knows how long, the Leafs are going to have some different looks.
Simply put, the Leafs' blueliners need to do a better job of helping to create some offense - especially in close games in which the Leafs are playing from behind. A lot of that comes with getting pucks on net, rather than just playing an endless cycle game that results in no shots for, but tons of possession time. A part of that is on the coaching staff, for sure. A strong possession game is great - but not when it doesn't equate to actual goals. There might be something fundamentally wrong, but thankfully we're early enough in the season that the Leafs have plenty of time to fix it.
| POLL | ||
OCTOBRE 26 | 191 ANSWERS Defense was a position of strength for the Leafs last season; that's not the case this year Should the Leafs make a trade to bring in another defenseman who can create some offense? | ||
| Yes | 142 | 74.3 % |
| No | 49 | 25.7 % |
| List of polls | ||