Quoting: superbrett
I'm a Leafs fan and I disagree. I broke it down above but Pietrangelo is better then both McDonagh & Muzzin and McD cost a 1st, a conditional 2nd, a top prospect and another prospect. In 2017 Howden was Ranked the 79th prospect in NHL according to The Hockey Writers. According to The Sporting News Liljigren is the 41st top NHL prospect.
Using your same logic the trade you proposed is nowhere near close enough to get Pietrangelo, especially if the Leafs are adding the cap dump, which Zaitsev is and a big one for a long time.
You can sit there and debate who's better between McDonagh and Pietrangelo all day long, and points could be made for both sides. But the fact is that they would both be traded for for the same role, that's a top pairing dman to play the right side (McDonagh did that even though he shoots left) which puts their trade value very similar. When teams make trades, they use comparables all the time. McDonagh trade would be the #1 comparable trade for Pietrangelo.
Zaitsev is not a cap dump. His contract isn't good, but it isn't terrible either. His actually cap hit is fine for what he is, which is a bottom 4 pairing dman. $4.5M for a right handed shooting dman that can play second pairing minutes when the cap keeps rising is well within value. The issue with his contract is the term and if he's going to get any better. If he's put in a better role than he is in Toronto, which would be an offensive guy that leads a PP then no one would complain about his contract. In St. Louis he's have that chance. So saying that he is a strict cap dump, is not true.
As for the McDonagh trade comparison, you're forgetting that J.T Miller was included in that deal going to Tampa Bay who is a very solid top 6 forward. That's where the conditional 1st/2nd came in and the slightly higher prospect. If you wanted that return from Toronto, you'd have to include more than just Pietrangelo. Maybe Robbi Fabri? Not sure with his injury history so maybe a Jaeden Schwartz? Which again would require more salary going from Toronto to St. Louis which could increase the value of the prospects.
If it was just Pietrangelo going to Toronto the facts and conparables are extremely similar:
1) both being acquired to be a top pairing right side dman
2) both have a year and a half left until UFA status
3) both teams moving the players are looking for a retool/rebuild
Plus it's worth taking into consideration Pietrangelo's current cap hit of $6.5M which makes Toronto's cap tighter. When McDonagh was traded, he was only making $4.7M which slightly adds to his value.
However as I said, I don't see Pietrangelo as a fit in Toronto. They'd most likely lose him when he becomes a UFA, and getting Sandin or Liljegren outta Toronto is gonna take an offer that they can't refuse because they'll be the young, fast, cheap, internal options to replace guys that leave in free agency. Leafs have preached patience and development from day 1 that Shanahan was brought it. They'd much rather look at the long term success chances with young guys like Sandin and Liljegren rather than a 1 year window with Pietrangelo. Just can't see it happening. Especially now that they've got Muzzin who is a perfect fit for Toronto