Liljegren wont be ready this coming season he's playing in Sweden this fall, And besides Liljegren will be taken by Detroit at #9 if he's still on the board any ways.

It's been reported a couple of times today that the Leafs are in discussion directly with Vegas for a defenseman they will be acquiring through the expansion draft process. Since it has already been pretty much confirmed that Vegas has a deal with Anaheim so that they don't take either Josh Manson or Sami Vatanen, we can rule them both out. Rumors have the Leafs linked to both Matthew Dumba, Colin Miller and Marc Methot. This deal the Leafs have either worked out or are trying to work out could be for 1 defenseman or multiple defensemen; that's not clear. It seems Vegas really do want to go young and develop from within so I don't expect the deal to include JVR. It will likely be a combination of high draft pick, prospect and/or young winger that had already been left unprotected (could be both). Deal would be announced at some point after Vegas' roster is officially announced, maybe on lottery draft day?

Vatanen is going to miss half the season possibly and the Leafs wouldn't have JVR or Vat's replacement in Dermot. If you think Dermot is NHL ready (or very near) and is a possible replacement for UFA Gardiner in 2019, I just don't think the deal gets done. Dermot might be too good to trade, (but no one knows now)

I know that, for some reason no matter how many times I refreshed my page it wouldn't let me send him to the extra players section. I doubt he will be on the starting roster for at least 2, maybe 3 years after he's drafted.

Interesting. What I've heard is that Anaheim is paying to protect Manson, assuring VGK takes Vatanen as Manson is touted to be better, younger and cheaper. If they were to protect both I would expect Anaheim to have to give up a first and a prospect. But I know as much as you, and truly anything could be happening and we won't truly know until tomorrow. If your scenario does happen, I would expect it to be Dumba the leafs push for as he is the only true top 3 Dman out of the bunch.
Also with the acquisition of Shipachyov who's 30 y/o, and the likely signing of Fleury and James Neal, I see them building to compete now, but also assuring they have the deepest prospect pool in the league which is possible. Say they were to take JVR, they could trade him and Neal for a 1st+ each.
Either way, I see the leafs making a deal for someone to fit in the top 4 this week.

It's possible the Leafs may NOT have a first round draft pick to work with this year. It would go against their development and rebuild plan, but if they do require a top-4 D from Vegas, I am not sure how's that will be possible without the inclusion of a first round draft pick. If it's their 2018 first rounder, even if it's protected, I am going to lose it. 2018 is going to be a helluva deep draft class.

I was so hesitant to put Dermott in there because I believe he's going to be really, really good. I doubt we move him, but I threw him in there to satisfy the people who are going to say the deal won't get done with out him.
I think the leafs end up doing JVR +1st OR JVR + 2nd/3rd/4th + A or B level prospect for a decent D.
Im not worried about Vatanen's injury as we are building for Auston's prime, not this season.

That goes against everything Shanny and Lou have been preaching these past few seasons, but its possible. I would rather give up this years pick than 2018 as the class is so much deeper and there is no guarantee we make another playoff push.
However, if they give a 1st, I wouldn't be surprised if we could make the deal with out JVR and trade him for a 1st at the draft or during the season.

I read Anaheim is paying LARGE to protect their core that was left unprotected - think Jacob Larssen and their 2017 1st round draft pick. That'd be a huge win for Vegas. Speaking of Vatanen, I think a lot of people have cooled on him because of his injury - he's not back until around December-January. Perhaps Anaheim is willing to part with him because of the injury and salary, but they can just throw his contract on the LTIR for an extended period of time plus they just bought out Simon Despres, which I suspect will go to a grievance filing, like it did with Jared Cowan and the Leafs last year.

As for Vegas, it was reported that both Nashville and Pittsburgh have deals with Vegas. If Fleury does end up in Vegas, I expected he'll be flipped, perhaps to Winnipeg. If Neal somehow ends up on Vegas without a deal in place, I don't actually believe he'll start the season there, he will be moved elsewhere. From the comments made by George McPhee, it seems that he is politely implying that Vegas will tank, or rather, field a sub-par team in order to get good quality players through the draft for the next couple of years. I also expect that with all these 1st rounders they are getting, they will end up moving up to selection 1st or 2nd this draft.

So you pretty much agree with me then, right? Yes, the 2018 draft class is shaping up to be hugely talented, more so than the 2017 class, by far. There's a chance this deal with Vegas could be monsterous where the Leafs acquired multiple top-4 defenseman, but regardless, this sounds like it will be a blockbuster one way or another.

Once it was disclosed that Vatanen will be out long term with that term and AAV on his deal, I think half a dozen teams that may have been interested backed way off him. I don't think Vatanen gets traded this offseason. I firmly believe any deal with Vegas will not include JVR unless the deal somehow includes a third team.

It just comes down to do VGK thing that they can fetch better than a late 1st and a B prospect. I think they can, and I've heard from multiple reputable sources that Vatanen is going and they will expect players like Larsson to make that next step next year and start getting game time. Ive seen mixed reports like you, but the price on holding off both would likely be too high IMO, thats why I'm choosing to believe Vatanen will be taken in expansion.

Pierre LeBrun said that VGK has 6 deals in place, the obvious ones include Anaheim, NYI, Columbus. Tampa came in late but its almost a guarantee they are protecting their young defensemen. Leafs, Ottawa, Florida, Minnesota, Nashville are all some teams who made late pushes and the final 2 trades would likely be 2/5 of them. I would not be surprised if the price on Neal protection was too high (Likely 1st+), and he will be picked tomorrow. I would also suspect them to tank, but they aren't going to say no to players with high value if it includes picks or prospects (Such as my JVR trade).

And to your previous posts, I agree with the 2018 draft thing.
But I do think Vatanen will be moved, as Anaheim see no use in him as they need players who are playing, not injured (particularly forwards) and VGK will be willing to move him to get younger, as he would not fit their future build.