We recently wrote about how the Maple Leafs’ defensemen ranked for offensive play using five-on-five on-ice stats per 60 minutes played as tracked and recorded by naturalstattrick.com.
In this post, we’ll look at the same defensemen’s defensive play using the same six categories we used in the study of their offensive play. The only difference this time is that we’ll be looking at Shot-Attempts Against, Shots Against, Scoring-Chances Against, High-Danger Scoring-Chances Against, Goals Against, and Expected-Goals Against.
(Photo by Julian Avram/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
As a note, we are going to use 299 minutes as a minimum of ice time for the players in the ranking. The reason is to include Mark Giordano’s play in the study. Giordano played 299:36 for the Maple Leafs in the regular season.
Shot Attempts Against per 60
| Rank | Player | Number |
| 1 | Mark Giordano | 49.3 |
| 2 | Travis Dermott | 49.4 |
| 3 | Jake Muzzin | 49.7 |
| 4 | Timothy Liljegren | 51.3 |
| 5 | TJ Brodie | 51.9 |
| 6 | Rasmus Sandin | 53.0 |
| 7 | Justin Holl | 54.2 |
| 8 | Morgan Rielly | 54.1 |
| 9 | Ilya Lyubushkin | 54.6 |
Shots Against per 60
| Rank | Player | Number |
| 1 | Giordano | 23.6 |
| 2 | Liljegren | 27.6 |
| 3 | Dermott | 28.4 |
| 4 | Brodie | 28.9 |
| 5 | Sandin | 30.8 |
| 5 | Holl | 30.8 |
| 7 | Lyubsuhkin | 30.9 |
| 8 | Muzzin | 31.3 |
| 9 | Rielly | 31.5 |
Scoring Chances Against per 60
| Rank | Player | Number |
| 1 | Dermott | 22.2 |
| 2 | Giordano | 24.4 |
| 3 | Sandin | 25.1 |
| 4 | Liljegren | 26.2 |
| 5 | Lyubishkin | 26.6 |
| 6 | Brodie | 27.0 |
| 7 | Rielly | 27.7 |
| 8 | Holl | 27.9 |
| 9 | Muzzin | 29.1 |
Related: Maple Leafs News & Rumors: Muzzin’s Trade & Campbell’s New Contract?
High Danger Chances Against per 60
| Rank | Player | Number |
| 1 | Giordano | 7.6 |
| 2 | Dermott | 9.7 |
| 3 | Sandin | 10.0 |
| 4 | Liljegren | 10.2 |
| 4 | Lyubushkin | 10.2 |
| 4 | Holl | 10.2 |
| 7 | Brodie | 10.6 |
| 8 | Muzzin | 11.0 |
| 9 | Rielly | 12.0 |
Goals Against per 60
| Rank | Player | Number |
| 1 | Brodie | 2.36 |
| 2 | Dermott | 2.39 |
| 3 | Sandin | 2.43 |
| 4 | Giordano | 2.60 |
| 5 | Lyubushkin | 2.67 |
| 6 | Holl | 2.73 |
| 7 | Liljegren | 2.82 |
| 8 | Rielly | 3.05 |
| 9 | Muzzin | 3.22 |
Expected Goals Against per 60
| Rank | Player | Number |
| 1 | Giordano | 1.88 |
| 2 | Liljegren | 2.13 |
| 3 | Dermott | 2.18 |
| 4 | Sandin | 2.21 |
| 5 | Lyubushkin | 2.33 |
| 6 | Brodie | 2.34 |
| 7 | Holl | 2.37 |
| 8 | Muzzin | 2.39 |
| 9 | Rielly | 2.54 |
The Average Ranking for All Maple Leafs Defensemen
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