‘That’s What Has Kept This Organization Back’: Have the Maple Leafs Failed to Build Their Defensive Core Around Morgan Rielly?

The Leafs have drafted 30 defensemen since Rielly was taken by the club in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft, only four have played in over 15 NHL games.

In a recent survey by The Athletic, which had approximately 10,000 fans ranking how confident they were in their favorite NHL team’s front office and 250 answers ranking every club, the Leafs placed 30th out of 32 NHL teams. Under the two categories, the Leafs received an overall grade of ‘D’ in categories such as roster building, cap management, draft and development, trading, free agency, and vision.

While not scoring a grade higher than a ‘C’ in any category, from the public or fan base vote, former Leafs defenseman Carlo Colaiacovo discussed what he believed was the biggest issue with management on TSN 1050’s ‘First Up’ Wednesday.

“The only thing that I do agree with on these rankings is their drafting and developing. They deserve a ‘C’ because, as I’ve stated all along – and this goes back to when Kyle Dubas was managing this team – when you put yourself in a position to build a salary structure with your team where you’re going to build around four forwards, and it is going to occupy a large percentage of your cap, almost half of your cap, how the heck, organizationally, you did not decide to draft and develop more stud defensemen is beyond me,” Colaiacovo explained.

Since the Toronto Maple Leafs established the ‘Core Four’ in 2016, consisting of forwards Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, William Nylander, and John Tavares, the club hasn’t been criticized for their offensive upside, just the price tag that comes with it. However, their defensive shortcomings have been a different story.

“That’s what has kept this organization back. Since Morgan Rielly, what defenseman has this team drafted and developed that has been a stud on defense?” Colaiacovo asked. “Justin Holl, (Rasmus) Sandin, (Timothy) Liljegren – that’s where the organizational failure has been with this team. You’ve built around four forwards, and you just continue to draft forwards to play with those guys.”

And it’s true, the numbers tell the tale. Since drafting Morgan Rielly in the first round (fifth overall) in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft, the club has drafted 30 defensemen. On a more precise timeline, from 2012 to 2019, 21 defensemen were drafted by the Leafs. Of those 21, nine have played games in the NHL, four have played over 15 games, three of which for the Leafs, and only one currently remains with the team – Timothy Liljegren.

1. Viktor Loov – 4 total NHL games (Toronto Maple Leafs)

2. Rinat Valiev – 12 total NHL games (Toronto Maple Leafs, Montreal Canadiens)

3. Travis Dermott – 351 total NHL games (Toronto Maple Leafs, Vancouver Canucks, Arizona Coyotes)

4. Keaton Middleton – 3 total NHL games (Colorado Avalanche)

5. Timothy Liljgren – 209 total NHL games (Toronto Maple Leafs)

6. Rasmus Sandin – 233 total NHL games (Toronto Maple Leafs, Washington Capitals)

7. Sean Durzi – 225 total NHL games (Los Angeles Kings, Arizona Coyotes)

8. Mac Hollowell – 6 total NHL games (Toronto Maple Leafs)

9. Filip Kral – 2 total NHL games (Toronto Maple Leafs)

No Leafs defenseman drafted after 2018 (2019-2024) has played in an NHL game. The Leafs did not select a single defenseman in the 2021 (three picks) or 2022 NHL drafts (five picks). As a result, the club has relied on trades to fill their defensive gaps.

Rielly made his NHL debut in the 2013-14 season and it wasn’t until after the 2016-17 and 2017-18 postseason runs that the Leafs made some noteworthy additions to their backend.

For example, from 2016-18, the team’s d-core consisted mostly of Jake Gardiner, Roman Polak, Nikita Zaitsev, and Matt Hunwick, in addition to Rielly. In January 2019, the Leafs traded for Jake Muzzin followed by Tyson Barrie that offseason. Since then, given the Leafs’ lack of depth defensively in their system, the club has made a series of moves to acquire ‘one-year rentals’.

Jake Muzzin (acquired in 2019, five seasons with the Leafs)

Tyson Barrie (acquired in 2019, one season with the Leafs)

Ilya Lybushkin (acquired twice – 2022, 2024, each for one season, left in free agency both times)

Mark Giordano (acquired in 2022, three seasons)

Conor Timmins (acquired in 2022, two seasons, and currently still on the team)

Erik Gustafsson (acquired in 2023, one season)

Luke Schenn (acquired in 2023, one season upon arrival, five seasons in total)
Joel Edmundson (acquired in 2024, one season)

Chris Tanev (acquired in 2024, under contract for six seasons)

“It’s like, draft and develop big, stud defensemen. At this point here, you’d probably have guys in their third or fourth years as an absolute stud on your bluelines,” said Colaiacovo. “Instead, now they get a ‘D+’ for trading because, yeah, every year they’re trying to trade for defensemen, give up draft picks, and patchwork that defense to sort of give them a chance to win, instead of drafting and developing these guys and leaving them to your system for six, seven years. That’s been the organizational failure for this Maple Leafs team.”

While some of these acquisitions, like Barrie, Lyubushkin, and Schenn, fit well alongside Rielly, their tenures were short-lived. The recent addition of Tanev, who signed a six-year, $27 million contract with the Leafs on July 1, could become one of Reilly’s long-tenured running mates if the fit is right. Nonetheless, he could break the cycle and become the d-partner the Leafs have sought for years.

That will likely be determined early in the 2024-25 season.

The Leafs’ struggle to prioritize drafting and developing defensemen has left Toronto scrambling annually, plugging holes instead of building a solid foundation. As the Leafs continue to aim for a shot at the Stanley Cup, they must recognize that their defensive deficiencies won’t be solved by quick fixes.

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