I'd rather Toronto protect 8 skaters instead and keep Dermott:
Matthews, Rielly
Tavares, Muzzin, Campbell
Marner, Brodie
Nylander, Dermott

Likely to lose Kerfoot to Seattle, maybe Holl. Both are replaceable. Liljegren can take Holl's spot. And Kerfoot is better as a winger anyways so if Seattle takes him it just frees up $3.5M in cap to find a cheaper 3C. Dermott is more of a valuable asset to keep than either Kerfoot or Holl. Especially if you're only moving him for a future bottom 6 guy that Toronto already has guys to fill that role (Mikheyev, Barabanov, Anderson, Korshkov, etc.)

Find a more valuable and useable player and maybe Dermott gets moved. But I don't see how this is good for them at all

I don't understand signing Larsson when this would probably mean your losing Rielly. Also a year from now I would think Sandin is ready for a top 4 role.

Because as you said..... you are loosing Reilly.... That's gonna be $7 million at least. Leafs can't afford that. I see it coming. Top 4 beyond that is Muzzin - Brodie - Larrson -Sandin.

Forward thinking.

Why will Sandin be any further advanced next year then he is now?

Hard to find market value when faced with the expansion draft loss...... and Dermott isn't going to land a top 6 forward at this point.

Going with 8 skaters protected would be intriguing......

Or just give Seattle whatever minor asset it takes to take Holl unless Holl just plays better than Dermott and then you just roll the dice and let the chips fall where they may.

Totally young players definitely never get better after seasoning in the minors. It's never happened before. Not even once, just listen to this guy. He's looked at every single top 4 defenceman in the entire league and they all have been developed the same way. No one has ever been developed differently.

Because the Leafs just haven't been able to find ways to keep their homegrown star talent. They all want to leave and can't be kept. This is why Matthews, Marner and Nylander have all been traded when they needed no contracts.

I don't know why people are so consumed over losing one of Dermott, Holl or Kerfoot. Whats likely going to happen is a small asset will be given for Seattle to take the good player we feel better about losing. Whether it's Holl or Dermott we'll know after this year. Either way, neither is a huge lost considering we have Liljegren and Sandin developing in the minors.

In the draft the Leafs will likely lose one of Dermot or Holl. Both are cost efficient NHL Dman.
But I really hate the Arizona trading trading away a cost efficient Dman for Fischer. And Larsson is just a middling aging Dman....4.5m is way too much. Keep Dermot at 2.25 million and you still have 2.25 in free cap.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot the biggest gripe I have with this post. Larsson sucks, I wouldn't give him more than 1.5 million and I wouldn't do that for the Leafs. He's just not a good players and never really has been.

At some point the Piper has to be paid.

Dubas has been dancing around the issie for a few years - and has done so brilliantly. At some point he won't be able to.

I would think Rielly takes a bit of a pay cut to stick around. I can't see him asking for more than 7 mill, and if u don't sign Larsson he will be affordable to keep.

January 2021 - not good enough to even be in the top-7 - after losing out to Marincin in the RTP and having not playing a single game of hockey in more than 9 months.

9 months later after playing a few games in an AHL division consisting of 4 weakened teams (as their best players will be on the taxi squad) - top-4!!!

Everywhere outside of your delusions player development requires the actual process of development.

Cause he will probably get some games in with the Leafs this year but he wont be a regular in the top 6 and that experience will be good for his devolopment. His first year of his elc got burned last year aswell, so im pretty sure Dubas will want to give him some NHL experience while he is still on it. So hopefully he can develop this year into being a top 6 guy next year.

So you are hoping he can develop into a top-6 guy next year - which is much different than saying that you think he will be ready for a top-4 role.

I agree he can probably develop into a top-6 guy next year (although if he had been on any other NHL team he would have been developed properly and would be much farther ahead).

But no - getting into some NHL games this year as an injury replacement will not be good for his development.

As Dubas said himself (back when he actually cared about development): "We don't want our players going up to the Leafs before they're ready, and we don't want them shuttling up and down. We want players to be called up to the Leafs when they're young and on the first two years of their entry-level contracts ONLY when they prove that they can be a Leaf, all the time."

It won't be with Rielly.