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Segments of the Toronto Maple Leafs fanbase may be infuriated or could be happy to see former Leafs having success with other clubs in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Former Leaf Nazem Kadri has been the center of attention both on and off the ice, with a hat trick in Game 4 against St. Louis, his collision with Blues goalie Jordan Binnington earlier in the series, and the disgusting attacks against him and his family in the aftermath, while Zach Hyman has been a force with Edmonton, scoring seven goals in 11 games and helping the Oilers get to within one game of reaching the Western Conference for the first time in 16 years.
Meanwhile in Leafland, the club is plotting out a course for next season in the wake of another opening-round loss. GM Kyle Dubas got his offseason work started over the holiday weekend with the re-signing of Mark Giordano for an extremely team-friendly AAV of $800,000, but while that solidifies the depth of the blueline on the left side, the right side is an area that continues to be a big question mark.
The left side is stacked with Morgan Rielly, Jake Muzzin, Giordano, and restricted free agent Rasmus Sandin, while the right side has lefty TJ Brodie, RFA Timothy Liljegren, Justin Holl, and UFA Ilya Lyubushkin.
The first question is whether any of the current players on the left can play their off-side. Giordano has primarily played the left his entire career, Rielly and Muzzin have tried it off and on, but are much better on their natural side, while Sandin played the right at times with the Soo and the Marlies, but did not seem comfortable in the few games he played it with the Leafs last season.
Toronto has resisted previous instances to trade Sandin in the past, and in spite of chatter about trading Muzzin to free up cap space with two years left at $5.625 million, Leafs management likes his leadership and experience. Brodie has been an excellent partner for either Rielly or Muzzin, which takes care of one top-four spot, but Liljegren/Lyubushkin are better suited for bottom pairing duty, while Holl’s decline in play may see him on another club next season.
Barring something unforeseen like 20-year-old Topi Niemela making the jump from the Finnish league to the NHL, the only solution without making a trade would be for Sandin to work on playing the right side in the off-season in preparation for playing it full-time next year.
If the Leafs hierarchy does not believe that is feasible, then they may have to make the difficult choice of swapping a lefty for a righty in a trade or dealing one to address another area of need and sign a right-handed blueliner in free agency.
Toronto Maple Leafs Blogger • 
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