Toronto Maple Leafs: The Giants of Leaf Defence

In his second column for Tip of the Tower, the Gome delves into Mark Hunter’s past, to find the origins of his quest to stockpile the Toronto Maple Leafs with huge defencemen.

There is a curious and identifiable pattern creeping into Mark Hunter‘s player acquisitions, with one aspect of this trend creating an intriguing subplot. Going back to when he orchestrated the Toronto Maple Leafs‘ efforts at the 2015 NHL Entry Draft, he seemed to be intent on acquiring the best player available, regardless of size and position.

Most of us did not notice a very subtle shift in his underlying player acquisition philosophy beginning to take root at that time. Virtually all of Leaf Nation did not realize what was taking place until the 2016 NHL Entry Draft, when we began witnessing that he was not afraid to go off of the board when he saw a chance to fulfill his not-so-secret agenda.

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Specifically, Hunter seems to be adding size at all positions when the opportunity arises, but with a special focus on stockpiling huge defencemen. This begs the question: What are the thought processes used by him in his quest for giant Leaf defencemen?

To determine what is influencing Hunter’s thinking, knowing a little about the man might help.
One of three brothers to have appeared in the NHL, he played with grit and determination while chipping in a fair bit of offense during his 628 game major league career.

Hunter’s impressive career totals of 384 regular season points accompanied by 1428 penalty minutes, underscored his no-nonsense style of play. He broke into the NHL with the Canadiens for the 1981-82 campaign and played very well in his rookie year, but was plagued with nagging injuries over the next couple of seasons until eventually being traded.

After being dealt to St. Louis, Hunter had a break-out season, registering 74 points in 78 games, which included 44 goals and 171 penalty minutes. It was during this time period which envelopes seven NHL seasons (four with Montreal and three with St. Louis) between 1981 and 1988, that we must assume an important aspect of assembling an NHL roster was indelibly imprinted into his psyche.

Jun 26, 2015; Sunrise, FL, USA; Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Mark Hunter announces Mitchell Marner (not pictured) as the number four overall pick to the Toronto Maple Leafs as commissioner Gary Bettman looks on in the first round of the 2015 NHL Draft at BB&T Center. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports /

For four years Hunter had witnessed firsthand how a big, skilled and mobile body on defence can dominate a game. Larry Robinson was arguably the preeminent big man on defense in the NHL during this era.

Robinson stood at a height of 6.04, while weighing in at 225 lbs. As a two-time Norris trophy winner — awarded to the league’s top defenceman — no conversation about the top defenders in the league back then was complete without mention of “Big Bird”, number 19 for the Canadiens.

When Hunter moved on to St. Louis to continue his NHL career, he had the opportunity to play with and witness firsthand another big man on defence. In this case it was Charlie Bourgeois.

At that point in his career, Bourgeois was an unspectacular veteran NHL defender, who despite being very similar in size to Robinson, was not anywhere near as skilled, nor as mobile. Still, he was very effective at the NHL level in being difficult to get around, at clearing the front of the net and discouraging untoward liberties being taken with any of his vertically challenged, lighter-weight class teammates.

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If we are to speak in terms of the big men on defence of the current NHL era, the conversation inevitably mentions Zdeno Chara at 6.09 and 250lbs. We can also likely include Dustin Byfuglien at 6.05 and 260lbs and Victor Hedman at 6.06 and 223lbs to name just three big dominant defenders.

Where there are many more names I could have mentioned, I’ve chosen these three players to illustrate a point. Chara played 71 AHL games while attempting to catch on with the Islanders, Byfuglien played 124 AHL games before becoming a regular with the Blackhawks, while Hedman did his minor league development time over two seasons with Modo of the Swedish Elite League.

The point here is that each of these large defenders did not step right into the NHL upon turning pro and none of them reached their current level of dominance at the outset of their careers. They all painstakingly developed their games, learning as they gained experience on how to utilize their size to their advantage.

Chara as an example, was likened to a big “Bambi-like creature” by a New York-based hockey pundit when he first floundered around the ice for the Islanders during his first few NHL games. Those struggling years now seem like eons ago for this Norris Trophy and Stanley Cup-winning veteran of over 1,200 NHL games.

Nov 23, 2015; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Maple Leafs center Nazem Kadri (43) cross-checks Boston Bruins defenseman Zdeno Chara (33) at Air Canada Centre. The Bruins beat the Maple Leafs 4-3 in the shootout. Mandatory Credit: Tom Szczerbowski-USA TODAY Sports /

Speaking in general terms, premier NHL defenders don’t always step right into the league. For some the journey takes time, quite often longer than it does for forwards.

It is a certainty this traditional pearl of hockey wisdom, along with his firsthand experiences as an NHL player and later as a hockey coach and manager, have fortified Hunter’s decision-making process concerning big D. Adherence to the old adage that states “many things can be taught but you cannot teach size” probably plays a minor role as well.

Armed with this knowledge and the context provided by his back story, it all makes sense now……
Hunter is combing the entire hockey universe to uncover and develop another Robinson, but failing that, is happy to find another Bourgeois or two.

The list of huge defenders who have been drafted by, or are now attempting to catch on with the Leafs organization, is a bit of an eye opener. There are some BIG bodies on this list.

The Giants of Leaf defence acquired since Hunter joined the organization on October 21, 2014:

Taylor Doherty – shoots R – (Age:25) Height 6.07 – Weight 235 [201 cm/107 kg] …will likely begin this season in the ECHL with Orlando.
Keaton Middleton – shoots L – (Age:18) Height 6.06 – Weight 233 [198 cm/106 kg] …will be playing in the OHL for Saginaw this season.
Nicolas Mattinen – shoots R (Age:18) Height 6.05 – Weight 220 [196 cm/100 kg] …will be playing in the OHL for London this season.
Ty Stanton – shoots L (Age:21) Height 6.04 – Weight 200 [193 cm/91 kg] …on an ATO, will be fighting for a spot with the Marlies, may start season with Orlando.
Stephen Desrocher – shoots L (Age:20) Height 6.04 – Weight 201 [193 cm/91 kg] …will be fighting for a spot with the Marlies, may start season with Orlando.
Andrew Nielsen – shoots L (Age:19) Height 6.03 – Weight 207 [191 cm/94 kg] …is eligible to play for the Marlies but could opt for an overage Junior season.
J.D. Greenway – shoots L (Age:18) Height 6.04 – Weight 205 [193 cm/93 kg] …will be a freshman at the University of Wisconsin this season.
Raman Hrabarenka – shoots R – (Age:24) Height 6.04 – Weight 230 [193 cm/104 kg] …will attend Leafs camp on a PTO, could stick with the Marlies.
Martin Marincin – shoots L – (Age:24) Height 6.04 – Weight 203 [193 cm/92 kg] … will play for the Leafs this season.
Andrew Campbell – shoots L – (Age:28) Height 6.04 – Weight 206 [193 cm/93 kg] … will captain the Marlies again this year.
Justin Holl – shoots R – (Age:24) – Height 6.03 – Weight 195 [191 cm/88 kg]… with his newly signed NHL contract, he could see time with the Leafs this season.

As we can see, this list is a nice mixture of young, newly drafted prospects and a few older players with some seasoning under their belts. It is also fair to say a couple of these players are reclamation projects and while there are never any guarantees, this seems like a very good start to finding and developing some dominant large defenders.

It is worth mentioning that 23-year old, left-shooting Viktor Loov meets the height and weight criteria I used to qualify a player as a large defender, at 6.03 and weighing 200 lbs. However, he was drafted back in 2012, before Hunter arrived.

Another important aspect of Leaf player acquisition is the extent to which Kyle Dubas influences the conversation and decision-making as GM of the Marlies. We can assume his voice is heard but at the same time, there is no doubt we are witnessing the handiwork of an enormously gifted and dedicated talent scout in Hunter.

I wonder how many of these players have Larry Robinson potential or will end up being very serviceable Charlie Bourgeois types at the NHL level?

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What’s your take on the job Hunter has done, since joining the Leafs? Further, are you on board with his philosophy regarding stockpiling the roster with giant defencemen? Let us know in the comments section below.

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