Quoting: OldNYIfan
Well, whatever scorn gets heaped upon your head, I will share. From Toronto's perspective, this checks a lot of boxes: (1) Dumba is more valuable to the Maple Leafs in their current state than Nylander; (2) Toronto's need for a back-up goalie is well documented; (3) Donato is likely to be more productive on Toronto's third line than where he is now, and more valuable than Ceci is; and (4) Maple Leafs fans aren't going to vilify Dumba the way they did first to Nikita Zaitsev and now are doing to Ceci. Of course, there is the hurdle of a belief among a significant segment of Leafs Nation that Liljegren is the next Brett Pesce, and therefore untouchable, but I haven't bought into that yet. The only possible adjustment I could see being reasonable is substituting Toronto's 2020 second for Liljegren as a concession to that sentiment. And the trade works out well for both teams' cap situation. In short, really well done!!
Now for the invective from north of the border.
Lol. I thought us Canadians were seen as polite by our southern neighbors? I get your point though - Leaf Nation has quite a different cultural identity than the nation of Canada.
I like the trade for the reasons you spelled out. But I'm kinda thinking that Dubas is pretty happy with this roster now that Keefe is coaching. And now that he is I'm really looking forward to what this team, and some players, look like over the next 20 games. Barrie looked like a completely different player the other night. Holl looked super solid to me, too.
I've been arguing for a while now that a d corps of Reilly, Muzzin, Barie, Dermott, Holl and Ceci isnt inherently bad when compared to other d groups from across the league.
There's no doubt that the leafs d could be improved. But they might not be god awful either - I'm really curious to see if some guys blossom under Keefe. I do think, though, that the d isn't so bad that Dubas would be compelled to part with Nylander. In fact, he's specifically one of the players I fully expect to take things to another level with Keefe as the coach.