Today MP contract extension I thought now would be good time for this.

Most have said that Dermott's next contract should either be bridge deal or a long term deal


How about a 1 year deal at 925K that sets the QO for his next deal instead? Similar to how MP signed before the season started and same with DeAngelo.

@onex , @jamiepo , @palhal , @Sign_em_up000000 @bcapp , @PleaseBanMeForMyOwnGood @tomato43 , @jack_ , @oldnyifan , @Laudan , @mondo

Please give your thoughts

I was just researching. He doesn't have arbitration rights. But geez sign for one year cheaply...he is going to arbitration the following season, and probably going to want free agency as soon as possible. IMO it's going to be lousy way to treat a top 6 Dman. But this is going to be happening if "star" RFAs get real big contracts when they come off ELCs. The mid to lower guys (who happen to make up most of the NHLPA) are going to get squeezed without more cap money available.

Dermott has had injury issues so perhaps a one year with a QO at 2.5-3 million would be the cautious way to go.

Problem is if he skyrockets in his play, he's in for a big raise. I guess there's worse problems to deal with.

Good point.
Did not think of the the next season arbitration angle.

Yeah hadn't thought about him getting pissed off about a one year deal. Suppose the one year idea could backfire.

You mentioned DeAngelo earlier. Last season 61 games, 30 points and plus 5. Rangers cheaped on a one year deal at 925,000 (maybe DeAngelo wanted it too) and this season DeAngelo. 48 games, 37 points, plus 5. What's he going to get. Look at Girard with Avs. He signed a year early at 5m X 7 years.

This question is complicated isn't it. What is Dermott? Where is his place on this team? If Muzzin is resigned I seriously doubt the answer to those questions are the same.

So two responses for me.

1) If Muzzin is gone.
Sign him to 3 year contract, allow him to compete with Sandin for position in the roster.

2) If Muzzin stays.
Trade Dermott in a package for a right RHD top 4. Sandin has higher upside.

I don't think Dermott has lived up to expectations so far this season because my expectations were very high. I am willing to give him the benefit of the doubt because he was injured/healing most of the summer and into the start of the season. I like him as a player and see him being a top 4 defender in his prime. I try to sign him to a 3 year bridge deal at 2.5 million a season. I am confident in his ability to pick up where he left off last season and grow into the player i believe he can be. His underlying numbers are still good but he has mostly been playing third pairing minutes before the key injuries we have faced recently. A 3 year deal gives him time to show what he can do and then if he meets expectations we can resign him at 26 to a contact that takes him right until the end of his prime. If he can transition into to the right side he would be invaluable. If he cant and Sandin comes in next year and lights the world on fire and we make some other trade for a stopgap RHD maybe Dermott becomes expendable and can be swapped for a similar right handed player.

I've been flirting with the though of swapping Rielly for similar aged RHD and resigning Muzzin to balance out our D core too.

Muzzin - Holl
Dermott- Dumba / Pesce (examples)
Sandin - Liljegren

I wouldn't say he has injury issues. He had one freak hit from behind and had surgery

If I were gm I would try and lock him up long term asap. I may be a bit higher on him then others but he has the tools to be a very good 2nd pair defenseman. He wont put up points and so far in his career he hasn't dont the two things that defenseman get paid for- play big minutes and put up points. I imagine they could sign him to around 3.75×5 or 6. Comparable to the girard or pettersson contracts. Imo he will be worth more then that once he gets better and when the cap keeps going up. I think it's a very fair deal based off of what hes done so far but it's very likely that he outperforms it.

Personally I think locking him up long term will be much more valuable then signing him to a bridge deal

Think he signs a 2 year prove me deal for approx $2,000,000 per year.

I think you offer Dermott the same as Holl. Same money same term maybe try to get him on a 3yr deal. If there is any truth to the “comparables in the same team” much like marner and Matthews.

I think there are two ways to go with him. Sign him for a bridge at 2.5ish for 2-3 years. Or gamble a bit and sign him for term (6ish years) at 4ish. He's not worth it yet, but the hope is if he progresses you get a damn bargain. But the gamble is if he never really proves to be a 20 minute defenseman it's a bad contract and if he is just an okay second pairing defenseman it's an okay contract.

I would rather go for bridge deal for the sole reason that i want to try and avoid having to resign a bunch of players when they are 29 or 30 years old. If we sign him to a 3 year bridge his next contract wont run into his mid to late 30s. That might be looking way to far into the future but i want to get all of the prime years out of our players and have the ability to walk away from them at that point if needs be. On a bridge deal he will likely be playing behind Sandin and Rielly for a good chunk of it which would limit how much he will be able to produce in points and minutes keeping his cost down for a third contract. We are still in a bit of a cap crunch for a couple years as well until a new broadcasting rights deal is negotiated. I wouldn't mind an extra couple million to spend on other defensemen for a couple years.

Holl got 2M after 20 Games.....i had Dermott at 3 x 2,5M but with Holl's contract....he can go for more. Quite an expensive 3rd Pair that will be with the notion Sandin and Liljegren can play those minutes for 890k......

Bold Trading Reilly, if you did that are you saying that you value Dumba equally? For me, I would seriously value Reilly = Parayko this opens up a new thought train!

I think if hes 23 and they sign him to a 5 or 6 year deal that wouldn't be the end of the world when it comes to his next contract. I dont like signing guys into their mid to late 30s but if a long term contract ended when he was 28-29 and they resigned until he is 32 that wouldn't be the end of the world imo.

I'm on the trade rielly team and I have been since last season. He would never replicate his last season and gms around the league think hes better then he actually is. If they could trade rielly for someone like parayko or ekblad that would give you the ability to run
Muzzin-holl
Dermott-ekblad/parayko
Sandin-liljegren.
Taht gives you the ability to have 2 sort of shut down pairs and is much more versatile

Dermott just turned 23 a little more than a month ago. So lets call this year his 22 year old season. If he signs a 6 year deal that will make him 29 and 1/2 when he is going to be signing his 3rd contract. if at that point he would sign a 3 year deal i would be all over that, but at that point in players careers they are trying to swing for the fences on there last chance to make big money. He will want another 5-6 year deal taking him to 35 by the end of the deal. I would rather save some money for a couple years by giving him a bridge deal, wait and find out what he really is and then lock him up with his third contract the end of his prime at 32. Who knows what the future holds though. It is so hard to predict the circumstances of the team 5-6 years from now. This is just my preferred scenario giving the current circumstances and ideal conditions.



I have been contemplating trading Rielly for the past couple of months. He will most likely be a 50-60 point defenseman for a long time who is lackluster in the defensive zone. I give him the benefit of the doubt this year with his injury but what really intrigues me about flipping him isn't his diminished numbers this year but the complete imbalance we have on the left and right side of the defense. i want to resign Muzzin to a reasonable deal. He is a good veteran who defensive and brings physicality. He has what most of the rest of our defense lacks. But resigning him just crowds the left side to much unless Dermott or Sandin are able to step up and thrive on their offside. Swapping him for a similar righty alleviates the jam we have on left defense.

Im not sure we would be able get either Parayko or Ekblad though. Parayko is just superior to Rielly in most aspects of the game besides points and i dont see them wanting to get rid of him unless they decide they have to resign Pietrangelo to a 9 million dollar deal and there right side just becomes to jammed. Ekblad hasn't lived up what people thought his potential would be but he has been solid and basically worth his contract. number 1 D are only going to get more costly so i dont think Florida will want to trade the 5 more years they have him locked down for the 2 that Rielly is.

If we could swap Rielly for Parayko i would do it in a heartbeat even though i love Reilly. St louis seems more inclined to let Pietrangelo walk and keep Parayko as there number 1 on the right side.

First off I'd like to bring to light the fact that this kid is only 23 and has only played 138 games to this point in his career. Generally, defencemen need 300 games to know what they truly are, so this kid isn't even at the halfway point yet a lot of people are righting him off. This is why I caution people to temper expectations with Sandin and Liljegren both have great potential but people expect these two to be our saviours. I think both will be great but will need to be sheltered for awhile.

That being said, I would lock him up long term(dependent on the amount of course) because tho his caphit may seem high at first probably around $4mill I think he will outperform his contract in a couple of years and the cost certainty along with him outperforming his contract will help us compete in the future. If he won't take that which seems unlikely to me then I'd explore what it would take for a short-term contract vs what we could get for him on the trade market potentially as part of a package deal for an upgrade on the backend.

I don't how see how folks designate "third pairing players". Many teams they play the same amount time and equal strength or PK minutes as any of the other players. In Reilly's case he players more minutes mostly because of the PP time.
Dermot played most of the season with a rookie last year and now often with Ceci or Holl, so it's not like Dermot has been sheltered by playing with good/great players.

I think you are being hard on Dermott. Anytime a player suffers an injury and has to go through surgery, it's a tough road back.
Think of where Dermott was just before the injury? He was impressing the hell out of me and I'm guessing alot of people commenting in this very thread.

I was predicting a punt year based only on the Dermott and Hyman injuries. Since then, the Leafs are near the top of the league in man games lost...so how far off was I?

Well the Leafs are not in a playoff spot at this moment...not saying they won't make it in...but really with all these injuries can anyone really be shocked?

Next season should be a better time to expect and determine where Dermott is/should be....but yeah think you were expecting too much from a player coming off surgery.

Do you think it would e possible to get Dermott at 3.5 million for 6 years?

Yes, because he loves Toronto and he hasn't proven enough yet to warrant him asking for an exorbitant amount of money. I remember when he was drafted, McDavid talking to him and congratulating him because he was drafted by the Leafs (the two are or were best friends and both dreamed of playing for Toronto). Some players who want to stay where they are will take less because they know they can outperform their contracts and generally when you do that you don't get traded, but hey this is just my take. What do you think?

Edit: I should note that $4 mill is as high as I'd be willing to go as of right now.