Defensive issues

I don't think it's a surprise to anyone that the leafs are having issues keeping control of play in their defensive zone. It was an issue last season and without any real changes in the defense group in the off-season, it was bound to be an issue again.
There was 2 changes that did take place, I don't want anyone to think I don't like Hainsey or Borgman. Hainsey is  reliable stay at home defensemen and Borgman has a lot of upside. The same can be said for Rosen.

But that's not really much change from last year. Hainsey is comparable to Hunwick and the 2 youngsters are is an improvement over Marincin, it's just not enough of an improvement.

Now the leafs have Mr.Polak back under contract, which had sent Rosen to the AHL. Which is only good news for Rosen because now he will have real playing time to develop. Which leaves me to think that either Borgman/Polak/Carrick will split the bottom pairing or that Borgman will be sent down to the AHL shortly as well.

If Borgman follows Rosen down to the AHL my only concern will be that we now have a logjam of young defensemen fighting for playing time with the Marlies. While competition for playing time is good, you need to have minutes for these talented kids to play and to become the NHL defensemen we hope they become. It is a good problem to have that will help fill holes in the future.

That leaves me to think we will not see the leafs make a trade for a "stud" dman. The leafs brass know they have a lot of young talent that will make their way to th NHL. This is a process to build a winning team that I think management knows takes more than 2 years. The media and some fans are hyped about the team, which is great and we should be. But don't let the excitement shadow the fact that this is a team still building and in no hurry to give away the assets they have just because it's what people want them to do. Follow the plan, build the team slowly and have a competitive team for years to come.

#standwitness