Id take him as a 7D on the Avs. Hes probably a #5D man on most teams

I've always wondered about a Mete for Dermott swap, even when Mete was on MTL. How would the value work :O

But, if from current MTL, Dermott would be a nice piece to have if we could get rid of kulak somehow... im sure the leafs cant fit him in

I wouldn't be up in arms if either of my two crummy local teams paid a fourth for him, although I think that he's worth only a 5th or 6th. The Kings paid a fourth for Brendan Lemieux, and the Ducks paid a fourth for Nic DesLauriers. However, I think that both of them are adequately stocked with players of his caliber at LD currently.

Dermott is good at defending in rushes near his own blue line. The rest he is a bit below average at. I don’t really like him that much. I would ship him out for a 4th and a solid #6/7 option for cheaper

That's actually pretty interesting. I think the Leafs might actually be willing to straight up trade Dermott for Mete. They wouldn't take on another contract but the salary difference is pretty small.

Leafs may need Dermott if and when Reilly leaves the team. Stand pat for now.

Your hallucinating if you think Dermott will make up for Rielly. He's irrelevant to Reilly staying or going.

Not completely true.

Dermott has clearly shown he's a solid 3rd pair dman. He's stumbled at times when asked to take on a bigger role, but he's always done very well in 3rd pair minutes.

Obviously Sandin is the more direct in-house repalcement for Rielly, if he takes a big step this year, but Dermott helping solidify the 3rd pair next season (likely with Liljegren) makes the overall dcore more dependable if/when Rielly moves on this summer.

You're blind if you believe that.

The max you’ll get in return for him is a 4th round pick

As I made a few different points, this response literally tells me nothing.

Just look the lineup. You have five known NHL Dman. And you want to trade Dermot? Really, don't folks realize you have to have seven or eight NHL Dmen to go through a season. Kinda absurd to think Dermot isn't an NHL Dman, and that it easy to find a cheaper Dman of equal ability .

Exactly.

IMO, considering Rielly has not yet been extended, the Leafs are clearly prepared to move on from him. Right move or wrong move, it's clearly very possible he walks (especially after contracts like Nurse deal).

So best case scenario for the Leafs to replace him would be Sandin takes a noticeable step in his development, and can somewhat fill the role for a fraction of the price. This is a way better option than having to get into a bidding war and having to overpay a 28yo dman (who along with Muzzin would effectively block Sandin for years). Now all this depends on Sandin being ready to fill the role.

If all of that happens, and Dermott has a decent development year, it's a way better option for dermott to be a decent $1.5M fifth dman, then the Leafs having to go out and spend $2.9M on some Ian Cole type.

Which makes moving Dermott for a 4th/5th at this point, a pretty foolish move IMO.

if you can trade him for a player with equal value who better fits the role you do it. 90% of people have zero idea of defensive structure and think they do. Dermott isn't good in the role they have him in. Another team could likely use him and hopefully they have a player that would better fit the role we need them for.

He's valued as 4th rounder at the moment. Aside from Mete specifically (who's been on waivers) how many other decent young dmen at a similar cap hit can he be traded for? He's worth more to the Leafs at the moment.

Big part of Leafs defensive structure is transitioning the puck quickly to the skill up front, something Dermott excels at.

Not like the kid is a fish out of water on the Leafs.

Mete would fit the Leafs well, he's a fast, smart dman that's great in transition, but he's also pretty small, and his size and style don't lead him to being physical at all. He takes less chances and likely makes a few less mistakes, but it's not as if he's the opposite of Dermott. IMO he'd pair up better with a Bogosian type then a Sandin type on a 3rd pair.