Given General Manager Brad Treliving’s moves to add size to the Toronto Maple Leafs’ depth chart, the Cade Webber trade made sense. Boston University lists him as a 6-foot-7 defenceman, and when you watch him, he looks the part. He commands space. The Leafs traded for him, giving up a sixth-round pick in 2026 in a deal that caught many off guard. Drafted in the fourth round by the Carolina Hurricanes in the 2019 NHL Entry Draft, the BU senior’s stats are less than impressive, with zero goals and just six points in 32 games.
Related: Maple Leafs’ Niemela in Line for Breakout Season Following Prospect Showdown Performance
Throughout his 123-game career with BU, he has only scored one goal and earned 16 points, resulting in a career point-per-game average of 0.13. You can’t expect him to play like Shea Weber out there, but what can we expect from him this season with the Toronto Marlies in the American Hockey League (AHL) or even the Maple Leafs one day?
Breaking Down Webber’s Game
Webber is a pure defensive defenseman and one of the best in his position. He was named Best Defensive Defenseman in Hockey East, marking his first personal achievement during his college career. Last season, he helped BU win the Hockey East title by playing a crucial shutdown role for a team that Lane Hutson and Domenick Fensore led defensively.
Compared to Hutson, who is known for his incredible puck skills, Webber mainly receives defensive zone assignments. These tasks may not stand out on a scoresheet. However, he has been a valuable asset to Boston’s success over the past few seasons, leading the team in blocks while averaging around 19 minutes of playtime per night.
His long reach and massive frame help him cut down plays and limit opponents’ time and space. Webber skates well in straight lines and has above-average agility in open ice. His small-area cuts and turns are predictably longer than those of smaller players. His most uncomfortable position is moving laterally, which a team could exploit right now, especially off the rush. While Webber is a big player, he doesn’t rely on physicality. He avoids trying to knock people over because he knows that, due to his size, he would likely be penalized. Instead, he uses his strength to easily move opponents out of the way, which is often beneficial.
His Potential Impact with the Marlies
Webber will join a defensive core that includes Topi Niemlea, Marshall Rifai, and William Villeneuve. As of writing this, Marlies camp hasn’t started, and we don’t have a projection of what defensive pairs and lineups can look like. Still, as a left-handed shooter, he could be paired up with players like Niemela, Villeneuve, or even veteran Tommy Miller. The options are there, but the most logical scheme fit for both players is being paired with Niemela. He can help facilitate the offence, run the power play, and focus on moving the puck, while Webber can efficiently help move the puck offensively with his abilities. Still, he can be more reliable on defence and help ease Niemela’s defensive holes in his game.
It is very similar to the Maple Leafs this season, with the potential pairing of Morgan Rielly and Chris Tanev, the latest addition in free agency. Through his growth in Toronto, Rielly has shown his ability to run the offence with stars like Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner but has shown defensive holes in his game. The organization has tried to help him by bringing in players like T.J. Brodie and Jake Muzzin to help fix that hole, but it never worked. But now, with Tanev, it might be the best partner Rielly might ever have with the Maple Leafs.
Webber’s playing style closely resembles Tanev’s, including his ability to contribute to penalty killing, which will further benefit the already strong Marlies team penalty kill system. The Marlies killed 84.2% of penalties last season, ranked third in the Eastern Conference and fifth in the entire league. He does this best, including during his time at Boston University. Last season with the team, they finished with the best penalty kill in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), allowing 16 goals in 145 chances, a solid 89.0%.
Webber’s Future with the Maple Leafs
Is there NHL potential, though? The reality is we don’t see many players like Webber these days. Looking at the tallest skaters in NHL history, only four – Zdeno Chara, Tyler Myers, Brian Boyle, and Hal Gill – were long-term, full-time NHLers standing 6-foot-7 or taller. Others have come and gone, often to bring strength and reach, but we’ve seen a shift to smaller, more mobile defenders who act as fourth forwards.
Webber will never be that type of player. He’ll always be the kind of player you put on the ice to kill a penalty or shut down the other team’s star players (at least in the NCAA). He can move, but he doesn’t have NHL-calibre speed. You’re not expecting a player of his size to be quick, though, because he’s not going to rush in and try to score a goal; it’s all about shutting things down at the blueline or moving the puck.
While Webber is a big player, he’s moderately physical. He does not aim to tackle opponents aggressively because he knows that, due to his size, he’s more likely to be penalized. However, he effectively uses his strength to move opponents out of the way easily, which frequently works to his advantage.
The one thing Webber excels at, he does exceptionally well. However, the era of one-dimensional defenders being full-time NHL players is long gone. At 23 years old, Webber is no longer young. He’s older than Matthew Knies and Nick Robertson and only a year younger than Timothy Liljegren, who is entering his sixth NHL season. What we saw from Webber in college is likely what we should expect once he turns pro, but that might just be what the Marlies and Leafs want to see from a player with his size and skill set.
