Quoting: rookescr96
Ya you might be right it might have to be for a lower quality forward than what Comtois is. And yes the leafs don't have many young defenseman but they also don't have a ton of young forwards. Amirov is unknown and Robertson isn't suddenly going to turn into a top six forward. They have Niemela and Lidjegren on the back end and Knies upfront that look to be promising players.
Also this would provide a bit of assurance if they aren't able to resign bunting next offseason
True, their prospect pool is small and weak all around and Niemala and Knies didnt/havent had the best WJC. Niemala is playing well so far, but very smallish and not very physical and is a few yrs away at best. (not dissimilar to Andrae from SWE, who's having a monster WJC) I think theres promise, but I think alot of fans need to have hope and realistic expectations that Knies becomes a good middle six winger and not expect the next marner or nylander or that niemala can add some size and familiarity on the smaller NHL rink. TOR cant afford a 3 yr wait for another youngster on defense, with the age they have back there.
I agree with you though, that an unsigned Sandin doesn;t get back a young, cheap, solid top 6 forward. What Sandin has still, is promise and a good chance to be a top 4 dman, but its still just promise and its still an unsigned (possibly difficult) promise.
As much as Toronto cant really give up a young dman, the value is difficult. Another ACGM had gabriel vilardi and a middle round pick from LA, which is maybe closer in value (a 23 yr old with pedigree who has perfomed okay-good in the NHL in limited stints), but similarly no sure thing in a top 6 role yet.
On the upside, even though he has a limited market because of cap/etc... I think kerfoot gets better than a 5th, even from a SEA, who hope that he performs on a lessser team, stays healthy, and they can flip him for a higher round pick, maybe a 4th and 6th something...