We were never going to go far with this D-Core

[A1LeafNation]

Not to disrespect Columbus, but if you can't beat Columbus who do you expect to beat?

Rielly __________
Muzzin __________
Dermott Holl
Sandin Liljegren

__________
Campbell

Major changes needed

 

[BayStBullies]

Someone needs to take notes that 2 quality defenders who can play defence, can shut down a team. If you aren't spending money there, you're missing the boat. We would be more than fine with just 2-3 top tier forwards. We don't need this many. The rest of that money should be spent smartly on depth... like say, a backup goalie.

 

[Stand Witness]

Shoot me but I think collectively our defense was actually good. Probably the best it was all year. Not saying I wouldn’t make improvements but it wasn’t the reason we lost imo.

 

[BayStBullies]

Not to disrespect Columbus, but if you can't beat Columbus who do you expect to beat?

Rielly __________
Muzzin __________
Dermott Holl
Sandin Liljegren

__________
Campbell

Major changes needed

Rielly was also terrible. I'd keep Ceci over Dermott and Holl; which says a lot. Honestly, blast all of it into the sun. Just keep Muzzin.

 

[Beyonder91]

Rielly is a stud, you're off base calling him average defensively.

We definitely need an upgrade on d, though.

We have dealt this years and last years first rounders and don't have much ammo to get help in a trade and our cap situation really isn't good either.

We desperately need Sandin and Liljegren to be good, and fast.

I'm sorry but he is average defensively... He needs work positionally and with his decision making. He will improve... Most dmen don't reach their peak until late 20s.

 

[Leafs at Knight]

We didnt score a goal in 2 games in a 5 game series.

Stupid Andersen.

 

[A1LeafNation]

Rielly was also terrible. I'd keep Ceci over Dermott and Holl; which says a lot. Honestly, blast all of it into the sun. Just keep Muzzin.

Holl plays too high in the line up.

 

[Drew311]

Holl is a fine bottom pairing RHD. Get used to him, he’ll be here a while.

Ceci on the other hand is absolute hot garbage and the one positive I take away from that series is I’ll never have to watch him play in a Leafs uniform again.

 

[Mickey Marner]

We've had the worst RD in the league four years running, I've just accepted that management won't bother fixing it at this point.

 

[Leafsfan74]

Let's be honest... We had 2 borderline AHL d-men in Holl/Ceci and 2 average at best defensively in Rielly/Barrie playing.
Muzzin is our only solid defender.

Dubas "big" defence additions Barrie/Ceci were an utter disaster. Couldn't have picked 2 worse guys for the money they got paid.

His #1 objective should be getting a legitimate #1 D man if possible. THAT is a big contract, if you can make it work, you take it and feel confident you're making the right decision.

With Muzzin and Reilly along with a #1, you can get by with some depth D men. Unless they find a stud develop from within.

If I am Dubas I try and get Pietrangelo. With his age, he is coming into his prime as a D man. If he can't make it happen, accept that you have to trade significance up front if a team is looking for scoring. I said the same when Giordano became a free agent a few years ago, I really wanted Leafs to shore it up then. They passed over the chance. Can Leafs make the splash this time?

There are many teams that will pay for scoring which they lack and will accept moving a #1 D man. No serious Cup contender is going to go into a season without a legit #1 D man. It's just rolling the dice.

It not only helps on defense, it helps calm the forwards and keep the team confident as a unit that when such a player is back there, they will always be in the game.

 

[Rob Brown]

Yep.

The one silver lining is Barrie and Ceci are guaranteed not to be back with the Leafs.

Unfortunately we still have Holl and Marincin.

This team will be trash until they shore up their defense. Can't win your way through the season and post-season with only offense and average goaltending.

Marincin was a back up/press box D until Muzzin went down, so I'm not really concerned about him next season.

Honestly though, I don't think I've ever been so frustrated by a D core tonight. Holl, Marincin, Ceci and Barrie were all f***ing awful. Constant giveaways. Just horrendous.

Promote Sandin full time and hope Timmy is ready.

 

[klmdg]

Difference in the series, aside from goaltending, was their D didn't panic and run around like headless chickens at every opportunity.

 

[HamiltonNHL]

I think we win this series with Werenski and they have Marner

 

[Beyonder91]

Shoot me but I think collectively our defense was actually good. Probably the best it was all year. Not saying I wouldn’t make improvements but it wasn’t the reason we lost imo.

I agree the D wasn't the reason we lost... I'm more talking about it's not nearly good enough to take us far.

 

[Stand Witness]

I agree the D wasn't the reason we lost... I'm more talking about it's not nearly good enough to take us far.

I think if we had a really solid guy to go with Muzzin it would be good enough. Basically bring in a top 3 guy, which is what we traded for Barrie to be.

 

[The Beyonder]

There was Rielly, and maybe Dermott; and then 4 d-men I hope to never see on leafs blueline again. You're right, you can't win when guys like Ceci, Marincin and Holl are in your top 6.

 

[robertmac43]

Holl was not terrible. He definitely suffered though when the lineup shortened and he had to carry other players minutes.

 

[GermanSpitfire]

in a couple years, we’re going to look at this D core with disgust.

 

[Green Snow Storm]

We simply don't have the depth to lose Muzzin or Rielly, that's an issue that needs to be addressed.

 

[MapleLeafs9]

It's not just the defencemen when it comes to defence. Our forwards absolutely suck in this regard. Matthews, Hyman, and Kerfoot are the only forwards I feel comfortable with playing D in our end. Nobody else buys in or are just too slow to reliably play D.

Looking forward to no longer seeing Barrie, Ceci and Marincin though

 

[biotk]

The D-core was not good, but at least the Leafs D-core appear completely lost for the future as well, so....

 

[Nineteen67]

The top priority is no 1 or 2 D and a goalie. The problem is how do you get them with the assets they have. They need that ping pong ball to drop in their favour.

 

[Ifittex il Verita]

Barrie (at worst) and Ceci were always a band-aid solution for this season .. The long term play is banking on Sandin and Liljegren developing into key roles.

They just need a legit top 4 RHD though in the worst way.

Rielly showed up in this playoff, he was good. Holl has played well this year and has good chemistry with Muzzin.

There's some hope on the back end.

That shouldn't be the plan. We're gonna rely on a couple more small sub-200 pound puck-moving "specialists" to round out our defense core?

Look at the defense that just fed the Leafs their lunch tonight. All 220 pound mean f***ers.

 

[biotk]

The D-core was not good, but at least the Leafs D-core appear completely lost for the future as well, so....

 

[CantLoseWithMatthews]

This seems like you decided the defense would be a problem going into the series, and nothing was going to change your mind besides the Leafs winning. The defense was not the problem