There are a lot of fans who watch the Leafs every game. And there have been games this season where you come away saying: wow, this team needs a defenceman who can, you know, defend. And then TJ Brodie comes back off of IR and the urge to spend all the futures on Mattias Ekholm fades.
But through it all — when the Leafs were dreadful, when they played great with four practice dummies and a literal pylon on defence, when they got complacent, when they coached themselves into greatness in their most recent game — there has always been people who want a left wing in the top-six who isn’t faking it.