Jake McCabe cemented himself as one of Maple Leafs’ key shutdown defencemen

Toronto Maple Leafs defenceman Jake McCabe had another stellar season in terms of his impact on the defensive side of the game.

There were some growing pains when he first arrived in Toronto during the 2023 trade deadline, but he was able to show the two-way play and snarl that helped transform the identity of the blueline. McCabe grew into one of the Leafs’ more dependable options on the backend, where he formed a partnership with Simon Benoit that proved to pay dividends in terms of limiting the damage against. It’s why he not only received the third-highest amount of ice time on the Leafs among defencemen, but also the 35th-most shifts in all situations in the league. And while offence was hard to come by during the playoffs that spring, McCabe was the only blueliner who was able to find the back of the net.

Fast forward to the 2024-25 season, where McCabe fully cemented himself as a critical piece of the Leafs’ success, clearly among their most relied-upon players in shutting down the opposition. Striking up a partnership with Chris Tanev that almost instantly paid dividends, head coach Craig Berube opted to stick with it for the majority of the season from that point on and for good reason: the duo were among the most effective in terms of boxing out their opponents, getting in the lanes to block shots, and limiting chances against. It’s no wonder McCabe-Tanev were the Leafs’ most-used defensive pairing and the 36th-most used in the NHL on the season.

McCabe’s strong play earned him a five-year extension with the team in late October, which saw some money be left on the table as he agreed to defer some of the money until after the expiration of the contract. It is not only an indication of just how integral he has become to the Leafs’ success, but also his commitment to remaining with the team for the remainder of his prime and making some sacrifices for the greater good of the team. He may not be their point-producing defenceman, but he will certainly provide solid defensive play, be reliable on the penalty kill, and throw some big hits while sticking up for his team when needed.

“That would be great,” Benoit said to Luke Fox on September 20th on the prospect of McCabe getting re-signed. “I played with him pretty much all last year. He showed me some great things. You can see on the ice, how calm he is. He makes those little passes, a lot of little details. And he still plays that old-school game — physical, hard to play against, in your face. I think that’s what we need here, and he’s all about that. So, I would like to get him to stay, for sure.”

How the year went

McCabe’s season was, by all accounts, a success in terms of his defensive impact and was able to fit right into Berube’s system. His play style meshes well with the direct north-south hockey that his new coach demands of his players which is because of McCabe’s tone-setting mentality and workman attitude on the ice. There is nothing flashy about his game most of the time, but it is both simple and effective at putting out fires, getting the puck in the right direction, and keeping the pressure up in the offensive zone.

As mentioned earlier, Tanev was far and away McCabe’s most frequent defence partner at over 53% of his minutes at even strength. But his versatility and ability to play effectively on both sides of the ice provided Berube with the option to rotate the 31-year-old around with other blueliners. He was able to uplift Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Morgan Rielly, encouraging them to be more creative offensively while bringing steadiness as the first man back. And while with Tanev, it allowed McCabe the freedom to jump into the play every now and then, where he was able to generate some quality scoring chances in close along with the occasional point. It’s that combination along with being solid support for the top guns up front that resulted in the pair having a +15 goal differential at even strength on the season.

As with most players, the 2024-25 season was not without its setbacks for McCabe. He missed 16 games during the campaign due to a multitude of reasons, with suspected head ailments being a primary contributor to his extended absences. One of them was caused by taking a shot off the side of the head, while the other stemmed from a fight with Garnet Hathaway. The times that he was not present made it known just how important he was to the team, as the Leafs struggled mightily from a defensive perspective and that resulted in the team having a losing record in those games which has been a trend dating back to the 2023-24 campaign.

McCabe also had a rough showing against the Florida Panthers in the second round in the latter half of the series as he was on the ice for a few backbreaking goals against. In fairness, most Leafs players were not at their best either during that time and the lack of success in the second round obviously wasn’t solely on one player. McCabe’s struggles were one of the key reasons they ultimately fell to the reigning Stanley Cup champions because the Panthers were able to keep the pressure on the Leafs’ defence and that resulted in players like McCabe being on while goals went past his netminders at inopportune times.

The way his season ended should not take away from all of the good McCabe was able to provide throughout the year and he will once again be a key component to the Leafs’ success going forward. He will likely be paired up with Tanev once again, though it’s also possible Berube takes advantage of McCabe’s versatility and tries him with other defencemen.

Statistical profile

All stats at 5-on-5 via Natural Stat Trick (min. 1000 minutes TOI)

McCabe’s possession numbers may seem concerning low at first glance, but keep in mind that he also had the 17th-lowest percentage of offensive zone starts among players in the NHL last season. That means he saw more starts in his end, which naturally results in less possession and a hit to the underlying metrics. But the fact that he was still able to get more of the scoring chances and goals in his favour is pretty impressive given how infrequently his shifts began outside of his end of the rink.

His success was not limited to just regular play as he was also effective on the penalty kill from a statistical perspective. Among defencemen that played at least 150 minutes down a man, McCabe had the 34th-best scoring chances for percentage and 29th best high danger chances for percentage. Part of that was because he was second on the Leafs in blocks with 135, behind only Tanev. It also speaks to his ability to minimize chances that got through to the net, making it easier for the likes of Anthony Stolarz and Joseph Woll to see the shots. McCabe may not have been their most utilized defenceman shorthanded, but he was, without a doubt, one of their most important.

There was a bit of luck involved in McCabe’s season, as evidenced by his GF% and PDO ranking so highly among other NHL players. It is worth noting that this isn’t the highest his PDO has gone, as he posted a 1.056 during the first few months of his tenure with the Leafs, with his combined average on the season with the first half while he was with the Chicago Blackhawks clocking in at 1.033. This will naturally grow concerns about a regression to the mean in the future, and understandably so, though he did have a PDO of 1.012 in 2023-24 so perhaps the evening out may not be as drastic as one may think it could be.

One area that the Leafs would probably like to see McCabe find a bit more success in is on the offensive side of the game, given he has a bit more to give in the goals department. He shouldn’t be expected to be among the leaders in scoring among defencemen because that isn’t the type of player he is, but his booming shot and willingness to jump into the play mean he should have gotten more than the two goals he mustered up in the regular season. GM Brad Treliving made it known during his end-of-season media availability that he wants to see more offence out of the backend, and that means a different approach to how they attack in the offensive side of the game. McCabe is willing to jump into the play at times, but perhaps he may be asked to do it more should he continue to be paired up with Tanev.

There will certainly be a bit more pressure put on McCabe now that his new extension is set to kick in, given that he was on a retained cap hit for the last two and a half seasons donning the Blue and White. So long as he can maintain the dependable shutdown play while upticking his scoring production a bit, he will more than justify his $4.53 million AAV that he will get until 2030.