Jake McCabe may be the Maple Leafs' biggest defensive risk nobody is talking about

Jake McCabe's going to be a huge risk for the Maple Leafs if he's forced into another high-usage season because when he's overwhelmed - he begins to falter.

Last season was both good and bad for McCabe, and his production through the year follows a very similar path to the rest of the Maple Leafs in 2025-26. He started off hot and was finding ways to be that defensive lynchpin when Chris Tanev was hurt, but after the calendar flipped to January, he declined steadily.

With concerns about Tanev's health this season, and Toronto looking to get back into the playoffs and be competitive once again, they'll need to make sure they don't overwork him to the point where he becomes a detriment - like last year.

McCabe may inherit Toronto's hardest minutes if Tanev cannot carry the same load

Much like last season, McCabe could very well inherit the majority of the shutdown minutes and some of the hardest assignments.

Why Tanev and McCabe work so well together despite being similar shutdown players is because Tanev's positioning, awareness, and retrieval allows McCabe to be more physical while not having to also worry about needing to know where he always needs to be.

Without him though, McCabe's workload is way too much for him to handle. Case in point when we saw him go from 15 points in 36 games pre-Christmas to only 10 points in 44 games post-Christmas. That pre-Christmas stretch also saw the Leafs outscoring opponents 28-16 at even strength - but got outscored 52-36 those last 44 games.

He also lead the team in minutes, and didn't necessarily have the best support when it came to exiting the zone.

By the time he got the puck, he had no outlet as the rest of the forwards were already halfway up the ice. It's why the additions of Nick Paul, Colton Sissons, and Teddy Blueger will be so beneficial to not only Toronto as a whole but specifically for McCabe because he has better transition help.

That's certainly going to help McCabe if he needs to take over the majority of the minutes for Tanev, and while there is certainly chance that the latter is able to stay healthy and put up a full season - there's too many variables that are playing against him so it may be another heavy load for McCabe.

Toronto's blue line has enough offence, McCabe has to provide the part nobody else can

The main sticking point that followed Toronto for years was that they needed to add offence. Well, they did so with Darren Raddysh and Emil Andrae, meanwhile still have Morgan Rielly to help out in a reduced role.

McCabe also had to be relied heavily on offensively in Toronto, not where his strength lies. He had 8 goals and 28 points in 2023-24, and has already put up the most points of his career (w/ one team) with 81 points in 240 games - a 0.33 PPG rate.

For a shutdown defender on the outside that looks great, but it overshadows the bigger problem which is that Toronto needed McCabe to do everything at both ends of the ice because they either didn't have the proper support or because of injuries.

With a much better supporting cast, a revamped penalty kill group, and the hope that Tanev can last a full season, Jake McCabe's going to be able to have a bounce back that shows exactly why Toronto not only acquired him, but committed to him for five years despite being over 30.

Though he can only do so much, and if he doesn't bounce back then we've simply swapped problems. Toronto now has a pretty solid group offensively, but are hurting now for a proper shutdown anchor.

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