Kukla's Korner Hockey

Kukla's Korner Hockey

2 Forwards, 3 Defensemen?

11/07/2020 at 6:42pm EST

from Dave Feschuk of the Toronto Star,

“It’s logical why most teams don’t go 2F3D. It’s because there’s not enough good, mobile, skilled, imaginative defencemen — or backs — available to fill those spots,” Han said. “You’re always going to leave talent on the table if you dress more defencemen than forwards, because growing up the best players play forward, generally speaking.”

Still, there’s another force at work here: Forwards are expensive. You may have heard the Leafs have half their salary cap tied up in four. Defencemen are relatively cheaper. And the Leafs happen to have what Han considers a promising cache of modestly-paid blueliners with the skating ability and hockey sense to make a 2-3 configuration work. At the top of that list reside Rasmus Sandin, Timothy Liljegren and Mac Hollowell; Han considers the latter “an extremely underrated prospect.”

Plus, the Leafs have been using forward pairs — Auston Matthews-William Nylander and John Tavares-Mitch Marner, or vice versa, with assorted wingers tacked on — for a few years now.

“They’re heavy up top, and they have a lot of Ds who are OK but need a little help. It’s a configuration that can help them,” he said. “It’s a way to find cap efficiency. It’s also a way to maximize your talent and insulate some of the weaknesses these talents have.”

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Paul Kukla founded Kukla’s Korner in 2005 and the site has since become the must-read site on the ‘net for all the latest happenings around the NHL.

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