LMAO Trading Lehkonen for a 3rd pairing defensemen HAHAHA

Not a chance the Leafs do that trade

no lol. a young very skilled forward on a contract that will be very good in the future for one of the worst defenders in the league, not happening

I clicked this for comedy

I got comedy

The trade doesn't help the Leafs all that much...It's "just" a 3m cap saving. I understand your thought trading for RHD....though it's debatable if Risto is that much of help at that position.
IMO it's mistake to pay Karlsson that much and for that much term, though someone might.

Same reason I click on to TML ones. Who is Marleau getting traded to, bought out and re-signed for 1 mil?? Who are they trading for Pesce??? Etc...

I think the leafs consider this. I would after seeing Willy this year.

Yea, a guy with 28, 21 and 31 point seasons is a real catch

Toronto's management is very reliant upon analytics for how they evaluate players. Ristolainen over his career has had some of the worst analytical numbers of any d-man since he came in and the only thing keeping him even in the league was all the old school guys claiming he passed the eye test. He failed the eye test miserably this year. Nylander on the other hand has had some of the best analytics on the Leafs since he came into the league (he was better than Marner until Nylander held out this year and Marner took off). Ristolainen has been one of the bloat overrated players in the league just because he has size and happens to shoot right handed for a d-man. Nylander has his flaws but when he's on his game he's incredibly valuable to Toronto and one of their better players. That's the long answer.

The short answer: LOL absolutely not.

Just because Toronto needs a right handed d-man doesn't mean they're interested in everyone and are willing to overpay to get it. I can almost say with certainty that Toronto probably has no interest in Ristolainen at all.

Why would Buffalo retain.


Sabres pass, dont need to trade their most underrated d man for a mediocre 2nd line winger

If only the NHL wasn't just about points

His 14 points and injury problems are something any team would want

Hes a defensive defenseman whos been carrying this d core on his back since he was a rookieif you dont know nothing about a player other than whats on his CF stat page dont talk $hit

If only you knew McCabe would be your #1 LHD

19 minutes TOI, 103 Hits, 99 Blocks. Yeah, He's sooo good

If he isn't a top pairing defensemen for Buffalo, he wouldn't be a top pairing defensemen on Montreal.

He would be had we not gotten dahlin. Way to know your stuff

You're right, Dahlin was Elite on Buffalo for the last 6 years, that's totally my bad

Great conversations.


It is interesting that you are using hits and blocks to determine a defenseman value. Jones, Slavin and Pesce with 106, 82 and 72 hits and 133, 133 and 131 blocks respectively would be rated only sightly better than McCabe. While you are correct Weber and Petry would be MTL top 2 defensemen, McCabe would most likely fit into your 2nd pair.
I definitely like Lehkonen, but he is only a 3rd line center. So the trade is a 3rd line center for a 2nd pairing LHD. The trade fills the needs for both teams, maybe one team or the other needs to add, but it is a fair trade.

You are correct he is not a top paired defenseman for either team. But McCabe was the top LHD 3 years ago and would have been this year except the Sabres have Dahlin. He +/- is typically among the best among all Sabres. You will most likely laugh at me, but IMO the Sabres need a LHD more than they need a 3rd line center, so I personally would not offer this trade. .

Well Nylander had a bad year, but he is not mediocre at least not his previous two years. He got off to a slow start this year, one can only expect him to get better. But if I am trading Ristolainen, it has to blow me away, Nylander does not do this. So I agree with your post.

Well that is a little hyperbolic. He would be a very good fit for MTL and easily be their second pairing with either Weber or Petry. His pt total would look a whole better playing with either of them. I think this is a good trade for MTL and I would want more to get me close this deal.

It's a trade for lehkonen, not Mike bossy

So what does McCabe bring? He doesn't hit, block, put up points... You claim he's underated, but he doesn't do anything more than you would expect a bottom pairing defensemen to do.

Yep, and Montreal declines.

Good we agree, it is a terrible trade so let's not do it. I would be happier to keep McCabe than Lehkonen. Done cancel the trade.