Quoting: mhockey91
This is an extremely homer comment.
1- Rielly is most definitely not a top 10 D man. I can easily think of 10 who are currently better
2- from a shutdown only perspective Muzzin isn’t top 10 either. He’s a very good two way defensemen but there are easily 10 D in the league better in their own zone than muzzin.
3- comparing sandin to two hall of famers is absolutely ridiculous. I think sandin has top pairing potential but to say he’s a future Lidstrom is just absurd.
4- lehtonen is a huge wild card. Great year in europe but still TBD how his game converts to North America
5- Dermott absolutely doesn’t have top pairing potential looool
6- no chance lilly should’ve went top 5 in his draft. Yes he fell cause he was sick but there are easily 10 better players I could name off the top of my head who are better from 2017
also notice how many guys he said "potential" for. Nobody's denying the long term potential of this D core. Its actually quite a commendable long term D core. But short term Dermott, Sandin, and Lilly aren't ready to take on the roles that they should one day soon.
Right now, the D core could shock people. Sandin could step up big time, Dermott could definitely look top 4 ready, Holl could prove not to be a one year wonder, liljegren could be NHL ready, and Lehtonen could transition into the NHL seamlessly, and make for a high end D core. But thats a lot of pieces that have to fall into place. The leafs still need to bring in a solid, reliable, stable RHD to that core just in case. If all those guys step into bigger shoes this year, great, you're even better off. If not, you've got another reliable guy back there.
My targets would be Savard, Demelo, Roy, Weegar personally