Maple Leafs Poised to Make Big Change On Blueline

The porous defence has reached untenable territory for Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe, and it appears that the first shoe is about to drop. Following Wednesday night's collapse in a 6-3 loss to the Ottawa Senators, at Leafs' Thursday morning skate, John Klingberg was working as the 7th defenceman, and although nothing's certain yet, it appears he could be a scratch for the team's next game. 

Klingberg's D partner today is Conor Timmins, who is wearing a red non-contact sweater. Early indication Klingberg would be a scratch tomorrow night vs. Calgary. #Leafs

— Terry Koshan 🇺🇦 (@koshtorontosun) November 9, 2023

Klingberg was one of new GM Brad Treliving's offseason free agent signings, and to say it hasn't really been working out is a huge understatement at this point. 

The 31-year-old is a minus-8 through 13 games, and just hasn't looked comfortable from the start. He was a minus-3 in Wednesday night's game alone.

Honestly is Klingberg okay out there? Did he just forget how to play defensive hockey?? pic.twitter.com/8QazawVCCP

— Victoria Stewart (@victoriastewxrt) November 9, 2023

After his pratfall leading to an Ottawa goal in the second period, he was dropped to the team's third pairing. And now, it appears, out of the lineup altogether. 

For now, Klingberg is taking the brunt of it, but Keefe is certainly not happy with his team's overall defensive effort. 

He said his concern level was "very high," and added "We sit here, and we celebrate guys who score big numbers and score a ton and all that kind of stuff. We don't talk enough about what we give up. That's the reality. We've gotta prioritize keeping the puck out of our net," said Keefe. 

"We've got to pull it together here and keep pucks out of our net. It's out of control."

Photo: John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports