One fundamental flaw in the Leafs' roster exposed
The Leafs are a team who is constantly measured up to every other team in the league and criticized for their lack of playoff success. The Vegas Golden Knights are the most recent team to hoist a Stanley Cup and given their status as an expansion team with only 6 years of history, their win is really giving fans some ammunition to use against the Leafs, who haven't won a Cup since 1967.
There are a number of reasons why the Leafs seem to be routinely coming up short when the games matter most. A lot of these reasons relate to the salary cap and how they've elected to construct their roster. However, their one main roster flaw is their lack of a true #1 defenseman who can eat a ton of minutes and play in all situations.
Now, I know that many will rebut with "Morgan Rielly is our #1 defenseman", and you're not entirely wrong. He is our #1 defenseman. But he's not on the same level as some of the other #1 defensemen around the league. In fact, if you were to take Morgan Rielly from the Leafs and drop him in Vegas, he's very likely a #2 or #3 defenseman, behind Alex Pietrangelo and perhaps even Shea Theodore.
On Wednesday, Sportsnet's Drew Livingstone took a look at each the last 17 Stanley Cup winners and who their top defenseman was for each winner. The list may actually surprise you.
2023 - VGK: Pietrangelo
2022 - COL: Makar
2021 - TBL: Hedman
2020 - TBL: Hedman
2019 - STL: Pietrangelo
2018 - WSH: Carlson
2017 - PIT: Letang
2016 - PIT: Letang
2015 - CHI: Keith
2014 - LAK: Doughty
2013 - CHI: Keith
2012 - LAK: Doughty
2011 - BOS: Chara
2010 - CHI: Keith
2009 - PIT: Letang
2008 - DET: Lidstrom
2007 - ANA: Niedermayer
The answer to the problem seems somewhat simple now. The Leafs cannot continue to allocate so much of their cap space to 4 forwards. It's no coincidence, when you look at this list, that a true #1 defenseman is a pretty substantial part of a winning organization. There's not one single name on this list that you could have traded Morgan Rielly in a 1-for-1 deal.
The solution seems like a relatively simple one here. The Leafs just need to find a way to parlay one of their core forwards into a top defenseman via trade. I get that it's easier said than done, but if you're looking at this list of Stanley Cup winners and their defensemen, it's a pretty clear indication that a top defenseman is exactly what the Leafs are missing.
Since the Leafs obviously aren't going to trade Auston Matthews and they can't trade John Tavares due to his NMC, the two remaining options are Nylander, a 40-goal scorer, and Marner - a 3-time 90+ point player.
