I dont think hes good enough for girst pairing personally. I think hes a decent #4 but Rielly needs someone he can lean on defensively

You may be right, however he is still a really young hockey player with alot of upside and played on some great Erie Otter teams with McDavid, Strome and Debrincat so I would not be too quick to dismiss his upside. I personally think he has the potential to break through and be a top pairing defenceman in the NHL if he is given the opportunity and responsibilty by the Leafs.

Maybe, I just imagine it is in Dubas' best interest to fix up their defense without sacrificing too much depth and future. Maybe Holl can fill in on the first pair and Dermott can slide in next to Muzzin.

He was drafted 5 years ago. thats no longer young for a hockey player.

Who cares who he played with as a teenager? He has played in the AHL and NHL with a collection of players who were all great junior/college/european professional players.

IMO TMLSage is correct to suggest Dermot could vey well be play with Reilly. Gee, Dermot has played with a Russian rookie two years ago and Ceci last season, no reason why he can't play with Reilly.
So many folks on this site fall back on nonsensical cliches regarding the numbering systems of Dman pairing. Certainly in the Leaf case, the don't know how anyone could suggest that Reilly (and his partner) is the # 1 pairing, meaning superior to Muzzin and his partner. Actually it's true for most teams.
Holl was the best Leaf RHD last year, so he can play with anyone.

He's 150 games into his NHL career, he certianly hasn't peaked. Way too early to label him as nothing more than a 3rd pair Dman.

Palhal is right. We don't need a Norris winner to slot in next to Rielly. Muzzin started playing against the toughest comp last year once Rielly paired up with Barrie.

So barring trades, match-up up whatever makes the most sense Rielly, Muzzin, Holl and Dermott in the top 4. I really think Holl and Dermott can be interchangeable, and Muzzin should probably handle the toughest comp no matter how it shakes out. Dermott being a "gap control" beast (which is a weakness of Rielly) and more competent with the puck then most of Rielly's former partners should make for a perfectly fine partner for him. On the other hand, Dermott could pair up with Muzzin and form a fairly physical pain in the ass match-up pair, and let Holl and Rielly take majority of OZ starts and form a solid smooth skating puck moving pair.

Then obviously Lehtonen is the wildcard.

I never said he peaked. I said he isn't young and who cares who he played against when he was 16.

Agreed on the former teammates part.

But considering dmen usually develop slower than fwds, I would still consider him young for an NHLer.

I didn't agree with much Randy Carlyle said or did when he was with the Leafs, but I do agree with what he said about dmen's experience. Typically you can't truly judge what a dman is until they've played 300 games.

Maybe with the way the league is going, that number has shrunk a bit, but I'd say 4th season is pretty good barometer.

You should care who he played with in junior hockey if you understand hockey.