The Leafs acquiring Noah Hanifin would be the best thing to ever happen to Morgan Rielly in Toronto
Even if you exclude the Auston Matthews and William Nylander extensions, the Leafs have a number of key areas that will need to be addressed this summer. They'll need to sort out the goaltending situation by figuring out what to do with Matt Murray and signing Ilya Samsonov to a new deal, they'll need to build a new bottom-six that has more of an identity and, if Brad Treliving's affinity for building a strong blueline holds up, they'll look to bolster their defense this summer as well.
On the subject of the defense, I don't want anyone to get me wrong here. If the Leafs elect to come into this season with a D corps that consists of Morgan Rielly, T.J. Brodie, Jake McCabe, Timothy Liljegren, Mark Giordano and Conor Timmins, they'll be just fine. However, being "just fine" isn't what the goal should be here and if there is a chance to improve in any area this summer, the Leafs need to take it.
There are expected to be a number of interesting defensemen available this summer, whether that be on the open market in free agency, or in the trade market. A few of the top options in free agency include Dmitry Orlov, Matt Dumba, Shayne Gostisbehere, Ryan Graves, Carson Soucy, Scott Mayfield and the newly bought out Oliver Ekman-Larsson. Looking at the trade market, perhaps the 3 most intriguing names are Brett Pesce, Travis Sanheim and Noah Hanifin.
We know that players in UFA tend to be overpaid, and with the Leafs likely looking to keep the cap hits low on any of the UFAs they may pursue, the trade market may be the best option for the Buds this summer. As far as the best fit for the Leafs, it might be Pesce, just because of the fact that he shoots right, but there's one reason that stands out above all of the others that a deal for Hanifin might be the route for GM Brad Treliving to take. Bringing in Noah Hanifin will unlock the best of Morgan Rielly next season.
We know that Morgan Rielly is currently the team's #1 defenseman, but that doesn't mean that when you compare him to other top defensemen around the league, that he measures up. Guys like Viktor Hedman, Roman Josi, Cale Makar, Adam Fox... these are true #1 defensemen. The fact of the matter is that Morgan Rielly is probably a #2 defenseman playing a #1D role in Toronto.
Now, I know what you're going to say. "But, Hanifin isn't a true #1D either!". Well, you're right. But, having two #2 guys who can rotate the responsibility of lining up against the opposition's best every night may just free up Rielly enough to where he can get back to producing like an elite offensive defenseman.
The fact of the matter is that Rielly has produced like an elite offensive defenseman for years, dating back to his breakout season in 2018-19, when he scored 20 goals and 72 points in 82 games. He nearly replicated the same point total in 2021-22, when he scored 68 points in 82 games as well. Even last season, Rielly was a 40-point blueliner having missed a bunch of time. He's doing this all while 21-24 minutes per night.
Bringing in a player like Hanifin not only makes the Leafs better, but much deeper on D. Mark Giordano isn't getting any younger and will be 40 by the time the 2023-24 season begins. We also saw what happened to the veteran blueliner and the NHL's all-time shot blocks leader when the playoffs rolled around this spring. He was getting walked right, left and center and didn't look as composed and effective as he did at points throughout the season. Perhaps he's a guy who is better-suited for a 7th defenseman role. We know that Sheldon Keefe likes to employ the 11F/7D setup quite a bit, so utilizing Giordano as your 11-minute per night 7th D would certainly help to alleviate any concerns about over-usage at 40 years of age and it would still keep him active most nights. Then, assuming the Leafs were to only add Hanifin and nobody else, the Leafs' D corps would shape up as follows:
Hanifin/Brodie
Rielly/Liljegren
McCabe/Timmins
Giordano
Then, there's also the chance that the Leafs re-sign Luke Schenn, which would add even more depth to an already very deep blueline:
Hanifin/Brodie
Rielly/Schenn
McCabe/Liljegren
Giordano/Timmins
The cost of acquisition for Hanifin should be fairly reasonable, even though he is a solid, minute-munching blueliner in Calgary. He has one year left on his deal and has already informed the Flames that he does not wish to re-sign in Calgary. Then, there's the pre-existing relationship between Hanifin and Leafs GM Brad Treliving as well. It just makes a world of sense.
The bottom line here is that if Morgan Rielly and Noah Hanifin are on the same team, a) the Leafs are better and deeper on defense, and b) it frees up Morgan Rielly to expose some softer matchups and use his offensive prowess more. There aren't a lot of things to hate about this idea aside from the acquisition cost if we're being entirely honest here.
| POLL | ||
JUIN 21 | 461 ANSWERS The Leafs acquiring Noah Hanifin would be the best thing to ever happen to Morgan Rielly in Toronto Should the Leafs seek a trade for Noah Hanifin? | ||
| Yes | 367 | 79.6 % |
| No | 76 | 16.5 % |
| We need goal scoring, not defense | 18 | 3.9 % |
| List of polls | ||
