The Maple Leafs need to clear out their blue line and it goes beyond Morgan Rielly
Photo credit: John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images
Morgan Rielly, Chris Tanev, Oliver Ekman-Larsson — three defencemen worth $15.5 million with a combined age of 102. Add Simon Benoit and Philippe Myers into the mix as well and you can see that Toronto needs to drastically change their backend and the sooner the better.
The Toronto Maple Leafs need to overhaul their defence badly. This is a team who can't defend their zone to save their life, can't find themselves someone who can generate real offense, not to mention they are pretty old and slow — it's a bad combination.
Morgan Rielly is the name who is getting the most attention considering he needs to really find a new place to play. His contract is way too expensive, he's declining more and more offensively and the defensive side simply remains ineffective.
Aging veterans like Chris Tanev and Oliver Ekman-Larsson are no longer the right fit
But he isn't the only name who needs to go and it's time to completely change the Maple Leafs backend. This is a group who costs the team $26-million in total and right now there's only one person they should really keep and that's Jake McCabe.
Chris Tanev is too injury prone, he's already the oldest guy on the blueline, and there's genuinely no telling if his career can continue with one more serious injury. Oliver Ekman-Larsson is good but also 34, is on a reasonable deal, and if Toronto's rebuilding then they at least owe it to him to let him try for a Cup.
Simon Benoit and Philippe Myers are so expendable, and with the flurry of defensive signings recently, the team can certainly afford to replace them with much better players.
So right there, you see that five of the seven regulars have to go. We are keeping Brandon Carlo off this list because he's someone who is more than capable of shutting things down, is fairly cheap and could still be a top-four defender on a rebuilding/retooling Toronto squad (not to mention his mentorship).
Troy Stecher can stay too, as he will provide a lot of heart, passion and leadership with some supplemental offence; but he needs to sign for a very, very cheap deal to warrant that (league minimum).
This also should lead to assistant Mike Van Ryn being let go as well, considering he runs the defensive side of things and has created one of the most porous blue lines in recent memory.
Why over $15-million for a slow and aging backend is inexcusable for the Maple Leafs
Breaking down the contracts of the players who need to leave, you start to see how expensive things really are:
Rielly - $7.5M AAV (Age: 32)
Tanev - $4.5M AAV (Age: 36)
Ekman-Larsson - $3.5M AAV (Age: 34)
Benoit - $1.35M AAV (Age: 27)
Myers - $850,000 (Age: 29)
Tanev - $4.5M AAV (Age: 36)
Ekman-Larsson - $3.5M AAV (Age: 34)
Benoit - $1.35M AAV (Age: 27)
Myers - $850,000 (Age: 29)
Five players, with two who could be considered depth players at best in Benoit and Myers, and committing $15.5-million to players with a combined age of 102...that's never going to win you anything.
That has to change and if you're going to sign or bring in a player with a large deal then you need to make sure they are i) under the age of 27 and ii) a top-pairing defender.
They just signed three right-handed shooting blueliners with great potential with at least two of them able to provide steady and strong offensive games in Vincent Borgesi and Frank Djurasevic.
It's about finding the right players and paying them the right price. If you're paying depth guys like Stecher, then you don't go over $1.25-million AAV.
Your commitment to winning needs to supersede whatever personal connection you may have — if they aren't going to help, then you need to cut the fat.
Toronto's backend needs a complete overhaul, and Morgan Rielly will be the first domino to fall. The only thing that remains to be seen is whether or not Brad Treliving has the guts to really clean house and make a change; even if he's not a part of things going forward.
Also read on Hockey Patrol :
The Maple Leafs just signed a second right shot defenseman in two days to fix the depth from the AHL up
The Maple Leafs just signed a second right shot defenseman in two days to fix the depth from the AHL up
Previously on Hockey Patrol
| POLL | ||
10 HOURS AGO|315 ANSWERS The Maple Leafs need to clear out their blue line and it goes beyond Morgan Rielly Who is the most important defenceman who needs to be let go? | ||