Start of the Season Leafs

I think to fit Hyman in they will just carry less players (same city farm team) or trade ceci

This is what I think happens also. But don't forget if Barrie-Muzzin works out you have the option to gas Ceci somewhere and have Dermott or Sandin step up. Ceci I cant see being worth his 4.5

Pretty risky to do a 20 man roster. Even if farm team is based in same city, both NHL an AHL teams travel, you run a risk of having games with 18-19 players on the ice. Likely someone is getting traded, but like the Marleau trade, Toronto will be dealing from a position of weakness and will most likely have to give up an additional asset if it is Ceci being moved.

for me, Ceci is a 5 or 6 dman (not a top 4). Sandin and harper are better D men. if you can get a draft pick for him, let him go and promote sandin, harper then when dermott comes back we will have a legit top 6 d core. this will also open up some nice cap space and maybe we can pick up a depth player during the season.

dermot and hyman will be on LTIR for first 12-14 games. this opens up cap space for rest of the year since there replacements make less on the cap. Also, they may keep 0 spares at home and maybe only still 0-1 spare on the road if necessary. Moving cross country is not that difficult with private jets. Also, this is exactly why they signed all these depth 4-6 liners on 1 way deals (so no other team will pick them up off waivers).