Quoting: justaBoss
Seldom do I see a team lose all their top D-men.
And with all due respect for Rielly and Muzzin, Josi won the Norris and Ellis was a contender. Their impact for Preds is higher than Rielly's and Muzzin's are for the Leafs - atlhough if I recall correctly, losing Muzzin last year was the main reason CBJ dropped them so early.
But I digress. I've already said that Dermott might be useful for them, but not exactly the guy I'd be after. The biggest reason why Ekholm is rumored to be on the move is the ExD, and taking Dermott means he's the most likely guy heading to Seattle.
It's not like I'm proposing that Dermott is the centrepiece to the deal. Ekholm is certainly selected by Seattle. Dermott would all depend on what other dmen are available (he wouldn't be a lock).
With Rielly and Muzzin gone last year the Leafs defence was Dermott-Holl, Marincin-Barrie, Sandin-Ceci/Liljegren (Ceci got hurt as well). So despite Josi being better than Rielly, it could be argued that Leafs pair was just as vital to the teams success. All in all, that Dcore was able to split games with Tampa late in the year to keep, and play .500 hockey for 2+ weeks which kept the Leafs ahead of Florida with Dermott and Holl playing 25 min per night (before COVID shut everything down).
If the Leafs went after Ekholm, I'm pretty confident dermott would be in the deal (he's not a 7th dman) and really don't think him being in there would make it a deal breaker.
Dermott, Amirov, 1st for Ekholm (hurts to give up Amirvov) would be a pretty competitive offer, and I doubt what he gets traded for knocks that out of the water.