Morgan Rielly and Jake Gardiner are the Leafs top pair

Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty ImagesIf there’s one thing that’s true about the Maple Leafs, it’s that the defence pairs have become ossified, carved in stone, immutable, and the stubbornness of the coaching staff in forcing the three good left-side defenders to carry an anchor on the right side is why the Leafs are mired in, ah, the top ten of the standings.

And, to be fair, if all you do is look at the lines we publish in the preview each game, you might think the defence pairings never change. It’s also not the easiest thing to do to notice who is actually playing with whom on the ice, since the forwards are a little more eye-catching most of the time. For good and ill, defender…