Pretty sure TSN placed Sandin higher than Bouchard in their prospect rankings less than a month ago. I think your bias against the Leafs is showing here my friend.

I get that and I’ve seen it. His D in the neutral zone is solid, good poise - I doubt he’ll be a franchise defenseman but he has the potential to be a #2 D, all situations minutes eater

Seems like there are a lot of people on here that actively don't want him to be as good as he could be. Its so weird to see so many people want bad things for the Leafs more than they want to see good hockey players succeed.

That’s what you pulled out of my comment?

Yes because someone else said it, it must be true

Perhaps not you specifically, but Sandin was just listed as the 6th best defensive prospect outside of hockey and still, "He's never going to be a #1." is the rhetoric from more than 1 person on here. He may only be a top pair guy but his ceiling is an elite #1 guy.

So lets just go with Bouchard is definitely a #1 elite defenceman and Sandin is just a good player maybe. That seems like the smartest take away here.

Never said that, I'd probably take Sandin over Bouchard at this point, it's very close, just pointing out an issue with your argument

My argument is that Sandin has as high a ceiling as any defensive prospect right now. He is fresh off being the best defenceman at the worlds, has been one of the best defenceman in the AHL the past 2 years as a teenager, and has shown he's ready to be a player in the NHL. That is awfully impressive. I am not saying he's a norris winner or a dark horse for the calder or anything else silly like that. He's a terrific young player and one that solves some problems on the back end.

I never said he's never going to be a #1, I just think its unlikely - and that's not a bad thing! Nothing about his game is "elite" - he's just very good at everything which is why he could very well be a #2 guy if he puts it all together. Just because he was listed as the 6th best defensive prospect doesn't mea his ceiling is a #1 D. Byram, Boqvist, soderstrom, dobson, seider definitely ahead of sandin but there's guys like Bouchard, Lundqvist, broberg against sandin that are up for debate and well know more who will likely have the better career in a few years.

How many of your list were the best defenceman at the world juniors when they were there?

Also he has 6 points in 10 games in the NHL. Sure that is way too small of a sample size to draw many conclusions but he's passing ever hurdle thrown his way at the age of 19. That isn't a normal trajectory for defenceman. Boqvist has 20+ games and only 4 points, sure points aren't everything but the underlying numbers for Sandin are incredible as well. I think its safe to say he's not only ready for the big stage but he's thriving so far.

Seider was better

Definitely no anti leaf bias here at all.

Leafs aren't moving Sandin or Liljegren because they need those two cost efficient guys for cap reasons next year. Leafs don't have might have just winger prospects projected to NHLers so Robertson is unlikely be moved. AHLer Bracco should not even mentioned in an NHL trade.

I always amazed to see when folks don't think Leafs Dmen are NHL quality, the line "He's playing sheltered minutes". Leafs Dmen seem to play more sheltered minutes than any other team.

Seider carried the worst defense other than Kazakhstan and was out for like 1 ES GA all tournament, not to mention the fact that his zone entry and exit numbers were amazing, oh and did I mention that he was one of like 3 guys other teams had to worry about, Sandin had how many other high end talents... Lundkvist, Soderstrom, Bjornfot, and (?) Broberg, not to mention the forward talent that team had

None but byram, seider, soderstrom are all in their D+1 seasons and Dobson + boqvist didn’t play in the WJC in their D+2 seasons like sandin. There’s a good chance Dobson would have won it if he was loaned to team Canada.

Its the same thought pattern for everything to do with the Leafs. Nylander is carried by Matthews, who is carried by Marner, who is carried by Tavares who is carried by Nylander, who is over paid and gets sheltered minutes. No Leafs defenceman is good at defence, period. All Leaf prospects are B prospects and have no value. Etc Etc.

It just silly and I have no idea why I keep coming back here. I may have a problem.

Sweden's players said Sandin was their best player. You are probably right though, I keep forgetting the rules are that Leafs are all bad. Its really hard to remember that rule sometimes.

tsn is legit the "toronto sports network" they also placed romanov higher than bouchard and sandin. so i wouldn't be that excited. romanov is clearly better than sandin, but bouchard still has the higher ceiling

Okay and if Liljegren wouldn't have been hurt last year for the World Juniors there's a real good chance he would have won it last year. Come one dude, that is just weak.

Clearly, everything to do with the Leafs is terrible and anything else is better. Its just the rules on here and no one is bias, except for Leaf fans. Everyone else is correct always no matter what.

You have problem? Look at the number of posts I make . Even some Leafs fans repeat the same nonsense. Example trade Ceci for nothing. Then trade Johnsson for a 7th guy from a lousy team, cause that will make the Leafs better. . It's like so many don't even watch the games, they analyze players by the comments on CF.

If you want to compare Dmen, and I know it was only one game, but geez the highly touted Nashville Dmen where hemmed in their own zone by the Leafs on Monday. Plus the Leafs skated around them at times with ease. PS. Sandin and Ceci were the two best Dmen on the ice.

Yeah, he probably was... Sweden's best player != Tournaments best player, Seider was also Germany's best player, but where Sweden had probably two or three of the tournaments top 10 d men (excluding Seider and Sandin for this argument) Germany probably didn't have another in the top 20, and Seider was still able to put up comparable if not better numbers than Sandin