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Possibility of Muzzin and/or Brodie left unprotected in the expansion draft?

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Brodie no.

I have a sneaking suspicion that Muzzin may end up exposed though. I don't believe the Leafs currently have anyone that fits the "played enough games and under contract next year" requirement except Rielly, Muzzin, Brodie, and Holl. Dermott is RFA so they could resign him prior and he would fit that requirement but as of now he doesn't qualify for it. Not that I want to lose Muzzin, but given his age and the fact he was signed right before covid which likely resulted in him getting more than he would have gotten last summer I wouldn't be shocked if Dubas went that route with that thought that if he's taken that leaves them an extra 5.625 million to potentially try to fill that hole for cheaper.

Signing and exposing Dermott makes the most sense, but I'm not completely ruling out Muzzin.
 
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Canada4Gold said:
Brodie no.

I have a sneaking suspicion that Muzzin may end up exposed though. I don't believe the Leafs currently have anyone that fits the "played enough games and under contract next year" requirement except Rielly, Muzzin, Brodie, and Holl. Dermott is RFA so they could resign him prior and he would fit that requirement but as of now he doesn't qualify for it. Not that I want to lose Muzzin, but given his age and the fact he was signed right before covid which likely resulted in him getting more than he would have gotten last summer I wouldn't be shocked if Dubas went that route with that thought that if he's taken that leaves them an extra 5.625 million to potentially try to fill that hole for cheaper.

Signing and exposing Dermott makes the most sense, but I'm not completely ruling out Muzzin.
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Why would you expose him just to protect a Kerfoot, though? Makes no sense to me. Who are you afraid of losing? He is getting protected.
 
Canada4Gold said:
Brodie no.

I have a sneaking suspicion that Muzzin may end up exposed though. I don't believe the Leafs currently have anyone that fits the "played enough games and under contract next year" requirement except Rielly, Muzzin, Brodie, and Holl. Dermott is RFA so they could resign him prior and he would fit that requirement but as of now he doesn't qualify for it. Not that I want to lose Muzzin, but given his age and the fact he was signed right before covid which likely resulted in him getting more than he would have gotten last summer I wouldn't be shocked if Dubas went that route with that thought that if he's taken that leaves them an extra 5.625 million to potentially try to fill that hole for cheaper.

Signing and exposing Dermott makes the most sense, but I'm not completely ruling out Muzzin.
Click to expand...

If you’re exposing a guy like Muzzin because of cap constraints, you make it a trade. Holl is not more valuable than Muzzin, so you trade Muzzin to Seattle for their choice and a pick.
 
BoredBrandonPridham said:
If you’re exposing a guy like Muzzin because of cap constraints, you make it a trade. Holl is not more valuable than Muzzin, so you trade Muzzin to Seattle for their choice and a pick.
Click to expand...

Perhaps. Muzzin to Seattle if they agree to pick some random UFA and a 2nd/3rd or something.

I'm not saying I think it's for sure something that they do. But I have a sneaking suspicion they want to keep Dermott, and the lack of a player fulfilling the exposure requirements with a contract makes me feel like there's no rush to fill that because Muzzin will fill it. Of course, they could extend Dermott tomorrow and that logic goes out the window.

If I had my choice I'd drive Kerfoot to Seattle as I want to keep the entire D-core but I feel like that's me being optimistic.
 
The 6ix said:
Dermott and Bogosian aren't under contract for next year.

The Leafs have some minor housekeepung to do. If they protect the top four D, they need to sign someone who otherwise meets the exposure requirements.

Either Dermott or Bogosian would do.

There's no one else in the Leafs' organization with enough games played to fill the bill.
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They do not need to sign Dermott in order for him to meet the exposure requirement.

All they need to do is tender his qualifying offer.
 
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WillyNy said:
Kyle Dubas loves him. Wouldn't trade him for MacKenzie Weegar, what the hell makes you think he'd let him go for free
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It's not "for free".

You have to lose somebody to expansion... if protecting Dermott means losing Holl... that's a pretty big "element" to give up to save Travis Dermott.
 
seanlinden said:
They do not need to sign Dermott in order for him to meet the exposure requirement.

All they need to do is tender his qualifying offer.
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False. The qualifying offer option is only for goalies because teams have very few of those. Skaters need to have a 2021/22 contract in order to fill those exposure requirements

Seattle 2021 NHL Expansion Draft rules same as Golden Knights followed

In addition, all NHL teams must meet the following minimum requirements regarding players exposed for selection in the draft:

* One defenseman who is a) under contract in 2021-22 and b) played in at least 40 NHL games the prior season or played in at least 70 NHL games in the prior two seasons.

* Two forwards who are a) under contract in 2021-22 and b) played at least 40 NHL games the prior season or played in at least 70 NHL games in the prior two seasons.

* One goalie who is under contract in 2021-22 or will be a restricted free agent at the end of his current contract immediately prior to 2021-22. If a team elects to make a restricted free agent goalie available to meet this requirement, that goalie must have received his qualifying offer prior to the submission of the team's protected list.
Click to expand...
 
Jacquestrapless said:
We could sign Ben Hutton to a contract and expose him. I believe he meets the requirements.
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That's true. Bogosian also. I'm not suggesting they would expose Muzzin because they have to for exposure reasons, there are clear alternatives for that issue. Just that I wouldn't be entirely shocked if they didn't solve that issue yet because Muzzin could be the plan so they don't need to waste a contract for that purpose. Exposing Muzzin would be a gamble that they could get better use out of his cap space and avoiding potential age related decline risks if they have belief in the LD depth. If they went that route(which I still think is unlikely) it could completely blow up in their face. But I don't believe Dubas is afraid to that that risk if he believe it's the right course of action. They could also trade Muzzin to Seattle and get an asset or 2 back in addition to locking in the expansion selection.
 
Griffin76 said:
Keeping both would be preferred for sure. And I've liked Kerfoot all along but I think his 3.5m will be needed elsewhere.
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He could be replaced from within likely couldn’t he.. i get that. We still appreciate him nonetheless. He is a puckhound and works so hard. I’m over my personal production expectations with him. No sooner that I accepted that and my eyes opened to his defensive value. Hardly fair the way i viewed him but that’s what i was doing. Bias is a weird show when you don’t even realize you are doing it. I definitely was biased towards him. I really used to take a shot at him on here at every opportunity. I was completely off the mark ha
 
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Canada4Gold said:
That's true. Bogosian also. I'm not suggesting they would expose Muzzin because they have to for exposure reasons, there are clear alternatives for that issue. Just that I wouldn't be entirely shocked if they didn't solve that issue yet because Muzzin could be the plan so they don't need to waste a contract for that purpose. Exposing Muzzin would be a gamble that they could get better use out of his cap space and avoiding potential age related decline risks if they have belief in the LD depth. If they went that route(which I still think is unlikely) it could completely blow up in their face. But I don't believe Dubas is afraid to that that risk if he believe it's the right course of action. They could also trade Muzzin to Seattle and get an asset or 2 back in addition to locking in the expansion selection.
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While I agree with you that keeping Muzzin certainly has its risks given that:
a) he was a pre-pandemic contract, and is probably paid about $500k more and a year longer than he would have gotten had the pandemic been known.
b) he plays the game in a way that doesn't tend to lead to longevity.
c) The Leafs have Rielly who has been and still may be viewed as a franchise-player, plus Dermott and Sandin on the left.

You look at what Muzzin has brought to this team -- how he's completely solidified that 2nd/shutdown pairing, how he brings size, physicality and cup winning experience. With this team being as seemingly close to a cup as they might be, I just can't see Dubas overhauling the D to the extent that moving Jake Muzzin would mean.

There's also the element of the Leafs not really being in all that much of a cap crunch this offseason. Let's say Hyman doubles his salary; you drop Kerfoot to a $2m player, and you can still go out and spend a little more than $4m on a goalie to partner with Campbell. If you need a little more flexibility, Simmonds at $1.5m comes off. Engvall at $1.25m is movable. Mikheyev at $1.65m could also be moved.

The year after is when things would seemingly be more difficult. You get Kessel's $1.2m, but Jack Campbell becomes a UFA. Morgan Rielly becomes a UFA. Rasmus Sandin & Timothy Liljegren become RFAs. It's also going to be a more favorable economic time for most of the teams in the league, so they'll be more willing to spend closer to the cap; especially with so much of it going to escrow.

Realistically, this core (at least on D) has 2 "cracks" at it.
 
Sweet Leaf said:
Brodie and Muzzin have their no move clauses converted to no trade clauses for the 2021-2022 season.

How no-movement clauses are shaping Seattle's expansion landscape

From the article:
By way of an example, look at the structure of two contracts the Toronto Maple Leafs signed with veteran defencemen over the past 14 months: Jake Muzzin and T.J. Brodie will both see their NMC’s convert to no-trade clauses for the 2021-22 season, which means neither is required to be protected in the expansion draft.

With continued cap pressure, and young inexpensive talent coming like Sandin and Liljegren, I think it's a very likely scenario one or both is unprotected.

Reilly Liljegen
Sandin Holl
Dermott ?
Click to expand...

They should be just fine exposing Rielly.
 
Once said:
They'll pay up to have Seattle not pick a Holl or Mikheyev. Based on the last expansion, we likely lose a guy like Dermott or Kerf + a pick/prospect.
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I think you nailed it. I can see us paying them to take Kerfoot. I also think Dermott and maybe a prospect is a good guess at the bribe. We are really low on picks.

I see no reality where Brodie, Muzzin or Reilly is exposed. That would be pretty silly.
 
Once said:
They'll pay up to have Seattle not pick a Holl or Mikheyev. Based on the last expansion, we likely lose a guy like Dermott or Kerf + a pick/prospect.
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Mikheyev is exempt, and we are not going to pay them to take Kerfoot. If they take Holl, then we can replace him through UFA or more likely internally with Liljegren. We will trade Kerfoot at that point; likely for a solid return if we need cap space.

We are not going to pay assets, unless it is like a nothing prospect we don't want anymore, to protect non-core players. We shouldn't even be giving up late round picks to let them take a guy they would be smart to take in the first place.
 
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BlueBaron said:
I think you nailed it. I can see us paying them to take Kerfoot. I also think Dermott and maybe a prospect is a good guess at the bribe. We are really low on picks.

I see no reality where Brodie, Muzzin or Reilly is exposed. That would be pretty silly.
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Why would we pay Dermott as a bribe for them to take Kerfoot when Dermott (or Holl) would be the guy we would be worried about them taking instead of Kerfoot?

If they end up taking Anderson, Brooks, Malgin, Engvall or someone who is not Kerfoot or Dermott/Holl, then we are doing extremely well. Obviously I would expect them to take a more proven and better player when they can, considering there will be a lot of cheap, young, and promising talent on worse teams that they can take from other teams, but if they decide to take one of those 4 guys then that is their loss.
 
Tak7 said:
0% chance.

Leafs will go 8 skaters / 1 goalie

  1. Matthews
  2. Tavares
  3. Marner
  4. Nylander
  5. Reilly
  6. Brodie
  7. Muzzin
  8. Holl
They'll meet expansion recruitments via:

  1. Hutchinson
  2. Dermott
  3. Engvall
  4. Kerfoot

And they'll probably lose Kerfoot; as mentioned above, Dermott is an interesting option for Seattle but they'll have an abundance of Dmen to select from.
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Agreed with this, though I think Seattle take Dermott. Even if they have an abundance of D, Dermott has more value than Kerfoot IMO, and they can make trades.
 
The Athletic disagrees, from yesterdays article:

Toronto Maple Leafs (7-3-1)

Protected forwards: Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, John Tavares, William Nylander, Zach Hyman, Alex Kerfoot, Pierre Engvall.
Protected defence: Morgan Rielly, Jake Muzzin, T.J. Brodie.
Protected goalie: Jack Campbell.
Potentially available: Justin Holl, Travis Dermott, Frederik Andersen, David Rittich.​
 
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