Why Maple Leafs should use Dakota Mermis for last two regular season games

The Toronto Maple Leafs are wrapping up their regular season schedule and the start of the playoffs is fast approaching.

There may only be two games left in the regular season, but they remain important in terms of seeing. The team needs to secure only one point to clinch the Atlantic Division title but they cannot afford to slip up given that the Tampa Bay Lightning are right on their heels.

How these next two games fare will dictate whether they begin the first round against the Ottawa Senators or the Florida Panthers. Both of those matchups will no doubt be a difficult matchup given the matchups this year though they would probably prefer to face the Panthers later should the Leafs get out of the first round.

This brings us to defenceman Dakota Mermis, who finally made his Leafs debut on Sunday against the Carolina Hurricanes after getting the call-up on an emergency basis. The team was without Jake McCabe and Oliver Ekman-Larsson and they didn’t have the cap space to activate Jani Hakanpaa or bring someone up without playing a game with only five defencemen, which is exactly what they did on Saturday against the Montreal Canadiens.

Mermis was put in a difficult position given the team was on the second half of a back-to-back with travel and the puck drop happening less than 24 hours after the previous game, but he excelled in limited action. Playing primarily alongside Brandon Carlo, the 31-year-old logged 15:11 while recording two blocks and two hits.

The Leafs controlled the lion’s share of puck possession and scoring chances when Mermis was on the ice, which is impressive to do against a Hurricanes that is one of the best in the league in those two respective categories. It may have been against lesser competition, but he did what he needed to do to give the Leafs a chance to win and did his part.

“He was solid. Really competitive,” head coach Craig Berube told reporters after the game when assessing Mermis’ performance. “He just made the hard puck plays he needed to make, blocking shots and being competitive. He was solid.”

Getting a public vote of confidence from his head coach is no small feet, especially in the type of game that the Leafs could be in for in the playoffs where things get tight and the margins for error are small. Mermis is certainly not going to be a lock to be in the playoff lineup, but he showed that he can step in if needed and provide valuable minutes on the third pair.

Then again, he has always taken pride in doing whatever his team asks him to do because it is in his DNA.

“I’ve been through so much in my career in that role, so I’m very comfortable in those situations,” he said. “There’s no stress, there’s no issue for me. I can play in a million different ways, however they need me to and in whatever situations. I was just excited to find out that – unfortunately, they had to play a man down, play five – but I’d get to jump in and help them on a back-to-back.”

It may have only been one game, but Mermis showed that he is capable of handling the third-pairing role for the last two games of the regular season. Although these games still matter since their seeding has not been secured, making sure McCabe and Ekman-Larsson are healthy is just as important if not more so given how valuable the two have been on the backend all year.

The Leafs cannot afford to have the two experience any setbacks and they would be wise to give the two blueliners some extra rest before the postseason commences. Knowing that there is a quality veteran option who Berube knows can step in and do his part without sacrificing a lot in terms of quality of play is invaluable to any coach, especially at this time of the year. And if Mermis does well in these last two games, there is no reason to suggest he won’t stick around once the playoffs begin to be an option at the ready if the Leafs want to make some adjustments to their pairs.

Mermis should remain in the lineup for the rest of the regular season to allow McCabe and Ekman-Larsson to get some additional rest. It would be in the Leafs’ best interest to go down this path instead of risking the health of their regulars this late in the campaign.