Quoting: Jim_Benning_Almost
Easy there homie (I'm from Toronto, so I can say that). Schenn would be a solid contributor to your 3rd pairing even if Muzzy and Rielly are healthy. The kids (Sandin and Liljegren) aren't playoff battle tested, and don't have the sheer toughness that Schenn has for playoff hockey. He would be hugely valuable on your blueline come April...and let's face it, the Leafs are WEAK when it comes to big playoff balls. That said, Schenn will get you a 2023 3rd or a 2024 2nd rounder at most.
Boeser is overpaid for what he is contributing. He got his money with the hopes of him becoming a better sniper, but on Vancouver he hasn't met his potential. I would suggest that you could expect him to fetch Niemela and another smaller piece, or possibly Holl to create cap room for this deal. Kerfoot's defensive abilities will be too valuable to the Leafs in their playoff run, and his deal runs out at the end of this season, opening up more cap room for the Leafs in this offseason.
who does schenn play over in this lineup? Likely to be suggested candidates:
Holl - next to Rielly leads the defense in TOI, has been stellar since Rielly went down. Not coming out.
Sandin - since the Rielly injury has shown his elite ceiling with solid defensive play against top competition playing 20mins+ a night while contributing offensively (7pts last 10gp). Not coming out.
Liljegren - has also played 20mins+ a night since Rielly got hurt, and has been an absolute rock for some time now. Would be comfortable with him as the 1st pair RD in any situation. Not coming out.
Gio - absolute rock. Not coming out.
So then maybe from there you argue he's the 7th D over timmins? Maybe, but why reward Timmins excellent play so far by pushing him down the depth chart? What if Muzzin does make a miracle return, turns Schenn/Timmins into the 8/9 and we lose one of them to waivers.
Saying the Leafs have weak playoff balls tells me you didn't watch the Tampa series, or at least critically so. Its a game of bounces, it was a hard battled series, they got the final bounce needed and we didn't. Luke Schenn wouldn't have changed the outcome in the slightest.