• HOME
  • NHL Teams
    • North Division
      • Calgary Flames
      • Edmonton Oilers
      • Montreal Canadiens
      • Ottawa Senators
      • Toronto Maple Leafs
      • Vancouver Canucks
      • Winnipeg Jets
    • East Division
      • Boston Bruins
      • Buffalo Sabres
      • New Jersey Devils
      • New York Islanders
      • New York Rangers
      • Philadelphia Flyers
      • Pittsburgh Penguins
      • Washington Capitals
    • Central Division
      • Carolina Hurricanes
      • Chicago Blackhawks
      • Columbus Blue Jackets
      • Dallas Stars
      • Detroit Red Wings
      • Florida Panthers
      • Nashville Predators
      • Tampa Bay Lightning
    • West Division
      • Anaheim Ducks
      • Arizona Coyotes
      • Colorado Avalanche
      • Los Angeles Kings
      • Minnesota Wild
      • San Jose Sharks
      • Seattle Kraken
      • St. Louis Blues
      • Vegas Golden Knights
  • Headlines
  • NHL Rumors
  • NHL Prospects
  • World Juniors
  • Archives
  • Podcast Network
  • More…
    • CHL
      • Ontario Hockey League
      • Quebec Major Junior Hockey League
      • Western Hockey League
    • Columns
    • Women’s Hockey
    • Other Leagues
    • NHL Entry Draft
    • Books
    • NHL History
  • Log in
The Hockey Writers
  • Site Index
  • NHL Salary Caps
  • Hockey 101: A Beginner’s Guide
  • Join Our Team
  • Free Newsletter
  • Store
  • Log in
The Hockey Writers
  • HOME
  • NHL Teams
    • North Division
      • Calgary Flames
      • Edmonton Oilers
      • Montreal Canadiens
      • Ottawa Senators
      • Toronto Maple Leafs
      • Vancouver Canucks
      • Winnipeg Jets
    • East Division
      • Boston Bruins
      • Buffalo Sabres
      • New Jersey Devils
      • New York Islanders
      • New York Rangers
      • Philadelphia Flyers
      • Pittsburgh Penguins
      • Washington Capitals
    • Central Division
      • Carolina Hurricanes
      • Chicago Blackhawks
      • Columbus Blue Jackets
      • Dallas Stars
      • Detroit Red Wings
      • Florida Panthers
      • Nashville Predators
      • Tampa Bay Lightning
    • West Division
      • Anaheim Ducks
      • Arizona Coyotes
      • Colorado Avalanche
      • Los Angeles Kings
      • Minnesota Wild
      • San Jose Sharks
      • Seattle Kraken
      • St. Louis Blues
      • Vegas Golden Knights
  • Headlines
  • NHL Rumors
  • NHL Prospects
  • World Juniors
  • Archives
  • Podcast Network
  • More…
    • CHL
      • Ontario Hockey League
      • Quebec Major Junior Hockey League
      • Western Hockey League
    • Columns
    • Women’s Hockey
    • Other Leagues
    • NHL Entry Draft
    • Books
    • NHL History
Home
Toronto Maple Leafs

Maple Leafs Rely On Young Defense Ahead of Trade Deadline

By Will Billinghurst February 26th, 2016

Facebook Twitter LinkedIn WhatsApp

There’s only three days left until the NHL trade deadline and the Toronto Maple Leafs’ lineup is already significantly depleted due to trades and injuries. The Maple Leafs’ blue line has been the hardest hit starting with Dion Phaneuf being traded to the Ottawa Senators, which was then followed up by Roman Polak being traded to the San Jose Sharks. The Maple Leafs’ only other veteran defencemen have been injured. Matt Hunwick has been out with an undisclosed injury since February 17th and Stephane Robidas hasn’t even played a single game this season because of an injury. That leaves the Maple Leafs with a very young and inexperienced group of defencemen led by Morgan Rielly.

Stepping Into the Maple Leafs’ Spotlight

Heading into last nights game against the Carolina Hurricanes the Maple Leafs’ blue line had an average age of 22.8. That’s really young when you consider that Jake Gardiner was the oldest defenseman for the Leafs at 25 years old. Toronto’s defensive lineup consisted of Rielly (21), Stuart Percy (22), Frank Corrado (22), Viktor Loov (23), Martin Marincin (24), and Gardiner (25).

Rielly and Gardiner had the benefit of playing with Phaneuf and Polak all season, which allowed them to take more chances offensively and play sheltered minutes. Phaneuf and Polak had the largest amount of ice-time with Rielly playing more minutes as the season progressed. But now with them gone Rielly and Gardiner are playing against the opposing team’s top line and are also carrying most of the workload. In the 3-1 win against the Carolina Hurricanes, Rielly had a season high 28 minutes of ice-time. This much ice-time shows that coach Mike Babcock has tremendous trust in the 21-year-old Reilly.

To fill the holes left by Phaneuf and Polak the Maple Leafs called up Loov and Percy. Loov has only played 4 games in the NHL; all of which were in the last two weeks. For Percy this was just his second NHL game this season and his 11th NHL game in total.

The Maple Leafs Past the Trade Deadline

Matt Hunwick is expected back in the lineup any day, but there is a pretty good chance that the Maple Leafs trade Hunwick at the trade deadline. This means that the Maple Leafs defensive lineup against the Hurricanes will probably be the same lineup heading into the last half of the season. This will give the coaching staff an opportunity to look at how well the Toronto Marlies’ call-ups adjust to the NHL, as well as see how Rielly and Gardiner handle the increased ice-time and responsibility.

 

  • Tags
  • Jake Gardiner
  • Morgan Rielly
Facebook Twitter LinkedIn WhatsApp

Get theScore App Now!
Recent Posts
Jan 24th 6:15 PM
Chicago Blackhawks

Blackhawks Find Success Against Red Wings

Jan 24th 6:10 PM
Column

Canadiens’ News & Rumours: Hot Start, Armia, Mete & More

Jan 24th 6:00 PM
Column

Senators News & Rumours: Road Trip, Lineups, Stützle & More

Jan 24th 5:50 PM
Other Leagues

Windsor Spitfires’ Notebook: NHL Players to Watch & Overseas Ice

Jan 24th 3:25 PM
Montreal Canadiens

3 Takeaways From Canadiens’ 5-2 Win Over Canucks

Jan 24th 3:15 PM
Montreal Canadiens

Prospects News & Rumors: Michigan, Gushchin & Gordin

Jan 24th 3:05 PM
New York Rangers

Rangers News & Rumors: Chytil, Dubois Traded, Lafreniere & More

Jan 24th 2:55 PM
Buffalo Sabres

Sabres Getting the Best of Curtis Lazar

Jan 24th 2:05 PM
New Jersey Devils

Devils Are in Good Hands With Jack Hughes

Jan 24th 1:35 PM
San Jose Sharks

Sharks Seeing Offense From Erik Karlsson But Defense Is Lacking

Editor’s Picks
2021 NHL Draft Rankings: Baracchini's Top 75 Rankings

2021 NHL Draft Rankings: Baracchini's Top 75 Rankings

Wayne Gretzky Almost Joined the Detroit Red Wings

Wayne Gretzky Almost Joined the Detroit Red Wings

Masthead

Newsletters

RSS Feeds

Privacy Statement

Contact Us

About THW…

Founded in 2009, The Hockey Writers is a premier destination for news and information on everything hockey. Updated daily with news and features from over 130 writers worldwide. Over 2 million monthly readers now come to THW for their hockey fix.

© The Hockey Writers 2020. All rights reserved.
logo
  • HOME
  • Hockey Headlines
  • NHL Rumors
  • North Division
    • Calgary Flames
    • Edmonton Oilers
    • Montreal Canadiens
    • Ottawa Senators
    • Toronto Maple Leafs
    • Vancouver Canucks
    • Winnipeg Jets
  • East Division
    • Boston Bruins
    • Buffalo Sabres
    • New Jersey Devils
    • New York Islanders
    • New York Rangers
    • Philadelphia Flyers
    • Pittsburgh Penguins
    • Washington Capitals
  • Central Division
    • Carolina Hurricanes
    • Chicago Blackhawks
    • Columbus Blue Jackets
    • Dallas Stars
    • Detroit Red Wings
    • Florida Panthers
    • Nashville Predators
    • Tampa Bay Lightning
  • West Division
    • Anaheim Ducks
    • Arizona Coyotes
    • Colorado Avalanche
    • Los Angeles Kings
    • Minnesota Wild
    • San Jose Sharks
    • Seattle Kraken
    • St Louis Blues
    • Vegas Golden Knights
  • World Juniors
  • CHL
    • Ontario Hockey League
    • Quebec Major Junior Hockey League
    • Western Hockey League
  • THW Podcast Network
  • Store
  • FREE Newsletter
  • Search THW
  • More…
    • Join Our Team
    • The THW Archives
    • Prospects
    • The Goalie Page
    • NHL Salary Cap Information