The Toronto Maple Leafs will undergo some organizational changes in the wake of another early exit. These will include potential departures, streamlining of the management structure, and obviously, some roster changes. GM Brad Treliving will review where the club can improve, and most of the focus will be upfront, where potentially one-half of the core group will be playing elsewhere next season.
Today we’ll look at the Leafs future on the blueline:
Toronto made an overall improvement defensively under new head coach Craig Berube, shaving their goals against by 32 goals to 229 goals allowed in 2024-25 (8th overall), and while that improvement was in part due to Berube’s stylistic and tactical changes, it also had to do with a significant upgrade of the personnel on the blueline.
Leafs GM Brad Treliving added a pair of defensemen he was quite familiar with, Toronto native Chris Tanev (who he signed while in Calgary) and Oliver Ekman-Larsson (who played in Arizona while he was an assistant GM with the Coyotes). The additions to the group that included Morgan Rielly, Jake McCabe, and Simon Benoit. The assumption to start the season was that Tanev would slot in with Rielly as a right-handed complement, but Berube instead partnered him with McCabe to form an effective shutdown pairing.
Rielly was ill-served by this and was paired with numerous partners that had an effect on his performance after a 58-point campaign last season. The blueline group saw some significant turnover during the year, as Treliving dealt former first-rounder Timothy Liljegren to San Jose for draft picks, and sent Conor Timmins to Pittsburgh to clear cap space at the deadline.
Journeyman Philippe Myers took over as a bottom-pairing depth righty, as the signing of veteran Jani Hakanpaa never resulted in anything positive, as the big Finn never was healthy and played only two games.
The big move made at the deadline was the addition of right-handed Brandon Carlo. Although the price was steep, Carlo plugged in well alongside Rielly and gave the Leafs the best top-four they’ve had in nearly two decades. It also allowed OEL to partner with Benoit on the bottom pairing to give Toronto a solid top six, which was on display particularly in the Ottawa series. Florida in the second round was relentless in their physical pounding of the Leafs blueline and that showed late in the series.
Outlook: In terms of the contractual situation, the Leafs are in excellent shape, with all of their defensemen under contract for at least the next two seasons, so Treliving will not have to dip into the expensive blueline free agent market on July 1.
Outlook – The focal point of ire of Leafs fans after the loss to Florida was Rielly, who went -3 in Game 7 and like the rest of the core group, was held in check for the last four games of the series. Of course, this is just plain stupid because in spite of some of his defensive shortcomings, the 31-year-old is still the best offensive blueliner the Leafs have and if Marner leaves in free agency, it is likely he will return to the top power play.
Talk of Rielly being dealt is a waste of breath since he has a full no-movement clause for the next three seasons, so unless he wants to go somewhere, he is not going anywhere.
Toronto could use more mobility on the back end, and while Benoit showed an ability to carry the puck up the ice in the playoffs, they could be looking for someone who has move offensive upside.
Internally, there does not appear to be anyone with the Marlies that is ready to take the next step. William Villeneuve made some strides in his third AHL season with a career-high 40 points and could challenge for a bottom-pairing or depth spot, but Topi Niemela regressed and does not seem to fit Berube’s tendencies. Both 20-year-old Noah Chadwick and 2024 first rounder Ben Danford have promise, but are years away.
Barring anything surprising, it will likely be the same starting six for the season opener in October.
