The Toronto Maple Leafs are in the midst of their longest and most disappointing losing streak of the season. Following losses to the Carolina Hurricanes, Vancouver Canucks and recently a 4-1 loss to the Dallas Stars, the Maple Leafs have been abysmal in every aspect of the game. From their five-on-five play to their power play, their effort level and consistency hasn’t been there.
While the offense has dried up, their play within their own end has been nowhere near as impactful as it was before this stretch of losses. Evidentially, the absence of Jake McCabe is being felt on both sides of the puck as they could really use his steady, shut down game right now. Since he’s been out with an upper body injury sustained against the Philadelphia Flyers after fighting with forward Garnet Hathaway, the team hasn’t been the same.
Maple Leafs Poor Results Without McCabe
While you would think that the most important defender on the team would be Morgan Rielly, he has been under scrutiny to say the least as the Maple Leafs would like more out of their top offensive defenseman. Overall, one of the top defenders on this team is definitely McCabe given the amount of minutes he earns as well as the tough competition he faces on a nightly basis.
During this stretch of play, the SNStats X account (formerly Twitter), posted an interesting stat in regards to points percentage of key members of the Maple Leafs. While the percentages with and without players like Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner and Morgan Rielly are high, the numbers for McCabe tell a different story. When he is in the lineup, the Maple Leafs have a P% of .661. However, when he’s out of the lineup, the team only has a P% of .412, magnifying his importance to the team.
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As this stat shows, McCabe is a fixture on this team’s defense and his play and overall impact is irreplaceable at this point. He has the fourth most minutes per game on the Maple Leafs with 20:52 along with the second most short-handed time on ice per game with 2:32. He’s a stalwart with his defensive partner Chris Tanev as they’ve been the top pair this season. Among defenders with a minimum of 600 minutes played at five-on-five, when McCabe is on the ice, he has allowed the second fewest high danger chances against with 89 and the eighth fewest high danger goals against with nine.
While he eats minutes, can kill plays and allow minimal chances and goals against within his own zone, McCabe does a great job to clear pucks out on the breakout and quickly move the play up for the forwards. His presence is insurmountable at this point and when he’s out of the lineup, you notice a glaring difference. However, there’s some positive news on the way.
McCabe on the Verge of Returning
With the hopes of overcoming the worst stretch of play for the Maple Leafs this season, they got some great news in regards to McCabe’s progression as he was a full participant at practise and it is up to head coach Craig Berube if he’s able to play against the New Jersey Devils.
This is definitely a great sign for him after he hit his head on the ice after his fight with Hathaway, he looked very dazed afterward. Many were wondering if he had suffered another head injury, as he would miss some time just like he did early this season after taking a puck to the head against the Tampa Bay Lightning. The sense of a McCabe return does seem optimistic considering that he could’ve been out longer than expected.
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If McCabe were to miss more time or even suffer another injury down the road, it would be wise to shore up the defense to replace the impact that could be lost with his play and defensive impact. For the time being, seeing his return would be an added boost to their overall game as he’s an important player on the team.
Statistics from Natural Stat Trick and NHL.
