Newest Maple Leaf Likely to be Benched, as Keefe Sends a Message

As the Toronto Maple Leafs work on an Inconsistent start, many fans have dished out blame at offseason acquisition John Klingberg, the 31-year-old on a 7 Game pointless drought while being brought in to provide offense to the Leafs blue line. Leafs Head Coach Sheldon Keefe appear to be posturing to a potential change, with Klingberg the 7th defenseman in Leafs practice.

Klingberg, signed to a one-year, $4.15M contract by the Toronto Maple Leafs on July 1st by New GM Brad Treliving, was expecting to boost Toronto's scoring, having a decent 10 Goals and 33 Points in 67 Games for Anaheim and Minnesota last season. But so far, Klingberg has struggled to find his footing, after 5 points in 6 games, Klingberg hasn't had a point in his last 7, while struggling on the defensive end, being last in EV Defense at 0% via player charts from JFresh of EliteProspects.

Jake McCabe, appearing poised to return to the Leafs lineup after missing time with a groin injury, looks to be taking Klingberg's spot on the Leafs 2nd line, with Klingberg the 7D. Toronto could potentially run a 11F, 7D lineup, with a Forward out, most likely Ryan Reaves or Nick Robertson. David Alter of The Hockey News hinted that it looks that it could be Reaves in the press box for Friday's game vs the Calgary Flames.

With McCabe returning, Timothy Liljegren's timeline unknown, there's many unknowns for how the Leafs defense group will look later in the season.