Leafs unveil new defensive pairings at practice; brace yourselves, because you may not be too happy about it
With the devastating news that Morgan Rielly would be sidelined for at least the next 4-6 weeks due to the injury he suffered in last night's loss to the New York Islanders, the Leafs unveiled their temporary new defensive pairings at practice on Tuesday. Brace yourselves, Leafs Nation - you're probably not going to be overly thrilled.
Veteran blueliner Mark Giordano appears to be the new go-to guy for the Leafs, which is completely fine. Giordano's body of work in Toronto has largely been very good. His defensive partner, however, is not going to instill a lot of confidence in the fanbase. Gio is slated to be paired with Justin Holl.
Holl's strong play on the penalty kill and when defending the rush has been acknowledged, but his horrendous play in his own zone and his inability to connect a clean first pass or to clear the zone is likely to have Leafs fans pulling their hair out for the next month and a half.
The team's second pairing at practice on Tuesday was Rasmus Sandin and Timothy Liljegren, which shouldn't come as a huge shock, as they've been playing together since T.J. Brodie went down with his oblique injury - and playing pretty well together. It wouldn't shock me to see this pair split up once Brodie is set to return and to see Keefe run a Sandin/Brodie, Giordano/Liljegren setup. The coaching staff will cross that bridge once they get to it though.
The third pair for the Buds at practice was actually somewhat surprising. Rather than running Victor Mete with Jordie Benn, the Buds appear to be willing to give right-shot defenseman Mac Hollowell a look on the third pair alongside Benn. It's really anyone's guess if things will remain that way for the Leafs on game day, but that's the way they were lined up at practice, so we could see Hollowell make his NHL debut in New Jersey.
| POLL | ||
NOVEMBRE 22 | 507 ANSWERS Leafs unveil new defensive pairings at practice; brace yourselves, because you may not be too happy about it Is the coaching staff right to give Justin Holl a look on the top pairing? | ||
| Yes | 124 | 24.5 % |
| No | 383 | 75.5 % |
| List of polls | ||
