Ahead of last night's game in Long Island that saw the Toronto Maple Leafs lose in overtime to the New York Islanders, Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe was asked a variety of questions about lineup decisions. Some of them were centered around Nick Robertson, while others focused on Ilya Samsonov, Martin Jones and the pair of extra defensemen on the blueline.
When asked about any potential changes to the blueline, specifically about getting William Lagesson and Conor Timmins into games, Keefe was very blunt about why they haven't played recently.
For Timmins, it has been almost a month since he has seen any game action, with his last game being December 22nd against the Buffalo Sabres, where he was a minus-4. Lagesson, on the other hand, has not skated in a game since December 28th against the Ottawa Senators.
A big part of the reason why these two defenders are currently on the outside has been the play of 25-year-old defender Simon Benoit, who has not only exceeded all expectations, but played his way into an unlikely top-4 role with the team, despite being brought in as a 7th or 8th defenseman.
It may be a while before either of Timmins or Lagesson see game action again, unless the Leafs string together some bad losses that warrant change or Keefe feels that someone like Mark Giordano needs a game off during a back-to-back.
