Keefe wants to see more blueliners on scoresheet

Team eyes boost after placing 21st in defenceman scoring

Mark Giordano said it with a certain level of conviction: “I like our (defensive) corps.”

If he was voicing what might be a minority opinion around Leafland, certainly it was an understandable one given Giordano’s enduring presence on the Toronto blue line with his 40th birthday arriving Tuesday.

There are those less convinced, of course. It has been pointed out for many consecutive springs of playoff disappointment that the Maple Leafs are missing an alpha dog on defence, and that they’ll perhaps never succeed until they acquire a true No. 1 blueliner, a Norris Trophy-worthy horse. Looking through the annals of Stanley Cup tournaments, a jarring number of teams that end up hoisting the trophy have employed one of those guys. So maybe that’s the fatal architectural flaw of this forwardheavy team, or one of them.

On a more hopeful note, there have been exceptions to that bit of historic truth. The 2016-17 Pittsburgh Penguins, who won the Cup with the Norris Trophy-calibre Kris Letang out for the post-season, come to mind.

And maybe there’s a case to be made, in a league in which offence is on the upswing, that defence isn’t Toronto’s chief post-season problem. This is a team that scored precisely two goals in each of its last seven playoff games last spring. Which would lead you to believe that putting more pucks in the opponents’ net, not keeping pucks out of theirs, ought to be a point of emphasis as the new season begins.

Certainly that’s the way Giordano is looking at the picture.

“I think (the defence corps) can contribute more than last year, especially offensively,” Giordano said. “I don’t think (last) season we scored as much.”

He’s right about that. At a press conference to open training camp earlier this month, Toronto GM

Brad Treliving called Toronto’s collection of defencemen “underrated.” If that point is arguable, what’s undeniable is they’re coming off a season in which they underproduced. Toronto’s blueliners combined for just 166 points last season, which ranked an underwhelming 21st in the NHL. The year before they put up a combined 212 points and ranked ninth.

“But then you saw in the playoffs, when (Morgan Rielly) got going, how much it helps the team,” Giordano said. “So I think we’ve even got more (to give) that way.”

Rielly had a stellar run in the playoffs, when he followed up an injuryplagued regular season by racking up 12 points in 11 games, ranking second on the team to winger Mitch Marner.

As much as Toronto’s post-season run ended with a disappointing five-game loss to the Florida Panthers, it also included a long-awaited series win over the Tampa Bay Lightning in which Rielly, with eight points in six games, led all defencemen in scoring.

Head coach Sheldon Keefe concurs with Giordano’s assessment. While Keefe pointed out that the Leafs have been a formidable defensive team of late — seventh in the league last year in goals against per game — he acknowledged there’s more offence to be tapped from the blue line. To that end, the coach said the club is spending some of training camp implementing “tactical things” meant to create more offence from the back end, an initiative led by newly arrived assistant coach Mike Van Ryn, an NHL alumnus who played 27 games on defence for the Maple Leafs in 2008-09.

“Coming from (the coaching staff in) St. Louis, (Van Ryn) has brought some great ideas,” Keefe said. “The D corps he’s had (with the Blues) has been really active and really involved in the offence. So we want to do that while still making sure we’re not sacrificing on the other end.”

Therein lies the fine line the Leafs will attempt to walk this season, balancing the thirst for offence with prudent defensive choices.

“It’s timing and recognition of opportunities to jump in and beat your check up ice and give us an extra layer of offence,” Keefe said. “We want to encourage those guys to get involved, but it’s all about timing … Where are the defenders? How vulnerable are they? Do we have full possession of the puck versus more of a 50-50 situation? And just kind of managing risks that way.”

If they’re going to score more on the back end, they’re probably going to need some of their key pieces to put various career trends in reverse. Rielly needs to carry his playoff success into the new year.

Giordano is only a few years removed from averaging nearly a point a game during his Norris Trophy run in 2018-19. But last year he had the least productive season of his career as measured by points per game, contributing four goals and 24 points in 78 games. Ditto new arrival John Klingberg, who put up a career-high 67 points in Dallas back in 2017-18, when he found himself in the Norris conversation, but who is coming off a season in which he averaged a career-low 0.49 points per game in Minnesota and Dallas.

And Keefe said the team has high hopes that there’s impending career progress to be made by Timothy Liljegren, the 24-year-old from Sweden who was expected to wear an “A” on his sweater during Friday night’s pre-season game in Montreal.

Keefe called the letter “symbolic of what we need from him and how we feel about him … We’re going to be looking to count on him.”

In pointing out the potential for more offence from Toronto’s blue line, Keefe pointed to the defensive pairings the Leafs are most likely to use on opening night. The offensive-minded Rielly will play with the dependable T.J. Brodie on the top duo. Stay-at-home Jake McCabe is expected to be alongside Klingberg on the second pair, although Klingberg missed Friday’s practice with an upper-body injury. And Giordano, the oldest skater in the league, is the most likely partner for the offensively capable Liljegren.

“When we have Rielly, Klingberg and Liljegren on three different groups, I think that provides us with some good looks there,” Keefe said. “We want to encourage those guys to get involved (in the offence).”

Not to be forgotten is seventh defenceman Connor Timmins, who has been making a case for consideration with a strong pre-season.

“When we’ve had (Timmins) in the lineup, whether it was last year or in the two pre-season games here, he gives us a real uptick offensively,” Keefe said.

That’s the hope, anyway, that an offensive uptick from the back end will at least play a part in helping the Leafs improve upon last season’s ultimate fate. If not, expect the coming months to bring calls for blue line upgrades.