Lyubushkin is back with the Maple Leafs for the second time. He was originally acquired by Toronto in exchange for Nick Ritchie, a conditional draft pick, Ryan Dzingel, and the Arizona Coyotes at the 2022 trade deadline.
Lyubushkin and Morgan Rielly were one of the Maple Leafs’ top four defensive core pairings during the 2022 postseason, but their performance was mediocre. Natural Stat Trick at 5-on-5 indicates that Lyubushkin was on the ice for 17 high-danger chances for and 15 high-danger chances against in Toronto’s seven-game loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning. That is a success percentage of 53%.
But Lyubushkin, who has spent his whole career mostly as a third-pairing defenseman, was able to reach the figures above by taking on a top-pairing job. In the present, while Rielly was serving his five-game suspension, the Maple Leafs started Jake McCabe and Simon Benoit in a top-four combo, while Timothy Liljegren and TJ Brodie were in the opposite pairing.
When Rielly returned, head coach Sheldon Keefe partnered him with William Lagesson as part of the third pairing because he didn’t want to split up the other two pairs at 5-on-5. Rielly continued to play on the first power-play unit and, based on the circumstances of the game, received additional ice time with other defenseman. But the main goal was to maintain the unity of the other four couples.
