When he was signed in the summer by the Toronto Maple Leafs, it looked like he was Matt Hunwick’s replacement until Mike Babcock said he would play with Morgan Rielly. That set off alarm bells. A 36-year-old playing big minutes and coming off of a CF% of 47.8 with Pittsburgh? Uh oh.
Surprisingly, Hainsey has been great all year, better than anyone expected. He and Rielly are playing well against top lines, eating minutes, and he’s even putting up nine assists so far. That’s far above his career average and won’t last, but I’m not complaining.