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Toronto Maple Leafs: Time to reduce Ron Hainsey’s role

By James Reeve

TORONTO, ON - APRIL 19: Ron Hainsey #2 of the Toronto Maple Leafs gets set for third period action against the Boston Bruins in Game Four of the Eastern Conference First Round in the 2018 Stanley Cup play-offs at the Air Canada Centre on April 19, 2018 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Bruins defeated the Maple Leafs 3-1. (Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Ron Hainsey
TORONTO, ON - APRIL 19: Ron Hainsey #2 of the Toronto Maple Leafs gets set for third period action against the Boston Bruins in Game Four of the Eastern Conference First Round in the 2018 Stanley Cup play-offs at the Air Canada Centre on April 19, 2018 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Bruins defeated the Maple Leafs 3-1. (Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Ron Hainsey /
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The Toronto Maple Leafs have Ron Hainsey playing alongside Morgan Rielly on the top defensive pair, but should consider reducing his role on the ice.

The Toronto Maple Leafs claimed their first victory of the 2018/19 season, a 3-2 overtime home tilt against the Montreal Canadiens, despite being heavily out-shot by their opponents.

Ron Hainsey, who saw a noticeable decline as the 2017/18 season wore on, due to Mike Babcock playing him 21:52 on average, is still penned in as the team’s top-line defenceman along with Rielly.

The 37-year-old blueliner is a dependable player on the penalty kill and is a big body that Babcock seems to love due to his meat-and-potatoes style of play.

But if the Leafs want to get the best out of Hainsey, they need to start looking at reducing his role at 5-on-5.

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In last night’s game against the Canadiens, Hainsey played 20:08 of ice time and had an appalling 36.4% Corsi rating.

He was utilised heavily in the defensive zone, as is to be expected, starting there 61.5% of the time.

He blocked two of the 21 shots he faced while he was on the ice, threw one hit but also had two giveaways – failing to strip the puck from the Leafs’ opponents even once. On the Canadiens opening goal, he also got walked around quite easily leading to the wraparound attempt.

Having a solid veteran guy makes sense for a team that is fairly young overall, but driving said veteran into the ground isn’t the best usage of his skills.

Hainsey can be a reliable penalty killer for this Toronto Maple Leafs team, but playing him so much at even strength will see him become a liability – with plenty of people, including Sportsnet’s Steve Dangle, noticing.

One game isn’t going to dictate how Babcock sets his line-up, especially with the team getting the win, but Hainsey’s first season in Toronto has shown that he can’t be the dependable guy he is capable of being if he is relied on so heavily on the top pairing.

Second or third pairing ice time is more realistic for Hainsey long-term, reducing his time on the ice but also getting him to play in situations that play to his strengths will see the Toronto Maple Leafs get a slight upgrade in defence just by playing smart.

Next. Matthews and Tavares lead Leafs to victory. dark

What do you think Leafs fans? Is it time the team move Hainsey down the line-up and use him as more of a situational player? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

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