Since the Leafs started to be actually good in Matthews’ rookie season, they’ve not been a very balanced or deep team. They had tons of talent at forward, but also mostly on the wing. They had a short window with Matthews, Tavares and Kadri, but their lack of NHL depth at center led them to making multiple trade deadline deals to acquire the likes of Brian Boyle and Tomas Plekanec.
There’s been the same story on defense. Their good defensemen were both offensively focused (Rielly, Gardiner) and left-shots. When they finally acquired Muzzin and Dermott was establishing himself at least as a viable third pair guy in the NHL, Gardiner’s back limited his effectiveness.