Quoting: Bcarlo25
I'm a bruins fan. I watched all 7 games with great attention. The leafs d core is HORRIBLE. Reilly is good. He's a really good number two. He isn't a one. Gardner is a sick top pairing d man in the AHL. Zaitsev had a reallllly tough year. I love Hainsey, but, c'mon. Dermott has upside, but not sure I have him anywhere but a bottom pairing d man at this stage. It's a collection of bottom 4 d, and one decent number 2. It's trash, and any team with a really good top line will eat them alive in the playoffs. Let's see, who does that sound like? oh ya, Boston and Tampa.
Settle down there bud. Toronto really played awful at times in that series and I think they struggled with the pressure that comes from being a young team people think should do some damage. Its way easier to play when everyone says you have no chance than when you are playing a very good team that people say you should beat.
As for the Leafs defenceman.
Rielly is definitely a #1 but he also needs the right partner to make that happen. Someone like a Chris Tanev who will cover up when Rielly takes off on an adventure, he needs his one Methot, Hainsey isn't that guy.
Hainsey is great but should be 3LD and PK specialist
Gardiner is a flawed but talented player, he is one of the better offensive guys from the back end but he's soft in front and along the boards and thats were Boston destroyed him last year.
Zaitsev was injured and then got so sick he lost over 20 lbs of muscle in the middle of the season. He was not healthy enough to play but he did improve towards the end of the playoffs (Much of what he got blamed for was Gardiners fault)
Dermott has a nice skill set and skates like the wind he'll be an intriguing guy to watch in the coming years. He doesn't have the lock on the bottom pair though.
Carrick Is a guy who babs doesn't want to give a real chance, but he does have the best shot suppression numbers on the team and I think he could be a servicable defenceman if given a proper chance.
Borgman, Rosen, Ozhiganov, and Holl all could be guys who won't hurt you and could develop into really solid players.
Really though the biggest problem for TO last season was the defensive play from the forwards. The wingers were always flying up the ice looking for stretch passes which caused the centres to be out of position covering for them and that left the slot open way too much. A more committed effort from them to pick their spots to rush up the ice will go a long way to making this defence look a lot better.