The leafs do this trade for cap compliancy and hopeful rehabilitation. I liked Perunovich as a prospect in college but he is 23 (which is not old but kind of is for a guy who has never played pro). He had shoulder surgery so his value is unceratin but with decent upside. The leafs get him to play with the marlies, help with cap issues and hopefully develop into a player similar to Dermott.

St. Louis gets an NHL Caliber D man who has shown to dominate poor competition on the third pair and presents opportunity to get higher up in the lineup. Dermott is only 1.5 years older than Perunovich and is NHL proven. St. Louis kind of has a weakness on the left side so this swap gives them an immediately cost certain upgrade. Perunovich is already 23, has never played a professional game and is coming off season ending shoulder surgery. When Dermott was his age he was a full time NHL player for 2 seasons. Perunovich was a decent prospect but I think his value has dropped recently and getting a full time NHL player back for him is a decent swap.

This trade is again for cap reasons. Pitlick hopefully can develop into a bottom 6 player similar to Engvall. He will probably go the the minors because his higher cap hit.

Conditional 5th, If Engvall plays in 60 games with Nashville the leafs get the pick if not a 7th in 2022. Nashville gets an ok bottom 6 center that did better than most people think scoring roughly .30 PPG. He is pretty cheap and NHL Caliber. Pitlick is another guy I liked in College but is only a year younger than Engvall and has only played 11 games.