Quoting: Davisoc
Lets see these teams match up against Mathews line, JTs line and Kadri's line. We basically have a 1A, 1B and a 2 second line going up against the other competition. Im not worried in the slightest. To say defense wins championships you were right with the Blackhawks and the Kings, but they haven't won in three years now and to say Washingtons and Pitsburgs defense was elite is a stretch at best.
Reilly proved last year that he doesn't need a babysitter anymore, he is a top 30 defenseman knocking on the door to be a top 15. If Zaitsev can be healthy, which last seasons injuries werent really his fault, then they are a legit threat on both sides of the ice and can easily be one of the best pairs in the league. Then you can pair Dermott up with Hainsey and Hainsey can babysit Dermott. Who by the way looks like he can make a legit difference this year, he looked GREAT last year with Polak. Then you have a final pairing of Gardiner and Oz/Holl/Carrick. This is not a weak defensive group. If anything it is middle of the pack if not higher. It has youth, speed, offense, good puck movers. Leave it to the coaching staff to fix the defensive gaffs.
Someone said it perfectly today, Torontos offense is so strong they should have possession 60% of every game, this defense is easily good enough to protect that other 40%. I am not worried.
You come up against a Tampa, Nashville Winnipeg or even Carolina where they have 3 reliable D pairs that can shut you down, the leafs are in trouble. Toronto will have a lot of the puck but they are still suspetable to losing games with the pure inconsistency from game to game with Freddy. And if you play Tampa in the 1st two rounds, you will not beat them. I know most teams won't.
The penguins didn't have an elite D. But Maata Letang Schultz. There were some good players. Washington had Orlov, Carlsson, Nisky, Djoos, even Orpik was scoring. They both have 6 solid D men. Hainsey looked like a fringe AHLer at points last season. You need a good defense, or at least middle of the league defense, Toronto's was only worsened by like 3 teams. You need a good RD to stop guys just skaing past Hainsey, Zaitzev and Carrick like they aren't there. A competent D will shut down that explosive offense. Most forwards will backtrack too. You won't win games in this league 10-9, you have to be able to stop opponents, and I know Reilly is good, but see Gardiner game 7. You need improvements, Drastically