A pair of Leafs defensemen excelling early, providing excellent value for their combined cap hit
Heading into the 2022-23 NHL season, the Leafs boasted one of the deepest defensive corps in the National Hockey League. However, due to the injury bug biting abnormally hard, the Buds' defensive depth has been tested and then some. Jake Muzzin, Jordie Benn and Timothy Liljegren are all still currently sidelined due to varying ailments and it's really anyone's guess when they'll be ready to return to action and when the Leafs will be able to afford to activate each of them.
Despite the injuries to the three aforementioned blueliners, two of whom are NHL regulars when the D corps is at full health, the Leafs have surprisingly managed to hold their own defensively in the early-going this season. In fact, a pair of Leafs blueliners have not only held their own, but have actually excelled in the roles that they've been cast in.
Rasmus Sandin and Mark Giordano have not been on the ice for a single goal against at 5v5 through the team's first 5 games of the season. Pretty impressive stuff from the veteran and his 93-game, 22-year-old counterpart. Add to that the fact that they combine for a cap hit of just $2.2M and you've got a tandem who whose value on the ice exceeds their value on the books - very important when you're paying 5 players (the Core 4, plus Morgan Rielly) more than half the cap.
Sandin had been playing on the right side of the third pair, alongside Gio, for the first four games of the season before seeing a bump up to the 2nd pair on Thursday, thanks to the Muzzin injury. The fact that he has not only kept afloat, but actually thrived following a hold-out that had him miss most of training camp is actually quite impressive. Another layer to that is that Sandin missed a good chunk of last season as well, so the fact that we haven't witnessed any costly defensive miscues that resulted in a goal against from Sandin is really something.
When fully healthy, the Leafs possess no less than 9 NHL-caliber defensemen. Now, there's obviously no way to tell if the Leafs will have all 9 healthy at any point during this season, but if/when they are, there's really no reason that either Gio or Sandin should be coming out of the lineup - not after the start they've had. Having said that, it's on them to keep it up to avoid any potential difficult decisions from the coaching staff impacting their spots on the roster.
| POLL | ||
OCTOBRE 21 | 290 ANSWERS A pair of Leafs defensemen excelling early, providing excellent value for their combined cap hit Have Giordano and Sandin been the best Leafs defensemen through 5 games? | ||
| Yes | 128 | 44.1 % |
| No | 43 | 14.8 % |
| Brodie doesn't get enough love on this team | 105 | 36.2 % |
| Other | 14 | 4.8 % |
| List of polls | ||
