Forgot the good prospect or 1st round (protected) pick for Stone.

Forgot the same in the Muzzin deal (he was just on Team Canada.........)

That's fair, here was my thinking:

ARI - Stone is currently a rental defenseman, and maybe someone will outbid them, BUT I would think Arizona would prefer roster bodies over late draft picks, Marincin is an analytics darling, something that ARI is really big on, Holland has good possession stats too. If it took another/higher pick I would be alright with it

LA - I don't think they would want to move Muzzin but my thinking is they get desperate for a LW top line forward. JVR at 2 million is probably the best available and could really help push. A stretch I'm sure but he's big, talented and is really hot right now, also gives them some cap flexibility

I like Stone and Muzzin, and the reasoning you had behind the Stone trade is pretty solid in my opinion. The Muzzin trade however, as much as I like him, I don't think you can have Gardiner AND Muzzin behind Gardiner. The pipeline for Left handed defensive prospects is very strong with Nielsen, Dermott and Valiev having fairly strong seasons in different regards, and some people saying that Loov still has a good chance at a roster spot next season. Maybe trading one of those prospects for Stone or Muzzin may help (adding them to the trade) but overall I'm not sure.
Overall, I do like the trades and the reasoning, but I'm just not sure about Muzzin AND Gardiner behind Rielly, although the three of them together would make up a strong defensive lineup, especially with Zaitsev and Stone on the other side.

You're right, it can be considered overkill, and I don't entirely agree with these moves either, I wish/hope Babcock trusts Gardiner and Carrick with more minutes because they've played in relatively sheltered roles so far. Basically I just don't want to end up like the Oilers: desperate for defensive help.

Thanks, for the comment

I like that we get Jvr but defense wins championships and without muzzin We would be screwed. Our dcore would look very shaky and our offense has been doing good as of late

They do love Analytics but they aren;t stupid haha.

I see your point though and the thought process isn't wrong!

I have been advocating for the longest time about protecting five Dmen. Kadri, JVR and Brown would be the only forwards I would protect. So a deal or two is there to be up a good "4" or "5" Dman from another team who can just protect three Dmen.

I don't understand your trades though. Are they TDL deals? So the Leafs aren't sellers and they'trade for Stone....but trade Polak. I don't get all this love for Leipsic. If he's that good shouldn't he be on the Leafs?
Looks like a career AHLer to me (for his sake, I hope I'm wrong).

The Stone trade makes no sense, per the expansion draft rules Leafs must expose atleast one under contract defenseman who played 40 games in the 16/17 season. Stone is UFA (not sure why you are protecting him), Hunwick and Polack are UFAs and Corrado is a RFA who will not see 40 games this year anyways. Leafs have set up Marincin perfectly on a 2 year contract so he can be exposed, he is the guy .... and you want to trade him away along with a 3rd for a guy you can just sign next year as a UFA? Vegas will cherry pick either Rielly, Gardiner, or Carrick.