After another underwhelming year on the defensive front in 2023-24, Toronto brought in acclaimed veteran blueliners Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Chris Tanev. What will they bring to the Leafs' back end?

In their first-round playoff loss to the Boston Bruins last spring, the Toronto Maple Leafs only gave up four goals in their last three games. But during the regular season, Auston Matthews’ explosive scoring pace helped mask some significant defensive deficiencies.

The Leafs gave up 261 goals last season — half a goal per game more than one year earlier, and the most since their 2011-12 season. 

And the blame doesn’t lie at the goalies’ feet. MoneyPuck.com pegged the Leafs at nearly 265 expected goals against in all situations in 2023-24, so they actually beat that by a small margin. Their 322 high-danger shots against were the fifth-highest in the league, their 457 defensive-zone giveaways were the fourth-highest and their penalty kill tied for 22nd, at 76.9 percent.

This summer, on top of bringing in no-nonsense head coach Craig Berube to replace Sheldon Keefe, Brad Treliving also gave his blueline a significant off-season overhaul.

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The newcomers are close to the same age and even closer in build. They're both listed at 6-foot-2, with Ekman-Larsson at 191 pounds and Tanev at 193. 

But beyond that, the pair are pretty much the yin and yang of the NHL’s defenseman spectrum. Ekman-Larsson thrives in the offensive zone and as a power-play quarterback while Tanev is most at home within a couple of feet of the goal crease, making life difficult for opponents.

Much of the early conversation around Tanev focused on the substantial six-year term on his new deal. Turning 35 in December, Tanev is a Toronto native — a late bloomer who went undrafted before being signed as a free agent by the Vancouver Canucks and made his NHL debut at age 21.

He’s a classic stay-at-home blueliner and a fearless and frequent shot-blocker. Last season, he led the playoffs with 73 blocks, even though the Dallas Stars were knocked out in the Western Conference Final, and Tanev was tied for third in the regular season with 207. In that department, he’ll more-than-replace Brodie, who led the Leafs last year at 159.

Tanev’s fearless abandon does sometimes knock him out of the lineup. But he plays through injuries that would hobble mere mortals, and he's endearingly nonchalant about all the dental damage that he has endured from pucks and sticks. 

Throughout the just-concluded four-year deal that he signed in Calgary in 2020, Tanev missed just 24 games.

He’s a steady 20-minute-a-night guy, which includes plenty of shorthanded time. And while Tanev typically matches up against some of hockey’s top forwards, he's usually available, too. 

If the NHL handed out a Lady Byng lifetime achievement award, Tanev would be a strong candidate. He has never logged more than 41 penalty minutes in a regular season and has taken just six minors in 60 career playoff games.

If you look at Tanev’s NHL Edge stats, you’ll see that he isn’t much of a shooter. But he ranked in the 66th percentile in skating distance last season, at 212 miles.

Skating is also at the foundation of Oliver Ekman-Larsson’s game. And after a strong campaign in 2023-24, Leafs fans might be pleasantly surprised by what he can bring to the table at this stage of his career.

Now 33, the newly minted Cup champion’s elite mobility had him in the conversation for the Norris Trophy in the years after the then-Phoenix Coyotes picked him sixth overall in 2009 — one spot before the Leafs took Nazem Kadri. 

Last season, Ekman-Larsson came in at 221 miles skated with the Florida Panthers. That was in the 73rd percentile from NHL Edge, and he landed in the 83rd percentile for his top skating speed of 22.93 mph.

Those numbers are a step up from his 2022-23 campaign with the Vancouver Canucks, which ended with a contract buyout. When he arrived in Western Canada in 2021, he was dealing with lingering effects from surgery on his knee in 2019. Then, he suffered a broken foot while playing for Sweden at the 2022 World Championship. 

Once he got to Florida, he looked more like his usual self.

His deployment may have helped. He averaged 18:24, his lowest ice time since his rookie season. But he started the year at 23:52 a game in the month of October when he ably helped fill in while Brandon Montour and Aaron Ekblad recovered from surgeries of their own.

By spending 43.9 percent of his minutes in the offensive zone at even strength last season, Ekman-Larsson landed in the 91st percentile among defensemen in that category. A two-time 20-goal scorer during his time with the Coyotes, he still has some offensive flair. His shot speed of 93.21 miles per hour clocked in at the 66th percentile last season, and he was the second option behind Montour as power-play quarterback. 

That skill set could provide support to Morgan Rielly in man-advantage situations. And if he can chip in at 5-on-5, all the better. Despite finishing second overall in goals scored last season, the Leafs ranked 28th in goals and tied for 16th in points produced by rearguards.

Ekman-Larsson’s recent post-season experience should also be an important intangible in the Leafs’ locker room. After playing just 25 playoff games over the first 13 years of his career, he added another 24 this spring and capped them off with a Cup.

Playing primarily in a third-pairing role on a very talented blueline in South Florida, Ekman-Larsson's NHL Edge numbers were strong across the board in the post-season. And while he's not usually known for his physical play, he helped burnish Florida’s reputation as a tough team to play against, with 65 playoff hits — sixth among all playoff participants and second among defensemen behind only his teammate, Aaron Ekblad.