Toronto Maple Leafs: Jake Gardiner and Morgan Rielly should be together

The Toronto Maple Leafs defense finally has the depth for the team to put defensemen Jake Gardiner and Morgan Rielly together. Here’s why they should.

The Toronto Maple Leafs are heading into the 2018-19 season with perhaps the greatest expectations they’ve had since 1967. After signing John Tavares in free agency, they’re clearly all in to win their first Stanley Cup in the expansion era.

However, it’s not a secret what their weakness is – their defense. After all, the Boston Bruins exploited their issues during their first-round series win in seven games over the Leafs. The solution could be as simple as putting Jake Gardiner and Morgan Rielly together on the top pairing.

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These two haven’t played much together under head coach Mike Babcock. Since the start of the 2015-16 season (Babcock’s first in Toronto), they’ve played 205.6 minutes at five-on-five together. And it’s worth noting both Rielly and Gardiner are left-handed. But in that limited sample size, Rielly and Gardiner have put up impressive numbers.

• Relative CorsiFor percentage – 9.05
• Relative GoalsFor percentage – 7.84
• Relative expected GoalsFor percentage – 1.42

It’s debatable why they haven’t spent much time together. Considering Ron Hainsey was pretty much glued to Rielly last season, it sure isn’t because Babcock doesn’t want someone playing on their offside. Even before the 2015-16 season, they put up impressive numbers together.

Gardiner and Rielly are unquestionably dominant together. The Maple Leafs have issues on their right side, which were exploited by the Bruins. Putting a puck mover like Rielly on the right side would help alleviate those issues.

Now, can the Maple Leafs afford to do it? That’s an entirely separate question. Rielly and Gardiner are the Leafs’ two best defensemen. The former is clearly good enough to play on his offside. After all, Gardiner and Rielly were outstanding on some pretty awful Leafs teams and they’ve remained impressive in their limited time together under Babcock.

There is something to be said, however, for not putting your two best defensemen together. You need to have impressive depth to pull that off. Perhaps this is why Babcock keeps Rielly and Gardiner separated.

The Maple Leafs have issues on their right side, which were exploited by the Bruins. Putting a puck mover like Rielly on the right side would help alleviate those issues.

The Leafs should at least try that top pairing again. Travis Dermott put up excellent numbers last season and quickly became trusted by Babcock. He could jump from last season’s third pairing role to a second pairing role. Maybe Nikita Zaitsev would be better with Dermott. It’s certainly worth trying.

This would leave Hainsey and one of Connor Carrick, Martin Marincin, Andreas Borgman, Timothy Liljegren, and Justin Holl on the third pairing. Hainsey would be better suited in that role, which would allow him to be used on the penalty kill more often. And he’s the type of veteran who could help whichever young defenseman plays with him.

Babcock has a lot of things to ponder. Should Gardiner and Zaitsev stick together? It’s clear Hainsey and Rielly aren’t suited for each other, but is there a suitable option that doesn’t involve putting the Leafs’ two best defensemen together? Is Dermott ready for a larger role? Who’s going to be the number six defenseman?

However, the thing he should be pondering the most is if Rielly and Gardiner should be reunited. On a team with Stanley Cup aspirations, results are needed. In the past, Rielly and Gardiner have accumulated impressive results together. So why not at least give them a shot on the top pairing?