Jim Hiller didn’t duck the issue after Toronto’s recent road trip. He put the spotlight squarely on the Maple Leafs’ forwards, saying the group left the defense exposed at times and didn’t give the blue line enough help.
That’s the kind of message that usually doesn’t sit well with a restless fan base, and Hiller is already under plenty of heat. A slow start to the season and the recent benching of Gavin McKenna have both stirred frustration, with Leafs Nation questioning some of his recent choices. Now his comments about the trip are adding another layer to the noise.
Hiller described the stretch as simply “fine,” but his real message was sharper when he broke down what bothered him. In his view, the forward group was too loose with the puck and not committed enough on the backcheck.
“But what I was disappointed about a little bit on the trip is I thought we hung our defensemen out to dry just a little bit as a group of forwards, with some turnovers, with some tracking.
Prior to going out, I thought we really were supporting our defense, getting back hard, not giving up odd-man rushes. Then that was a little bit of the opposite on that road trip.
You've got to help your defense. I don't care who's in. That, to me, is a little bit more on our forwards.”
Those are strong words, but they also open the door to a bigger argument about where the real breakdown is happening. The forwards can and should do their part, but when the blue line isn’t holding up, asking the front end to patch over every leak can only go so far.
The issue isn’t as simple as blaming one side of the lineup. Nick Paul and Colton Sissons can only do so much if the group can’t get the puck out cleanly. And when opponents are trapping the team in its own zone, the chance to prevent odd-man rushes disappears fast.
There have been positives on the defensive side, too. William Nylander’s back-checking has improved, and the team’s overall growth defensively has shown up in the numbers, with the team ranked No. 1 on the penalty kill and having allowed only one goal so far.
Still, the blue line has its own problems. Morgan Rielly has been getting blown away, Oliver Ekman-Larsson has looked worse than he has at any point during his time there, and Toronto has had to lean on Nick Blankenburg and Marshall Rifai to help steady things. Hiller even put Troy Stecher on the second pair, and while he’s a useful player, he’s not a top-four defenseman.
That’s why the blame game feels a little misplaced. The forwards are being asked to cover for a defense that hasn’t consistently shut opponents down, and the same formula didn’t work last year either.
Hiller is pointing the finger at the forward group for not doing enough to support the defense. But the bigger question now is how Toronto plans to fix the problem.
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Toronto does not sound ready to make a dramatic move, but the discussion around Rielly is clearly shifting from concern to decision-making. The Leafs would like a version of him that looks closer to the player they expected, yet the path to getting there may involve uncomfortable lineup adjustments or, eventually, a bigger reset. For a team that has leaned on him for so long, even the possibility of a reduced role says plenty about where things stand. [Read more 🡒]