Confirmed with Link: TOR signs LD Mikko Lehtonen

[Leaf4Life79]

I'm not a fan of the idea of planning to yo-yoing guys for two seasons. If they look ready, they deserve a 15 or so game shot to see if they can stick. Which is what Sanheim got, before being sent back down, and then was called up for good. Andersson, outside of a one-game taste on two separate occasions once, he was called up, he was called up for good. Both Theordore and DeAngelo are guys who didn't live up to expectations with the teams that drafted them, with other teams reaping the reward for actually playing them (although Anaheim got screwed by expansion, and DeAngelo is a headcase).

It's not putting the player before the team. It's part of having a viable developmental strategy. Both guys have earned a clear trial run, and yes, we should have the depth to back them up. But, they should be first in line for that shot. See how we never yo-yo'd Willy between levels, and haven't done it so far with Dermott.

It may have been a bit extreme, but you thinking he is better than Dermott is reaching. Have you seen the long list of hyped KHL d-men who came here around the same age who were either in the AHL or back to the KHL within a year? Belov, Ozhiganov, Medvedev, Kiselvich, etc.

Honestly, Dermott has not impressed me at all this season. And you're right, I don't know if he will be better, but from what I know about the kid, he's pretty darn good, and just about every team in the NHL wanted to sign him.

 

[Zub]

Honestly, Dermott has not impressed me at all this season. And you're right, I don't know if he will be better, but from what I know about the kid, he's pretty darn good, and just about every team in the NHL wanted to sign him.

He is good, he has a ability to change the pace of a game sortof, i've seen when some games his team have been lost out there only for him to show example of will to win and he brings alot of that to the table, could be a playoff performer really, i mean he has some very good potential, i'm just very careful of saying all the things i like about him i don't want to build any unnececcary hype about him, can't wait to see how this unfolds though.

 

[rent free]

Idk why but i read this in a black dudes voice in my head

Same here. There a gotta be a reason...

 

[Leaf4Life79]

He is good, he has a ability to change the pace of a game sortof, i've seen when some games his team have been lost out there only for him to show example of will to win and he brings alot of that to the table, could be a playoff performer really, i mean he has some very good potential, i'm just very careful of saying all the things i like about him i don't want to build any unnececcary hype about him, can't wait to see how this unfolds though.

You and I both buddy! I miss hockey SOOOOOOO MUCH! omg...

 

[Rare Jewel]

Honestly, Dermott has not impressed me at all this season. And you're right, I don't know if he will be better, but from what I know about the kid, he's pretty darn good, and just about every team in the NHL wanted to sign him.

Have you not been impressed with Dermott at point though? He's already put a 20 point season and that was with Rielly and Gardiner mostly on the PP. Not that it's all about points.

Also I'm not sure if the every team in the league wanted him because most of them thought he was contracted to Jokerit for another season. There weren't many teams linked with him, but perhaps they didn't get a chance to display their interest.

 

[Knies iT]

Relaying some interesting info I came across via Kyle Cushman on Lehtonen. The KHL debuted its player and puck tracking data this season and here are some cliff notes (up until the last month of the season):

Lehtonen had travelled the 2nd most distance on the ice (282.7km) and by far the most with the puck (37.3km, 5km more than 2nd)

Lehtonen completed 85.7% of his passes, good for third in the KHL. Those passes travelled a total of 22.7km with around half of that being forwards, both ranking 2nd league-wide at the time.

Lehtonen finished the season with 85.68% of his passes successful, averaging 22:27 TOI/GP. 9.2% of his shots were on goal (14th among KHL D). The top speed he reached in 2019/20 was 39.1 km/h, just 1km/h off of the top speed reached last year in the KHL.

 

[Ciao]

Honestly, Dermott has not impressed me at all this season. And you're right, I don't know if he will be better, but from what I know about the kid, he's pretty darn good, and just about every team in the NHL wanted to sign him.

I'm really impressed with Dermott. I think he has a lot of upside and it would be nuts to trade him.

Over the years the Leafs have been too impatient with young defencemen.

 

[Zub]

You and I both buddy! I miss hockey SOOOOOOO MUCH! omg...

I know right, i was so goddamn stoked to finally get to see Brad Lambert play for Team Finland in the U18's too.. but never happened, the guy is half Canadian half Finnish and a top 3 prospect for the 2022 draft FYI. And he can still choose to play for Team Canada!! which would be a nightmare, the u18's would have locked him in place for Finland.

 

[LeafChief]

I know right, i was so goddamn stoked to finally get to see Brad Lambert play for Team Finland in the U18's too.. but never happened, the guy is half Canadian half Finnish and a top 3 prospect for the 2022 draft FYI. And he can still choose to play for Team Canada!! which would be a nightmare, the u18's would have locked him in place for Finland.

Assuming we have an NHL season next year, I hope you stick around and post here. It's been a pleasure to have you today.

 

[biotk]

Now could you imagine if some how Big Buff wanted to play here and we signed him to a low contract, omg!

No, I can not imagine either.

 

[Zub]

Assuming we have an NHL season next year, I hope you stick around and post here. It's been a pleasure to have you today.

Assuming so yeah, the covid situation is seriously making me go insane, i can live with the quarantine but, no hockey? That's the isolation that makes a hockey fan go mad at this time of year, it's supposed to be playoffs! Like wth am i supposed to do now? I've seen all episodes of Trailer Park Boys now already too.

 

[Gabriel426]

Not trying to poop on this guy as I have never heard about him till now.
I just think it is a little premature to pencil him in the top 4 or let’s start the trade Dermott parade. Wasn’t Zaitsev the best KHL Dman and best Dman outside of NHL just a few years ago.

 

[SeaOfBlue]

Not trying to poop on this guy as I have never heard about him till now.
I just think it is a little premature to pencil him in the top 4 or let’s start the trade Dermott parade. Wasn’t Zaitsev the best KHL Dman and best Dman outside of NHL just a few years ago.

One of them, and now he is an NHL top 4 defenseman.

 

[LeafSteel]

@Jesperi Suzuki & @KappoTheGoat: looking forward to talking some hockey with you both this season. In the meantime stay safe and a pleasure to have you in the Forum.

This signing completely blindsided me. Knew of him, but once I knew he was LHD I didn’t read any further. Heard the Devils and Habs were going hard for him and expected him to land in Montreal.

Rielly, Muzzin, Sandin, Dermott, and this guy? Yeah, something has to give here. Not for the bazillionth time, why couldn’t any of Sandin, Dermott, Muzzin or this guy be a RHD??? Would make life a lot easier for us....

Stay well and safe everyone.

 

[ZippityDooDa]

With this signing, hopefully now we will never ever see Marincin on the ice for the Leafs again.

Id rather see Marincin than Barrie.

 

[Zub]

@Jesperi Suzuki & @KappoTheGoat: looking forward to talking some hockey with you both this season. In the meantime stay safe and a pleasure to have you in the Forum.

This signing completely blindsided me. Knew of him, but once I knew he was LHD I didn’t read any further. Heard the Devils and Habs were going hard for him and expected him to land in Montreal.

Rielly, Muzzin, Sandin, Dermott, and this guy? Yeah, something has to give here. Not for the bazillionth time, why couldn’t any of Sandin, Dermott, Muzzin or this guy be a RHD??? Would make life a lot easier for us....

Stay well and safe everyone.

Likewise, i also was dead certain he was going to Montreal or Devils, i thought to myself that damn what a waste, (jk) but then i was super suprised to find out this news, i had all my friends text me of this thing happening too haha, they know i like the Leafs.

 

[Tmart335]

Makes a lot of sense

Rielly-Holl
Muzzin-Lehtonen/Dermott
Lehtonen/Dermott - xxx
Marincin

xxx= Bogosian/Ceci/Braun/Gudas

Sandin/Liljegren get challenged to take the step from top pair to league wide MVP level in the A, and the team has two high end waiver exempt replacements.

There is very little chance Sandin does not make opening roster. The guy can play and is a a low salary defensemen.

why do you think Dubas is scouring to find guys like Lehtonen. Thinks he can play and has very little cap space to work with.

 

[Canada4Gold]

Just watched Steve Dangle's video and he made a good point. Who knows what next season will look like at this point, but there's a decent chance it starts in December and they try to stuff an 82 game season into a month less time period. That's going to result in a lot of tired players and teams will need lots of depth. Moreso than usual with just injuries, but I also suspect there will be a lot more scratches for rest for bottom pairing defenceman. I was here thinking, I want Dermott to play, but also Sandin, and Liljegren, and I like Rosen, now there's Lehtonen, and there's Muzzin, Rielly, and Holl, and we might bring in someone to play with Rielly, and, and, and..... where do they all play? I wouldn't be shocked with a crammed season Rielly, Muzzin, Holl and whoever else is playing top 4(Dermott?) play almost every game but the bottom pair is a constant flip flop between Sandin, Lehtonen, Liljegren, and Dermott if someone else is brought in, or Rosen if there's not. To keep everyone fresh.

Game 1:
Rielly - Dermott
Muzzin - Holl
Sandin - Liljegren

Game 2:
Rielly - Dermott
Muzzin - Holl
Rosen - Lehtonen

Game 3:
Rielly - Dermott
Muzzin - Holl
Sandin - Liljegren

Game 4:
Muzzin - Rielly
Sandin - Holl
Rosen - Lehtonen

Game 5:
Rielly - Dermott
Muzzin - Lehtonen
Sandin - Liljegren

Game 6:
Rielly - Dermott
Sandin - Holl
Rosen - Liljegren

Game 7:
Muzzin - Rielly
Dermott - Holl
Lehtonen - Liljegren

Game 8:
Rielly - Dermott
Muzzin - Holl
Rosen - Sandin

First 30 games of the year, mess around like crazy to find what works while giving everyone lots of rest, then start to get more locked in on certain pairings while still shifting the bottom pair to give those guys rest.

For example the first 30 Team games, individual players play:
Rielly - 29
Muzzin - 27
Holl - 25
Dermott - 25
Sandin - 22
Lehtonen - 18
Liljegren - 18
Rosen - 16

 

[biotk]

To keep everyone fresh.

That's not really keeping everyone fresh. That's keeping your 5 - 8 fresh. There would be cap and roster limit complications (Rosen will require waivers next year). Assuming the AHL is running a full season next year (who knows?) I personally would prefer that if a player like Sandin can't strongly solidify a roster spot in the NHL that he just spends the year in the minors. The Leafs have players like Marincin who can go up and down as needed. Shouldn't be done with players like Sandin/Liljegren.

 

[Canada4Gold]

That's not really keeping everyone fresh. That's keeping your 5 - 8 fresh. There would be cap and roster limit complications (Rosen will require waivers next year). Assuming the AHL is running a full season next year (who knows?) I personally would prefer that if a player like Sandin can't strongly solidify a roster spot in the NHL that he just spends the year in the minors. The Leafs have players like Marincin who can go up and down as needed. Shouldn't be done with players like Sandin/Liljegren.

I think you might be underestimating how many back to backs and 4 in 6 nights or 5 in 8 nights it would take to finish the season in a months less time than usual. Even without the all star break. Sandin playing 22 of 30 games wouldn't be that far off a regular pace in a season that's being played basically 20% quicker(5 months instead of 6). We don't need players to sit in the press box like Marincin. There's going to be a serious need for rotations of players. I think we've gotten a little too used to the Babcock way of sitting your 7th D and 13th forward for 50 games until someone gets hurt. Obviously it's going to be a bigger rotation of your 5 to 8 guys than Rielly, Muzzin etc, You don't want to be sitting you best 2 defencemen 1 out of every 4 games. But I think there will be a huge benefit to getting in a fresh guy a lot of nights, especially on the depth side of the lineup where a fresh 7th guy will probably be more effective than your #6 guy playing his 3rd game in 4 nights. Not just once, but it's going to be happening over and over and over, way more than usual if that's the path the league takes. It's 1 thing if there's a steep drop off to your depth. When your 3rd best to 8th best D is a gradual drop from Dermott to Rosen there's more to be gained from resting your 3-6 guys than running them into the ground IMO. Especially if it's a severely condensed season.

As far as cap and roster limitations it's yet to be known exactly how much of a crunch we'll be in, but if we can afford to carry 23 I suspect we'll have 2 extra defence due to D playing more so it's being more useful to have 2 extra there, especially with who our 7 and 8 currently are.

That being said I'm interested if they institute any additional roster rules in the case of a condensed year. I doubt it but MLB this coming year is talking about a temporary expansion to the roster you can carry because of the condensed season teams will need to carry more pitchers. NHL isn't the same animal, but the PA could definitely be worried about injuries in a condensed season so I wouldn't completely rule out teams being allowed to carry a couple cap exempt extras over the 23 limit as long as the extras are making less than X cap space, perhaps 925k. Sort of like the emergency call up rule, which I believe is 800k.

 

[Gabriel426]

One of them, and now he is an NHL top 4 defenseman.

On the Sens, aka worst team in the league. Whom also got ran out of town.

 

[kunekune]

His release clause would be paid in Russian Rubles. So 500k Ruble, is 6500 USD.

What? Jokerit is in eurozone.

 

[ToMaLe]

Id rather see Marincin than Barrie.

Id rather see any defensemen from the Marlies, from the Growlers, defensemen from a beer league team, Christ a player off a volleyball team or even my grandmother then Marincin.

 

[lovemyleafs]

Not trying to poop on this guy as I have never heard about him till now.
I just think it is a little premature to pencil him in the top 4 or let’s start the trade Dermott parade. Wasn’t Zaitsev the best KHL Dman and best Dman outside of NHL just a few years ago.

Zaitsev's numbers in the KHL don't even compare to Lehtonens.
I also don't remember hearing anything about him being the best DMan outside of the NHL.

 

[Notsince67]

Who do you see him playing over?

He should play above Marincin. At 27, I see his development curve indicating a challenge to a Ceci type player by 35.