SAN JOSE, CA - OCTOBER 30: Andreas Borgman #55 of the Toronto Maple Leafs looks on during the game against the San Jose Sharks at SAP Center on October 30, 2017 in San Jose, California. (Photo by Rocky W. Widner/NHL/Getty Images)

Andreas Borgman made progress this year and deserves another chance in the Toronto Maple Leafs starting lineup going into next season.

Do you remember Andreas Borgman? During the 2017 offseason, he and Calle Rosen were signed from the SHL to two-year entry-level contracts with $925,000 cap hits. While the latter got dropped down to the Toronto Marlies after appearing in only four games with the Toronto Maple Leafs, Borgman ended up appearing in 48.

He ended up with 11 points this season. Borgman also contributed nine points in 25 games with the Toronto Marlies. This obviously isn’t great, but he is clearly not an offensive-minded player. His defensive ability is unique and separates him from Toronto’s other defensemen.

While Jake Gardiner is extremely gifted with the puck, his checking ability, along with Morgan Reilly’s, is relatively poor. This problem persists when you look at the rest of the Leafs defensive core.

Sure, the Leafs still have Ron Hainsey, but he was starting to look completely worn out by the end of the season. Additionally, guys like Connor Carrick and Travis Dermott don’t really offer much in terms of physical play.

Now, please don’t confuse this with whining about a lack of physicality, and how the Leafs need to gut their team. Physical play, while critical, tends to be a little overrated. However, you do need at least some element of toughness on a team. This is what Borgman brings to the table.

What else can Borgman offer?

This season, Borgman actually performed better than Hainsey and Nikita Zaitsev. If Borgman had played 82 games this season, he would be on pace for 19 points. Hainsey scored 23 points in 80 games, and Zaitsev was on pace for just 18 points.

The difference in offensive ability between these three is very small. Additionally, if you look at their advanced stats, it becomes apparent that Borgman is actually better.

He posted an impressive 50.24 CorsiFor percentage, along with a 0.46 relative CorsiFor percentage. This, again, isn’t great, but it would actually significantly improve the Leafs’ defense when you compare and contrast to the rest of the core.

When only including players who appeared in at least 10 games in 2017-18, Zaitsev had the lowest CorsiFor percentage on the team among defensemen, while Hainsey had the second-worst. Looking at the team as a whole, the only player with worse numbers was Leo Komarov.

How does this work on any level? People who are skeptical of the Leafs tend to criticize them for putting an over-reliance on physical play. Borgman is one of the Leafs’ more physical players, yet he can’t catch a roster spot.

He is the best defenseman on the Leafs without an NHL spot. Borgman has performed relatively well in a decent sample size of 48 games.

Hainsey and Zaitsev were not so good last season. They didn’t contribute much offensively, their defense was lacking and their advanced stats were abysmal. It seems pretty obvious that Borgman deserves a spot more than either of them.

He brings a physicality to the team that no one else can offer. With the departure of Roman Polak, this makes even more sense.

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Conclusion

Going into next season, it looks like there’s going to be a battle for the last one or two defensive spots. In my opinion, either Hainsey or Zaitsev should be taken out, in favor of Borgman.

This would help the Leafs in terms of shot production, defensive ability and physical play. At the end of the day, like always, the decision is up to management