[Trade] Leafs acquire Muzzin from Kings for Grundstrom, Durzi and Toronto's 1st

[troutman]

Leafs aren't getting past TB anytime soon.

[agulati]

It is a pretty fair deal for Leafs. They get a defence man with a cheap AAV for his actual role.

[topfiverecords]

Whatever weakens the Kings for a while is fine by me.

[bluejays]

Originally Posted by Mr.Coffee

I'm pretty sure we all know that the Kings have seen the writing on the wall... if they don't, they should all be fired post haste.

That Doughty contract is going to look more and more gruesome. He's brutal. Sportsnet had a highlights package of the season thus far into late December, and out of the top 30 goals a very sizeable amount of them were Doughty getting owned. He looked atrocious. I was amazed he was put on the Home-Star team.

Careful what you say. The Doughty fanboys still probably think he's a top 5 dman.

[Dion]

Originally Posted by troutman

Leafs aren't getting past TB anytime soon.

Or the Bruins

[bigrangy]

If that's the sort of return, I really hope all the people clamoring to trade Beodie/Hamonic this off season don't get their wish.

That's not a lot to pay for a guy who can play top pair minutes. Especially when he's on a great contract for 2 runs.

[savemedrzaius]

If it's true that Babcock is going to play Muzzin with Rielly this trade is well worth it.

Hainsey is horrible for a 1st pairing dman. Him on the 3rd pairing will look great.

I'm excited to see Rielly play with a competent partner.

Rielly-Muzzin
Gardiner-Zaitsev
Dermott-Hainsey

Third pairing is probably better than the second.

And it's not just saving .5 million. Next year Jake will be getting 7 million from somebody (not the Leafs) and Dermott can slide nicely into Gardiner's spot. He's already better than Gardiner IMO.

[timbit]

Originally Posted by savemedrzaius

If it's true that Babcock is going to play Muzzin with Rielly this trade is well worth it.

Hainsey is horrible for a 1st pairing dman. Him on the 3rd pairing will look great.

I'm excited to see Rielly play with a competent partner.

Rielly-Muzzin
Gardiner-Zaitsev
Dermott-Hainsey

Third pairing is probably better than the second.

And it's not just saving .5 million. Next year Jake will be getting 7 million from somebody (not the Leafs) and Dermott can slide nicely into Gardiner's spot. He's already better than Gardiner IMO.

Just a quick thought, I like Flames 1st 2nd and 3 rd pairs much better, matching them up.

[Scroopy Noopers]

Originally Posted by timbit

Just a quick thought, I like Flames 1st 2nd and 3 rd pairs much better, matching them up.

Oh absolutely. You could almost say that about most teams in the league.

It cannot be overstated how badly Toronto needed to make a trade like this to compete.

[savemedrzaius]

Originally Posted by timbit

Just a quick thought, I like Flames 1st 2nd and 3 rd pairs much better, matching them up.

For sure. Your Top 4 is one of the best in the NHL. But this makes the Leafs a lot better. Hilarious to think Hainsey drops down to the 3rd pairing (where he belongs).

Also for all the anti-Edmontonites on this site...

https://twitter.com/user/status/1090050682688700416

[bettercallbettman]

utton Trade Verdict: This is a 500-foot, upper-deck home run by Dubas


Time will tell

[Geeoff]

Originally Posted by Mr.Coffee

I'm pretty sure we all know that the Kings have seen the writing on the wall... if they don't, they should all be fired post haste.

That Doughty contract is going to look more and more gruesome. He's brutal. Sportsnet had a highlights package of the season thus far into late December, and out of the top 30 goals a very sizeable amount of them were Doughty getting owned. He looked atrocious. I was amazed he was put on the Home-Star team.

I guess I was hoping they wouldn't make moves to get better and then try again next year with the core

[crapshoot]

Originally Posted by Geeoff

I guess I was hoping they wouldn't make moves to get better and then try again next year with the core

They will. The have 50 million tied up in bad contracts for seven 30+ year old players next year. Their only option is to try again, and again. Besides, they have a GM that is a club icon who they wont get rid of anytime soon and is really not very good at his job. The stars are perfectly aligned for the Kings to be really bad for a pretty good chunk of time.

[Mattman]

Looking at this from a Toronto stand point, this is a great trade.

But looking at this from an LA Kings stand point you have to think this finally gets the ball rolling on their rebuild. They still have 10/23 players in their current lineup over the age of 30 years old. Let me repeat that:

Quick - 33
Kovalchuk - 35
Kopitar - 31
Carter - 34
Brown - 34
Phaneuf - 33
Martinez - 31
Hagelin -30
Thompson - 34
Lewis - 32
*(Doughty is 30 next season)

I'm honestly surprised we haven't heard more of LA being a seller team and going full rebuild. Half of those guys are still fantastic players, and the other half would make up great depth on a playoff team. 7 of those players have won a Stanley Cup.

I mean it's LA, I don't really care they are doing bad and it's actually satisfying to see, but from an asset management stand point they could fast track their 'Oiler phase' and pick up some good prospects. Oh well.

[GioforPM]

Man, looking at LA's remaining roster, they have nothing I'd want. Maybe Kopitar at 50%.

[Mr.Coffee]

Doughty is DEFINITELY not a top 5 Dman in the NHL this year. Unless your only definition of what a defenceman does is score points. Even then, he’s the 21st ranked Dman and a -16. He looks like a disaster in his own zone.

And have I mentioned the contract? Ooof. That’s a tricky one. Lastly, he’s a dbag, and I love every time Tkachuk owns him.

[calgarybornnraised]

I wonder if Dustin Brown's wife still brags about his contract.

[bubbsy]

The leafs did ok in getting a non-rental top4 dman. However, their biggest need was a rhd, so unless muzzin or Reilly are as effective on their wrong side, i think it might be a bit early to be calling this any kind of home run.

Mind you, the national media would have cheered any move the leaves made regardless.

[loob job]

Originally Posted by GullFoss

Maybe I see this the wrong way, but IMO this is weak asset management by the leafs because they're going to be so hard pressed against the cap next year.

It's not a bad price for Muzzin, but the implications are that the Leafs will be hard pressed to re-sign Jake Gardiner this summer with the additional cap hit of a LH defenseman.

So in 2018-2019 the trade is: 1st+two 2nds for Muzzin
In 2019-2020 the trade is: 1st+two 2nds+Gardiner for Muzzin

Put differently, is it worth a 1st+two seconds to have Muzzin as a rental for this years playoffs and then upgrade Gardiner for Muzzin next season?

I don't think the leafs care if they lose Gardiner, I watch all the leaf games because that is all that's on sadly and he is hated here in Toronto.

[djsFlames]

I don't believe in the whole LS/RS thing after sticking to that contributed to two mediocre seasons for us but I will say that Muzzin automatically slotting in as a top pairing guy over there speaks volumes about the quality of the ML's blue line.

For contrast if we acquired Muzzin for prospects he'd probably be the #5. Talk about throwing a new acquisition head first into the fire. There's no way he lives up to it, at least not right away.