New Defensive Pairings Taking Shape for Maple Leafs During Training Camp

As the Leafs approached the summer months trying to shake off another deflating loss to an opponent they probably should have beaten in Round 1 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, it was very clear that GM Brad Treliving needed to prioritize the blueline this summer, which is exactly what he did.

Treliving made some tangible improvements to his blueline via the trade market and free agency, first acquiring Chris Tanev's negotiating rights from the Dallas Stars and signing him to a 6-year contract extension prior to the start of free agency.

Next, Treliving turned his attention to the UFA market, where he brought in Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Jani Hakanpaa, which rounded things out nicely.

It was really anyone's guess a few months ago just how the Leafs would structure things at training camp, but with a few on-ice sessions under their belt, it's becoming very clear how the Leafs plan to begin their pre-season as far as D pairings go. So far, it looks like this is the setup they're going to try out first.

Morgan Rielly - Chris Tanev
Oliver Ekman-Larsson - Jake McCabe
Simon Benoit - Timothy Liljegren

Jani Hakanpaa is currently skating with Group C, which is mostly comprised of players in the Leafs' development system. Hakanpaa is still recovering from surgery and is not quite up to speed yet, so merging him into this group made the most sense to try to get his strength and conditioning back up to par.

Naturally, things are subject to change based on the coaching staff's preference, but for all intents and purposes, this appears to be how the Leafs will open the pre-season in terms of how their D pairings will stack up. I'm very intrigued to see how it all works out.