Maple Leafs badly need defensive change to make NHL playoffs

Sports admin October 20, 2026 0 Comments

Maple Leafs badly need defensive change to make NHL playoffs

So far in the 2026-27 NHL season, the Toronto Maple Leafs have been decidedly mediocre.

Through the team’s first 10 games of the season, the Maple Leafs are an average 4-4-2, collecting 10 points through the season’s first 10 games.

The early start has the Maple Leafs in sixth place out of eight teams in the Atlantic and sitting just outside of the playoffs, as they are currently the first team outside of the Eastern Conference Wild Card hunt.

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Unfortunately for Toronto, they are in a stacked division, so finishing sixth place won’t be good enough if the playoffs are the goal this year.

At the very least, the Maple Leafs need to finish in fifth place in their division just to have a chance at a Wild Card berth, though ideally they’d finish in the top three in the Atlantic, which would guarantee them a playoff spot.

Based on what we’ve seen so far from Toronto this season, this team is going to be in a battle all year long to make the playoffs, and I fear that, unless this team fixes its defense, they are going to come up short.

Toronto’s defense is simply not good enough

Through the first 10 games of the season, Toronto is 13th out of 16 Eastern Conference teams in goals allowed, and seventh out of eight in their own division, having allowed 33 goals in 10 games.

Unfortunately, that just isn’t going to cut it, and the Maple Leafs are going to need to drastically cut down on their goals allowed if they want to make the playoffs.

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While some fans have pointed to mediocre numbers from the team’s two goalies, starter Sergei Bobrovsky and backup Anthony Stolarz, I don’t really blame the goalies for all of the goals allowed.

Instead, I blame this team’s defense, which is about as below-average as it gets and, dare I say, bad.

The Maple Leafs really need to get a better defensive unit going if they are going to make the playoffs, as there are too many good teams in the Eastern Conference with strong defenses this year.

Looking at Toronto’s current defensive corps, Darren Raddysh and Jake McCabe are the only two players I would definitely keep.

I’d also add Chris Tanev to that list, but the oft-injured veteran is once again injured, so as much as I like him, his health makes him unreliable these days.

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Otherwise, the Maple Leafs need to be willing to listen to any of their other defenseman and potentially make a change.

Maple Leafs need to make a trade on the blueline

The Maple Leafs should have traded Morgan Rielly, the team’s longest-tenured player, during the offseason, but instead decided to hold onto him because Toronto general manager John Chayka did not want to give up assets to part ways with him, as Rielly has negative trade value.

In my opinion, that was a misstep by Chayka, who should have coughed up a draft pick or two to get off Rielly’s contract.

Oliver Ekman Larsson was terrific during his first two years in Toronto, but he has taken a step back this year, and I fear that he is on the decline and that the Maple Leafs missed out on trading him at last year’s trade deadline at the height of his trade value.

As for Nick Blankenburg and Troy Stetcher, they have no trade value and are basically replacement-level players at this point. I don’t mind keeping these guys as depth, but they don’t move the needle either way.

Ideally, Toronto would go out there and make a move for two NHL defensemen who are currently without contracts with their respective teams: Alexander Nikishin of the Carolina Hurricanes and/or Simon Edvinsson of the Detroit Red Wings.

Both of these defensemen are the types of difference-makers that Toronto needs on their blueline, but the problem is that getting either one of them would cost the Maple Leafs top forward prospect Easton Cowan and potentially more, and that might not be worth it for Toronto.

So, the Maple Leafs are stuck between a rock and a hard place at the moment, as the team’s lack of trade assets is making it difficult to address a clear need on the backend.

But if the goal is to make the playoffs this season, then Toronto needs to get some help on the blueline, and Chayka needs to make a big swing and take a risk if he wants to help Toronto make it to the postseason this year, because the current d-corps isn’t going to take them there.

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This story was originally published October 20, 2026 at 11:37 AM.