Teddy Blueger and the rest of the bottom-six face immediate pressure to fill their defensive roles in order to take pressure off the top-six stars.
Blueger was one of several bottom-six signings and acquisitions from John Chayka this summer. Along with Blueger came Colton Sissons, Nick Paul, and Brandon Duhaime - all of whom add defensive help, penalty killing, face-off skill, and physicality.
It was necessary in order to give the stars relief when it comes to heavy defensive responsibilities - something the team relied on too much the past two seasons.
The bottom-six chemistry isn't guaranteed to click right away
But they are also coming into a lineup all fresh off different teams, and the lack of chemistry to start is a concern to say the least. All four players are expected to have a heavy role on the penalty kill while also stabilizing and energizing the bottom-six, so they need to show that energy right away.
Jim Hiller's lineup is still a question mark as we haven't even reached training camp yet, but they are going to have to adapt quickly to what he wants. The benefit he has is that these players are all versatile and can slide up and down the third/fourth line depending on the situation, so if he feels one group isn't working, he doesn't lose his role players when he switches things up.
However, there is going to be a bit of overlap as all of these players do the same thing. There's certainly more specialization, but that leaves Hiller to find what works a little sooner than he may have anticipated.
Scoring isn't going to be a focal point for the bottom-six but they are going to be expected to contribute.
Besides Paul though, nobody in those four have reached 20 goals, with Sissons being the top scorer with 101 career goals between him, Blueger, and Duhaime. If a player like Easton Cowan gets pushed out of the top-six, then he can help add that scoring help but it'll be up to the others to capitalize when given those chances.
Toronto doesn't need them to lead the charge, but they need to lead defensively
There is a bit of a silver lining when it comes to Blueger's role though, as he does have familiarity and chemistry playing together with Dakota Joshua during their time in Vancouver, so if Hiller wants to ensure there's some comfort to start - that's an avenue he can explore too.
Even if these guys don't turn into elite defensive forwards, their ability to take pressure off the stars is going to be crucial nonetheless. Craig Berube often had to stick Matthews out for long stretches of a penalty kill or play a more conservative game in order to give Toronto a fighting chance against the rest of the NHL.
Toronto needs these players to handle those difficult matchups so that Matthews, Nylander and the rest of the offence can thrive.
Hiller doesn't need to do that now, as he has reliable and consistent role players who understand their job and are good at it. Every minute the stars spend not playing defence, the more they can focus on offence. Will they be expected to still play hard and help out? Of course, that's not the point though.
Toronto finally has a concrete core of role players with defensively sound skillsets and it's something that is important for unlocking the stars once again. Defence wins championships after all.
Do you think Toronto invested too heavily into their bottom-six this summer?
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