With most of the offseason moves made by NHL clubs in the month of October, it is a good time to take a look at the Toronto Maple Leafs and how they are situated at each position for the 2020-21 season. GM Kyle Dubas was extremely busy in free agency and shook up a number of areas of the Leafs roster, but we will have to wait until next January or February to see if those changes will result in more success.
The Leafs defense is an area that has rightly been the focus of criticism for years. The acquisitions of Tyson Barrie and Cody Ceci last season did not do much to rectify the situation and injuries to Morgan Rielly and Jake Muzzin during the season and qualifying round exposed the club’s issues with depth on the blueline. GM Kyle Dubas chose not to go the way of a high price big splash by pursuing free agent Alex Pietrangelo, because signing the big righty would have necessitated dealing one of the core four forwards in William Nylander or Mitch Marner.
Instead, the Leafs brought in former Calgary Flame TJ Brodie on a four-year, $20 million contract, Stanley Cup winner Zach Bogosian on a one-year, $1 million deal, and signed KHLer Mikko Lehtonen to a one-year entry-level contract.
After playing years with Norris Trophy winner Mark Giordano in Calgary, Brodie will likely be the top pair partner for Rielly at the start of next season, with Muzzin (after signing a four-year extension in March) and Justin Holl as the shutdown pairing. With the signing of Bogosian and Lehtonen, the re-signing of Travis Dermott last month, and 20-year-old Rasmus Sandin entering his second NHL season, head coach Sheldon Keefe will have options and the benefit of significantly more depth for next season.
Bogosian had an injury-plagued history in Buffalo which led to his contract termination last February, but the former third overall pick played well for Tampa in their run to the Cup. Lehtonen was named the KHL’s top defenseman in 2020 and is currently leading all league blueliners with 16 points, but it is unknown how the 26-year-old will adjust to the North American game.
Dermott accepted a one-year deal for under $1 million after an 11-point campaign and will have to battle for playing time on the bottom pairing, while Sandin may play full time in the American Hockey League to continue developing instead of being in and out of the lineup.
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