Edited Mar. 20, 2022 at 11:43 p.m.
Quoting: Random2152
Yeah that is about exactly what I expected.
Canucks fans you will mostly like Dermott. Dont fall for the hysteria around him that all Leafs depth D get, he is a good dman. His main issue is that he never grew out of the rookie mistakes phase and took his game to the next level. If he is your 3rd LD you should be very happy with it (and even if he needs to play a few games as a 2d bc of an injury). Btw he is much better on his left, but can pinch for RD.
Pretty much agree but...
Dermott really isn't that mistake prone, he had a big mistake in playoff game but overall Dermott doesn't make that many mistakes-not Jake Gardiner.
The bigger issue is that Leafs had Rielly, Brodie and Muzzin ahead, and Sandin/Liljegren is NHL ready, has huge upside and needs to play in bottom 6 role to gain experience. Then Holl was entrusted in a shutdown role in the top 4. Arguably Leafs should have given Dermott a bigger chance to play ahead of Holl as he has more upside than Holl but isn't as suited to playing in a shutdown role and is more risk taking.
The potential upside to be a top 4 is still there. I think the Leafs undersold-Dubas probably traded Dermott to the team with the best opportunity for Dermott to succeed like the Leivo trade. But Dermott is an established an NHL regular, fairly young sure thing bottom six ready to play in a top 4 role and there's a pretty decent chance he realizes his potential as a top 4 defenceman.
Hence, Vancouver definitely won this trade-might already be one of Vancouver's best overall defenceman. Definitely worth at least a 2nd round pick, or 2 3rd round picks.
Btw I say that with the view that Quinn Hughes is an overrated Tyson Barrie/Jake Gardiner extreme liability and Canucks would be wise to trade him away. From watching the Leafs play the Canucks I was aghast by how awful Hughes was defensively, with his salary, I think it'd be very hard for a team to win a cup with Quinn Hughes.
(I say this as Leafs fan who's suffered from Gardiner, Barrie and Leafs defence in general).
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