4. Travis Dermott is too good to lose.
The Toronto Maple Leafs just signed Justin Holl, and assuming the Leafs are signing Muzzin, happy to be paying Barrie almost nothing, that Rielly is a franchise cornerstone, and they are keeping Sandin, that only leaves Travis Dermott if the Leafs are making changes.
They are loaded at the left side, but if Dermott can play the right side then then you don’t want to lose him. Even though he’s played some pretty sheltered minutes for his career, he’s put up some brilliant numbers.
Every guy his age whose played the same amount of games is considered a potential superstar and most of those guys have worse stats.
Barring the surprising exodus of Barrie or Holl, it seems that Travis Dermott is the piece you’d have to lose to make that happen. I don’t see how it’s worth it.
5. I like the current personnel.
The healthy Leafs blue-line that we’ve yet to see contains mouth watering talent.
Rielly-Barrie
Muzzin-Holl
Sandin- Dermott
Every single one of those guys can move the puck and score 40 points. They all play high-possession games that feature their team having the puck more than their opposition.
It’s the exact blue-line, featuring six puck moving defensemen, that I envisioned when Kyle Dubas first got the job as Leafs GM.
And it’s good to go for years, since Muzzin is the only one who is 30, and he’ll probably age nicely since he’s already slow and he’s still good anyways.
With Muzzin set to sign, the Leafs blue line is taking shape for next year.
Muzzin, Holl, Rielly, Sandin and Liljegren are all locked up. Travis Dermott is an RFA so unless they trade him, he’ll be back too.
Basically just swap in Liljegren for Barrie and you’re good to go.
I 100% believe the Toronto Maple Leafs can win the Cup with their current blue-line. The stats assert that they’re very good, despite not even assembling a unit at full power for a single game.
Ultimately, I think the Leafs blueline is fine. If they want to swing for the fences, and turn Dermott and a forward/prospect into an elite right-side defenseman that allows them to get significantly better, then sign me up.
But barring the addition of a big-name superstar, I think their blue-line is pretty good. They are coming out on top in most of the games they play, and with Campbell and a rested Andersen, the prospects of getting better goaltending seem strong.
If they want to replace Dermott or Ceci on right side of the third line, I also think that’s reasonable.
I just don’t think the Leafs blue-line is bad. I think it’s massively underappreciated.