Maple Leafs depth on the blueline not quite ready to push for lineup spots

One preseason game isn’t much to make a decision off of and no one is expecting that the Leafs are going to do that, but after sixty minutes of hockey, the Leafs defensive depth is looking like exactly that, depth.

None of the assumed top six defencemen (Rielly, Carlo, McCabe, Tanev, Ekman-Larsson, or Benoit) were in the lineup for the first preseason game. The opportunity for the next six on the depth chart to show what they can do was there against a rusty Senators lineup that did feature most of their top offensive players.

The Leafs 5v5 numbers saw an even 2-2 split on goals scored, but in even offensive differential the Senators dominated the Leafs and Toronto had a 30.56 Corsi For%, 29.42 Expected Goals For%, and a 10 High Danger Corsi For%. Simply put, the Leafs weren’t doing much to suppress the Senators offence and while that’s to be expected, ideally you’d want to see some players standout.

The pairing of Henry Thrun and Philippe Myers was the de facto top pairing for the game although they saw the least amount of icetime. They had the lowest number of chances against, failed to create anything either.

Ben Danford as a rookie playing in his first preseason game is almost certainly on track to a return to OHL this season but his on ice numbers were solid and instead it was more of a matter of avoiding penalties that stood out as his biggest challenge. It will be interesting to see if the Leafs push to get Danford into as many games as possible in the preseason as sending Danford back to the OHL with as much pro experience as possible seems beneficial for a player that doesn’t look out of place.

The remaining three defencemen all had different areas of value that show they have something to offer the Leafs if called upon.

Villeneuve picking up a goal and showcasing what he can do offensively is exactly what he would want to do. Rifai made his case as a physical presence who isn’t afraid to stick up for his teammates. And Dakota Mermis might not have been particularly notable but finished the night with the best relative differentials of the group showing that he might be the forgettable but reliable option a coach can trust when their depth is tested as the current iteration of Martin Marincin.

All of this aligns to the Leafs depth chart but didn’t offer up optimism that Thrun or Myers are going to push Ekman-Larsson or Benoit for their jobs and that Thrun and Myers will be competing with each other for the seventh defence spot and while the Leafs could potentially go with eight defencemen on the roster, the crowded forward situation will likely limit the Leafs to just one spare defender.

By the numbers, Thrun had the better night, and by eyes Myers was the more visible player for both good and bad reasons, but neither one having a night that would make one of them a clear choice. With five more preseason games and over two weeks of training camp to go the Leafs will have plenty of time to sort out the defensive pecking order and perhaps someone could still establish themselves as a new addition to the lineup card.