Much of what the Maple Leafs did this summer made sense.



Improving the blue line, by trading forward talent for someone like Tyson Barrie. Clearing cap space, by unloading Patrick Marleau. Changing the assistant coaches, in part to fix special teams. Bolstering depth throughout the organization, by adding a lot of tweener types they could shuttle to the AHL and back when required.



Adding Cody Ceci, however, was the one move that didn’t fit. It simply didn’t align with everything else.



The Leafs are, after all, considered one of the most progressive teams in the NHL, with a huge analytics staff and a young GM in Kyle Dubas who is immersed in the Big Data push hockey has been undergoing the past few years.



Acquiring Ceci, and putting him in the team’s top four on the blue line, is not in keeping with that profile.



Over the last three seasons, 142 defencemen have played at least 2,500 minutes at even strength, a group that...