The rookie tournament is here, training camp is around the corner, and all of a sudden, it feels like we’re pretty much back in hockey mode. That transition has come with some news, as the Leafs have reportedly extended a training-camp invite to Nick Blankenburg.
The 28-year-old, 5’9” defenseman is a right shot coming off a career season in several respects. He established career highs with eight goals, 24 points, and 61 games played. That said, he averaged only 16:48 per night, well below the 19:33 he averaged over 60 games the season prior. Before the past two seasons, Blankenburg had played just 55 NHL games over three years.
There are obvious physical limitations given his size, and he isn’t an elite talent, which has limited his opportunities in prominent roles. But in a sheltered third-pairing role, Blankenburg has shown he can move the puck cleanly up ice and generally fare well against lesser competition, despite spending the past few seasons on a mediocre Nashville team.
There are some similarities to Troy Stecher as an undersized right shot, although Blankenburg is probably a little more skilled offensively and weaker defensively.
Blankenburg was one of the few UFA defensemen I had circled this summer as a potential Leafs target, but after the trades for Darren Raddysh and Emil Andrae, we adjusted the series. Even before they re-signed Troy Stecher, I wrote:
I will also note that a few players on that list were rendered moot by the Leafs’ additions, such as Nick Blankenburg (no need for two small defensemen with Andrae in the mix), Tony DeAngelo (no point with Raddysh), and Connor Murphy, who was already re-signed.
Part of the equation with Blankenburg specifically was his AFP Analytics contract projection: two years at just over $4 million per season. Given that the Leafs already had two undersized defensemen in the mix, adding a third at a meaningful mid-range AAV didn’t make much sense.
The circumstances have changed considerably now. Blankenburg went unsigned all summer and is accepting a training-camp invite, so he obviously isn’t going to command anything close to that type of contract.
In a vacuum, Blankenburg is a perfectly reasonable depth-defense option on a cheap deal. At 28, he would also become the Leafs’ second-youngest defenseman.
Where Blankenburg fits on the blue line as currently constructed is considerably muddier.
Stecher, Andrae, and Blankenburg are all 5’10” or shorter. Size certainly isn’t everything, but carrying three significantly undersized defensemen in or around your top six is not an ideal recipe, particularly in the gauntlet that is the Atlantic Division.
Carolina just won the Cup with one of the smaller defense groups in recent memory, featuring the 5’11” Shayne Gostisbehere and Sean Walker. Even those two are taller than the Leafs’ undersized trio. Gostisbehere is also an offensive specialist who produced 50 points in 55 games last season; Andrae, Stecher, and Blankenburg combined for 51.
Carolina also has the 6’5” K’Andre Miller, who dwarfs anyone on the Leafs’ current blue line, plus two other 6’3” defensemen.
Coming out of the Brad Treliving era, when the Leafs at times seemed to put blind faith in size, the idea of emphasizing puck movement and skill is obviously tantalizing. The Leafs couldn’t move the puck last season, and it was painful to watch.
But the pendulum can’t swing so far in the opposite direction that half of the defense group is well below average in size without any of those players producing at an elite level. To this point, none of Stecher, Andrae, or Blankenburg has even been an above-average offensive producer at the NHL level.
With Raddysh a lock for the top power-play unit and Morgan Rielly and Oliver Ekman-Larsson still on the roster, it will also be difficult for Andrae or Blankenburg to earn consistent power-play time.
Naturally, the Blankenburg invite will raise some questions about Chris Tanev’s status.
Blankenburg is by no means a replacement for Tanev in any capacity, but he is a viable right-shot option, and Tanev has not yet been fully cleared to return, although he sounded hopeful that clearance could come next week.
If Tanev is healthy, it is difficult to see a clear spot for Blankenburg.
Raddysh, Tanev, McCabe, OEL, and Rielly are locks when healthy. That leaves one position between Andrae, Blankenburg, and Stecher. You could reasonably argue that Blankenburg is capable of outright winning that job, but it is difficult to imagine the Leafs trading Joseph Woll in a deal to acquire Andrae only to park Andrae in the press box.
If Tanev — or anyone else in that established top five, for that matter — is unavailable, two of Andrae, Blankenburg, and Stecher would suddenly be in the lineup. At that point, the larger question becomes how practical that setup is for a team that is supposedly serious about competing this season.
At least early in the year, though, Blankenburg could be a viable NHL stopgap who buys the Leafs time while they sort through Tanev’s health and/or pursue another acquisition.
The beginning of the regular season is probably also the easiest time to get away with dressing multiple undersized defensemen who move the puck well. The hockey generally isn’t as tight-checking or physically grinding as it becomes later in the schedule and especially in the playoffs.
From that perspective, there is obvious value in bringing in a legitimate NHL option for a look with the group rather than quickly finding yourself debating between Dakota Mermis and Philippe Myers.
Of course, all of this assumes Blankenburg actually performs well in camp, makes the team, and agrees to a contract. There are plenty of what-ifs before we even reach the lineup discussion.
On a cheap, fully buriable prove-it deal, there is essentially no risk. Blankenburg would provide some younger legs and additional puck-moving ability to a defense group that could use both.
At the same time, he would give the Leafs a third undersized defenseman when, all else being equal, a contending blue line probably wants only one player of that profile in its regular top six.
