Four Maple Leafs Forwards Emerge As Potential Options to Play Defense Against Canadiens

Going into a rivalry clash with playoff implications (at least for the Habs), the Toronto Maple Leafs are unfortunately only going to be dressing five defenseman after the losses of Jake McCabe and Oliver Ekman-Larsson; both dealing with injuries.

It's a frustrating bit of news that two of their top defenders are injured and with only a week or so left in the season, it's not much time to get healthy and ready for the playoffs.

So what if Toronto pulled off something a bit daring?

There are a potential of four forwards who could slot in for the six spot on the blue line: Steven Lorentz, Calle Jarnkrok, Scott Laughton and most surprising, Mitch Marner.

There is some precedence for both Marner and Jarnkrok, as they both experimented on the back end during the 2022 preseason, and Jarnkrok ended up suiting up in a preseason game with former Leafs forward Alex Kerfoot as an emergency pairing.

While it wouldn't feel great from an offensive standpoint to put your nearly 100-point superstar in a position to not score at will, however it underlies how good Marner is defensively.

Trusting him to essentially just tighten up what he's already doing isn't too hard of a task for the 27-year old, and all it does it just basically make things feel like Toronto is running their first PP unit with four forwards; just a bit altered.

It would be great though if Toronto could call someone up like a Marshall Rifai or William Villeneuve, maybe even Dakota Mermis right? Well, they can...only after the Montreal game thanks to some of the NHL's rules and regulations regarding roster movement post deadline.

That's a frustrating caveat for fans and while Toronto's playoff berth is already cemented, it's going to be a quick exit if they can't get their defense healthy, or if whoever gets the call gets too worn out.

While all four men certainly can hold down the fort for a night and be able to quell whatever the Canadiens throw at them for 60 minutes, they desperately need their true defensemen back. Quickly.