The Toronto Maple Leafs are all but confirmed to be making the playoffs for a ninth consecutive season.

There are certainly some things going in their favour going into the spring, such as their power play clicking this late in the year and their top-six forwards getting in a groove. The top-four defence has been solidified for the most part, and Anthony Stolarz has put himself in pole position to get the nod for Game 1.

Head coach Craig Berube certainly has a good chunk of his lineup figured out, but there are some things he would surely like to have solidified before the postseason begins. The ideal bottom-six configuration remains a mystery, as well as the offensive production of the players down there. Stolarz may be the likely playoff starter at the beginning, but could there be a rotation just like the one that has been used when he and Joseph Woll are healthy?

None of those unsettled issues pale in comparison to perhaps the most pressing that Berube needs to solve: the makeup of the third defensive pairing.

Since the start of the trade deadline, the Leafs’ third pairing has primarily consisted of Simon Benoit and Oliver Ekman-Larsson. Philippe Myers has appeared in two games since the deadline and some of the other players in the top four have taken their turn, but it has been mostly Benoit and Ekman-Larsson.

Among all the pairings the Leafs have used this season, the aforementioned pairing has seen the sixth most minutes at 5v5. The underlying numbers for the pairing are not pretty, to say the least:

The duo have been getting caved in their own end for the most part, and the opposition gets the bulk of the quality chances when Benoit and Ekman-Larsson are on the ice together. If not for their high-danger goals for % and PDO being so high, the numbers would likely be a lot worse.

Part of why this pairing has not been effective is that both are natural lefties, which does not make for an ideal combination, given that one of the two has to play on their off-side. It may seem like a trivial thing, but it does matter when it comes to how you react to loose pucks, how you move your body to set up a pass, readjusting to whatever the opposition throws at you, and so on. Given how much the opposition controls the pace of play, the fact that one is on their off-side and has to make movements that take a split second longer than it would on their natural side is the difference between getting the puck out harmlessly and getting hemmed in your zone for longer than necessary.

The other glaring issue is the play of Benoit himself, who has struggled mightily in his second season with the Leafs. He certainly brings the physicality and toughness, and he was not expected to bring a lot of offence to begin with, but Benoit has been a net-negative on just about every pairing he has been on. It certainly doesn’t help that he does not have Jake McCabe alongside him (who has been dynamic alongside Chris Tanev), but the Laval native has not been able to build off his 2023-24 campaign.

Benoit’s struggles were most amplified in a game against the San Jose Sharks last Thursday, where his poor defensive play resulted in him getting benched for the majority of the second period. Being forced to sit on the bench because of how he played against one of the worst teams in the NHL this season is not a good look for a player on a team with aspirations for going deep in the playoffs.

These are the type of things that opposing teams in the playoffs will look to exploit when matching up against the Leafs and they will see the third pairing as a point of weakness. Failing to address this in time could be the difference between a meaningful run and another early exit, which is not something the team can afford given how much is at stake.

It won’t be an overnight fix to get the third pairing in a better position, but a good place to start is putting Myers back in the lineup for the first time since March 10th. While he is not a perfect alternative, as there have been stretches where he too has struggled, the one advantage he has over Benoit is the fact that he is a natural right-handed defenceman.

This would allow Ekman-Larsson to revert to his natural position, where he has played a lot better in comparison to playing on his off-side. He has to be utilized a certain way for the Leafs to get the most out of him, and playing him on the right limits his effectiveness. Putting him back in his comfort zone could pay dividends to get him feeling good about his game heading into the playoffs.

Making Benoit a healthy scratch for a few games could also prove beneficial for him because he is in desperate need of a reset, given the extended run of poor play he has endured. Getting Myers back in the fold for an extended run of play could be the catalyst needed to get more out of Benoit because he would be fighting to return to the lineup, and that would, in turn, motivate him to improve his nightly showing. Perhaps having a healthy Jani Hakanpaa could have helped in this department, but that is not an option right now, so going with a player that Berube is more familiar with will need to suffice.

Whatever avenue gets explored with the third-pair will surely be better than the status quo because the current iteration of Benoit and Ekman-Larsson is hampering the Leafs. Berube seems to prefer having the ability to roll through all of his lines and having a pairing that needs to be sheltered or adjusted to the extent the third pairing has been through goes against what he is trying to achieve.

The Leafs must figure out the ideal combination for the third pairing, and fast, because there is not much time left before the playoffs begin.