Mikheyev isnt going anywhere

liljegren should have one more year with the marlies that's why dermott should be signed to a "proove yourself" one year deal

Defence is looking stellar if you pay a 40 game 3rd liner that much.

I love Mikheyev, and hope they can bring him back at a reasonable cost. But no matter how useful Mikheyev is, that D is gonna suffer over the extra 1.5M

I'd love to see the reporting on this trade:

"We have breaking news. It looks like Travis Dermott is getting traded"
"Where's he getting traded to?"
"Any team the release states"
"What are they getting in return"
"It looks like picks and stuff."

I think Johnsson will be the one to move, if not him, someone may offer a bigger return on Kapanen who I'd let go in that case. The Leafs top 6 is stacked and with Barbarov and Robertson in the wings, they will be fine. To those who think the Leafs defence is garbage next year because currently the only 2 RHD on the roster are Holl and Liljegren should just look at the cup winning defences over the past 20 years and see how many of them had an even split of left handed and right handed defenceman. I'd be surprised if 5 out of 20 had the perfect split. What hand a guy shoots was a huge deal to Babs and then the media blew it way out of proportion. The key is to have 6 quality defenceman and depth in case of injuries which I think TO definitely has next year.

Rielly and Muzzin are both top pair defenders, Holl was great with Muzzin and I think one of Dermott or Lehtonen could do very will with Rielly and then you have Sandin with whichever doesn't mesh as well with Rielly. That is a solid 6 member defence. There is even an outside chance that Liljegren takes a step and forces his way onto the team. And you have Marincin around in case of injury. He isn't worth full time play but he's a terrific #7. Give him 3rd pair minutes in sheltered situations and let him kill penalties which he is extremely good at.

I think the Leafs defence could have one of the best bang for its bucks in the entire league next year.

Rielly at 5, Muzzin at 5.6, Holl at 2, Dermott close to that, Sandin, Lehtonen both at under 1 million and Liljegren and Marincin under 1 million as well. That is money well spent and I think could be far better than the Legions of Leaf haters want to admit.