Who has been the Toronto Maple Leafs No. 1 defenceman as of late? Is it the current longest-serving Maple Leaf, Morgan Rielly? Is it Chris Tanev, who the team picked up in the offseason, known as one of the best defensive defencemen in the NHL? Well, right now? No.
The answer is actually none of the above, because if you’ve been watching the Leafs play—especially in the new year—you would know that Jake McCabe has not only been the team’s best defenceman but has been raising everyone around him to a higher level.
New year, new McCabe
McCabe has been quite solid for the Leafs all season. Despite posting just nine assists and zero goals prior to Jan. 1, the 31-year-old had a respectable plus/minus of +7.
However, McCabe has turned his game up to another level since the calendar shifted to 2025.
To start the new year, McCabe has led all Leafs defencemen in points per game (0.67) and posted the team’s best plus/minus (+9), showing how positively he affects play when on the ice. Mind you, he has done this all while missing four games with an upper-body injury he suffered after a fight with Philadelphia Flyers winger Garnet Hathaway on Jan. 5. And while the injury was scary to see for Leafs fans, McCabe has come back with a vengeance.
But his injury also proved something: without McCabe, the Leafs crumble.
Now, part of this is a very thin Leafs defence corps becoming AHL-calibre if any of the top guys miss time. But, most of it stems from Jake McCabe being able to play with anyone.
He and Tanev form the best defensive pair in the NHL. Simon Benoit (who has been dreadful without him) looked like a bonafide NHL defenceman all of last year paired with him. And now, Rielly is playing his best hockey of the year paired with McCabe.
Post-injury excellence
In a small sample size of three games since returning from his injury, McCabe has looked like a man on a mission. The D-man has been a team-best +6 since his return, while averaging the most playing time on the squad at a high 24:22 minutes a game—nearly a full two minutes higher than second-place Tanev’s 22:58.
And against the New Jersey Devils in his first game back, MacCabe posted an impressive two-assist performance in a 4–3 overtime win for the Leafs—one of those assists being a helper on William Nylander’s game-winner in the extra frame.
This high usage as of late and his continuously high plus/minus totals show two things. Firstly, McCabe has more than earned the trust of Leafs coach Craig Berube. But second, and most importantly for the Leafs as a whole, McCabe is making those around him better. McCabe’s individual stats are nothing to write home about with just a single goal and 12 assists in 39 games, but with that, it becomes apparent just how much the defenceman is boosting his teammates when on the ice.
Even ignoring the numbers, you can see just how much McCabe boosts his team when playing, whether it is causing an opposing turnover in the defensive end, making an accurate outlet pass to a forward up-ice or putting his body on the line and blocking a shot, a stat for which he ranks second on the team behind Tanev. And the Leafs being on a three-game win streak since his injury return is a testament to his elite play.
His impact on the team overall looks even more impressive when you consider the fact that he is being paid just the fourth most among Leafs defencemen at $2M per year. And while that number will increase to $4.51M next season thanks to a five-year extension he signed with the Leafs back in October, it will be a worthy increase given his play this season, and he’ll still be underpaid.
McCabe may not be the biggest name on paper when you look at the 2024–25 Leafs roster, but his numbers and impact speak for themselves. Among a Leafs defence that has looked substantially improved compared to previous years, McCabe has been the crown jewel.
