On Wednesday, the Leafs announced that D Jake Muzzin will miss the rest of the regular season and playoffs due to a spine injury. Nick Alberga & Jay Rosehill react to the news + they discuss the short-term & long-term implications of it all.
Should the Leafs add a blue liner between now & March 3rd? If yes, reply below with who you want to see them add.
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4 Comments
I think Dubas really has to get another defensemen, and it's worth moving out Kerfoot in order to do it. I really like Connor Timmins a lot. What an amazing pick up by Dubas, especially for what we paid to acquire him. His cap hit is very low for the next 2 years too. He does have some playoff experience with Colorado, but he's not going to be the ideal option this year – he needs more reps.
Neither is Sandin – I don't think he's super trustworthy either. He wasn't great in the Montreal series, and Sheldon and Dubas didn't even consider him against Tampa last year and I think he was back from injury at that point. He's been one of the weakest options this year in the regular season. Lilijgren has far surpassed him in performance.
We do have Jordie Benn, which I honestly trust more than Timmins or Sandin for the playoffs. Benn really showed his stuff when we had all of those injured defensemen, so maybe we don't have to do anything to replace Muzzin. It's difficult to say that someone like Luke Shenn is an upgrade to all of these players. The market options are pretty sparse though. Eckholm is also a pretty good option, but he doesn't do all the things Muzzin did despite being an upgrade.
I think we should pass on Chychrun. Gavrikov will probably be very expensive to acquire since Boston will be of the teams driving the price up.
Dubas has his work cut out for him.
Last year Leafs had Muzzin and Lybushkin for some grit. This year they have none. D core is soft, and Tampa will run right over them. Getting a shut down type who can play top 4 looks like a pipe dream at this point. If Dubas really wants to go all in, then offer the Caps Sandin in a package for Orlov or Eckholm, but he won't do that. We'll wind up with a D-8 who'll make little difference. Everyone says trade Kerfoot and/or Holl to get what we need, but they're both pending UFA's, and teams are not lining up single file to plead to get them. So who's out there besides Orlov and Eckholm? Well.. David Savard, Connor Murphy, are a couple that come to mind. Love Gavrikov from CBJ, but Leafs don't have the assets that CBJ want. Gotta like the Bruins. They went out and got Lindholm, who's turned out great, now they likely get Gavrikov.
Leafs will go out 1st round with this top 6 defense
Leafs are better this year. Almost beat Tampa last year. Tampa has not improved and is getting older. They are not particularly dirty.