Leafs Quietly Make a Blue Line Change That Says a Lot About Their Defensive Strategy
Photo credit: Hockey Patrol
It may have slipped past some, but the Toronto Maple Leafs made a key defensive change that could end up coming with both high risk and high reward.
A lot of positive can be gleamed from the Maple Leafs defense (minus Saturday night's implosion) and it's one of the bright spots of their new-look identity as they get tougher and harder to play against.
That being said, there is one thing that the team has changed recently that may have gone under the radar a bit that may have some positives but also come with a lot of negatives.
If you take a look at Toronto's lineup over the last two games, you'll notice that Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Simon Benoit have swapped spots again, where Benoit takes over the left side and OEL anchors the right.
As strange as it is, clearly there is a method behind the madness, but it does leave some to wonder exactly what the Maple Leafs have in mind for their third-pairing defensive group.
What This Change Reveals About Craig Berube's Defensive Mindset
Last season, a lot of attention was drawn to the fact that the Leafs put OEL on his weaker side to compensate for Benoit to give him an advantage.
It didn't really pay off, as while they had a better than average goals for rate, their xGA was brutal at 9.16, and Benoit was consistently the worst person to have on the ice for offense regardless of his partner.
Well, while both were solid, they don't necessarily work that well together. We saw in the preseason just how stark the difference is with Ekman-Larsson on the left.
Ben Danford came in and solidified the right side as his handedness played perfectly into the lineup, and giving OEL the chance to play more comfortably led to a lot more offensive prowess from the defender.
If you're asking him to quarterback your power play, you'd think that putting him on his stronger side to build confidence would be the game plan, however there's something Craig Berube must see that we don't:
[Ekman-Larsson] has got some good offensive abilities, right? And I felt like on the right side, at times, it's more so in the offensive zone where it's a little tough for a D to get the puck off the wall and things like that to create more offense.
I think they kind of switch off, to be honest with you. Benny didn't have a lot of camp time.
I've seen OEL on the right a lot, so that's the reason I went with it. It could change.
I think they kind of switch off, to be honest with you. Benny didn't have a lot of camp time.
I've seen OEL on the right a lot, so that's the reason I went with it. It could change.
It somewhat feels like the head coach is feeling comfortable almost where he would rather go back to what he had last season as opposed to trying something new even if the season is in its infancy even if his comments show he's open to tinkering.
With guys like William Villeneuve, Noah Chadwick, Victor Johansson, and the aforementioned Danford in the wings, the change is going to come sooner or later; so why not try things now while it doesn't hurt as bad.
Hearing that Berube prefers OEL on the right side because he has seen him more there than Benoit.
Although it passes the eye test, it looks like the future of Toronto's third-pairing defense is blurrier than at first glance.
While the defensive change is a reversal back to how things were, if things don't improve they may have no choice but to make a true change on the back end.
| POLL | ||
OCTOBRE 12 | 904 ANSWERS Leafs Quietly Make a Blue Line Change That Says a Lot About Their Defensive Strategy Do you think the Maple Leafs need to move OEL to the left side again? | ||
| Yes | 737 | 81.5 % |
| No | 167 | 18.5 % |
| List of polls | ||
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