Making sense of the Leafs defensive pairings

Coming out of the last playoff loss to Tampa, and honestly the years before it as well, some of the criticism around Sheldon Keefe was that he wasn’t quick enough to adapt and was too insistent on sticking with his lines and his defensive pairings whether they were working at the moment or not. That’s where the objections to the rest line/pairing blender seem a bit strange, especially when Toronto is trying to find a fit for a number of new faces in the lineup. Complaining is kinda what we do and when it comes to the Leafs forward group it seems like everything is in a holding pattern until Ryan O’Reilly returns and the Leafs have an opportunity to make some sense of things. That said, the Leafs could truly benefit from some consistent defensive pairings, and it’s time to start building those so the partners understand what the other defenseman on the ice is going to do coverage wise and players like McCabe, who are …

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Author: Jon Steitzer / The Leafs Nation

After a 6-3 loss to Arizona on Thursday night, the Maple Leafs got back to work with a practice in Denver before their game vs. the Avalanche on Saturday night.
It was a rough go versus the Coyotes on Thursday — especially for Matt Murray — who allowed four goals against for the fourth time this season. Toronto led 3-2 before Arizona came back, scoring four unanswered goals (two in an empty net).
“You could break it down a lot of different ways, and there’s a lot of different things that happened over 60 minutes. But, it really probably comes down to our inability to kill a penalty,” said Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe in Arizona on Thursday night.
But when it comes to their next game, on New Years Eve game in Colorado, it doesn’t look like any of the Maple Leafs’ lineup is changing.

#Leafs line rushes at practice Dec. 30/22
Bunting-Matthews-NylanderJarnkrok-Tavares-MarnerKerfoot-Kampf-EngvallAstonReese-Holmberg-Hunt Extra: Anderson, Simmonds
Giordano-HollRielly-LiljegrenBrodie-TimminsExtra: Sandin-Benn @BodogCA @RinkWideTOR
— David Alter (@dalter) December 30, 2022

Wayne Simmonds and Joey Anderson are the odd forwards out, as is Rasmus Sandin and Jordie Benn on the back-end.
At this point, there’s really no reason to change the defence pairings. Morgan Rielly is just getting back and needs to find his rhythm. Plus, none of the other defencemen have really offered up a reason to be taken out of the lineup.
I’d say the same goes with the forwards. Anderson did play well when he was in the lineup, but Toronto wants to see what they have with Dryden Hunt. The 27-year-old played pretty good on Thursday night, leading the Maple Leafs with six hits in the game.
There was no word after Friday’s practice about who would start in Toronto’s net on Saturday night.
Both Murray and Ilya Samsonov haven’t had the best showings in their last three games. In fac …

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Author: Nick Barden / The Leafs Nation

after Arizona loss Maple night Thursday