Anyone else get the feeling that the leafs could aquire 4 toppish pairing minute munching d men from other teams and still have defensive issues? Cause that's what we essentially did in bringing Muzzin, Barrie and Ceci to go along with Rielly..

I think our d problems come down to 2 things really

i) the brand of hockey the leafs play I.e. fast, skilled, trading chances etc, we could have a d core filled with previous Norris winners and still be outnumbered down low and with odd man rushes given our forwards penchant for blowing the zone (although, so far, I think we've looked alot better on that this year)

ii) guys getting used to playing with each other.. we've had a massive amount of roster and coaching changes from last year. I mean, just look at our d.. Mo is the only guy playing right now who has played for the leafs for more than half a season. It'll take a while for everything to gel.

I really hope that Dert is given reps with Rielly to see what's there before considering any kind of roster surgery or trade.

Rielly/Dert
Muzzin/Barrie
Sandin/Ceci

Holl

That has alot of potential, methinks.

Great points.

Here is what I see as it stands right now and then projecting forward.

1) Barrie is gonna get pay day that we wont br able to match.

2) Muzzin is good, he will get a better offer then we can afford ot give, also is just me but I'm noticing a notable slow down in his speed?

3) Ceci, need to see more but so far I'd say let him walk.



Its unlikely that we will land 3 D next year, 2 might be possible though.
That's I said the Islanders trade happened in 2019 season.

Our style of play is an issue, fire wagon hockey.
This what ultimately I see what gets Babcock canned right now.
He needs to big in game adjustments, something he doesn't do.


I agree with you that our D will be better in 2019 will be better the more they play with each other, but this is for 2020-2021.

Not sure I want to pair Dermott with Rielly long term, might be neccessary this year though.

That seems pretty reasonable. Still, I'm curious about how Dert might work with Rielly. If that worked out it would solve alot of problems.

Or, how about this? Marner + for Seth Jones... I jest.

Honestly though, it seems like we're starting to hit on utility wingers that play a game/role like Hyman. Trading out Hyman in his last year for picks might be required to find cap for a d. I imagine they find a way to take a run at one of Muzzin/Barrie. One of Kap or Johnsson could also be a trade candidate for d improvements.

Given the all the moves that the leafs pulled this offseason in order to stay cap compliant while remaining competitive, I'm confident they have a plan in place for the d.

Seth Jones would a dream come true.

Seriously though, Columbus would be dumb to move him.

Yeah, they'd never do that.

What you think of Sandin so far?