Confirmed with Link: [TOR/CBJ] LD Mikko Lehtonen to CBJ for G Veini Vehvilainen

[Warden of the North]

Lehtonen become a god in Cbus yet?

 

[AngryScotsman]

Hutch has no upside. VV may have upside. That’s why you expose Hutch. He’s so bad they won’t even take him. It’s completely perfunctory.

Are you comfortable rolling with him at this point if Campbell and Andersen go down?

 

[Twine Tickler]

Just a reminder that Mikko has played 6 games so far and has not registered a point.

Still think Mikko is a quality player, but early indications would suggest this was not a major loss. We have no clue what we have in VV, but we were able to give Mikko a real chance and save face as an organization in the proccess. Which ultimitley was the big reason the deal was done in the first place. Similar to Josh Lievo a year prior. Appears to be a win all the way around after the first couple weeks. Mikko gets the chance he deserves, we get an B- to B level goalie prospect which we desperately need, and we look good by letting Mikko try and reach his dream of being a regular NHL'er. The second time in as many years where KD has elected to make a trade completely to give the player a better opportunity elsewhere. These type of things are part of why we consistently are in the mix for euro UFA's. and do not kid yourself, this does not go unnoticed.

Far cry from some of the meltdowns I was reading on this board a month ago lol

 

[justashadowof]

According to CapFriendly Veini Vehvilainen is waivers exempt.

Veini Vehvilainen Waivers Calculator Results - CapFriendly - NHL Salary Caps

 

[Suntouchable13]

I thought an actual trade happened right now for a second, thanks for that

 

[Jmo89]

I thought an actual trade happened right now for a second, thanks for that

Me too. What kind of monster revives an old trade thread days before the TDL?

 

[justashadowof]

Lehtonen has been getting some pretty decent ice time in Columbus since he starting playing for them. Columbus have fallen out of the playoffs since they made that trade: 5-7-2 (2-4-0 with Lehtonen in the lineup) including only 2 regulation wins in that time (Detroit has more regulation wins than Columbus!).

 

[Ciao]

I dislike Hutch as much as the next person, not sure exposing him over Vehvilainen is the right option either.

Hutch has no upside. VV may have upside. That’s why you expose Hutch. He’s so bad they won’t even take him. It’s completely perfunctory.

According to CapFriendly Veini Vehvilainen is waivers exempt.

Veini Vehvilainen Waivers Calculator Results - CapFriendly - NHL Salary Caps

Just to add to this, there is no process to expose a player to the expansion draft.

The process is exactly the opposite -- you choose to protect players, and those left unprotected are by default exposed unless they are exempt.

VV is exempt and can't be exposed.

The choice is who to protect. The choices are Campbell or Hutchinson, both under contract, or Andersen, a pending UFA.

I think the overwhelming consensus is to protect Campbell, leaving Hutchinson and Andersen exposed; and of those two only Hutchinson meets the minimum exposure requirements (as Andersen is not under contract).

It was never a choice of exposing either Hutchinson or VV to begin with.

 

[zeke]

huh i didn't realize he was playing already.

quick check of the numbers....

The pairs in CBJ since Lehtonen started playing have been:

Werenski-Jones
Gavrikov-Savard
Lehtonen-DelZotto/Kukan

though Savard sat out last game and will be out until at least the deadline, so now the pairings are:

Werenski-Jones
Gavrikov-DelZotto
Lehtonen-Kukan

those are the only 7 dmen to play since Lehtonen started.

Even Strength TOI:

1. Jones 19:50
2.Werenski 19:15
3. Savard 17:22
4. Gavrikov 17:07
5. Lehtonen 14:41
6. DelZotto 14:19
7. Kukan 12:21

Interestingly enough Lehtonen hasn't had any PP time - the only dmen with more than a few seconds of PP time in those 6 games are Jones 2:12 and Werenski 1:23.

And then zone starts - i look at dzone start % minus ozone start% to get a number where the higher the number is the tougher the zone starts are:

1. Gavrikov +10.2
2. Savard +9.6
3. Werenski +5.8
4. Jones +2.9
5. Kukan -2.9
6. DelZotto -4.0
7. Lehtonen -6.4

So overall its safe to say that Lehtonen is getting very soft bottom pair usage so far.


xGF% in those 6gms:

Werenski 41.1% - Jones 39.5%
Gavrikov 48.8% - Savard 48.3%
Lehtonen 39.6% - DelZotto 48.5%/Kukan 37.7%


So yeah - not the greatest start for Lehtonen so far.

 

[BertCorbeau]

Lehtonen's usage would be optimally as a bottom pairing puck mover/PP specialist for now until he can prove himself in the NHL.

Not exactly surprising that he's being sheltered, a bit surprising he's getting not PP time. If he was getting regular duties that would probably elevate his importance.

That being said Columbus has two 1st PP unit calibre d-men so that doesn't help.

 

[Bluelines]

What did Mikko do to piss off Kyle, getting traded to a Torts coached team, the guy who thinks every shot you don't block is the end of the world. Hell he had Paranin blocking shots in CLB

 

[Iapyi]

Lehtonen is not good enough to play on Toronto which has one of the best defenses in the NHL.

He's a UFA so we would have lost him for nothing. Very pragmatic and sly maneuver by the Maple Leaf organization.

 

[X66]

I'm not going to sell Lethonen short, he came into a bad situation.

No training camp or pre-season games, plus joined a stacked left Leafs side on Defence.

Hope he signs with someone next year and gets a fair shot, I definitely think he can play in this league.

 

[tony135420]

I'm not going to sell Lethonen short, he came into a bad situation.

No training camp or pre-season games, plus joined a stacked left Leafs side on Defence.

Hope he signs with someone next year and gets a fair shot, I definitely think he can play in this league.

He's going to get more of chance with Werenski out for the season. I hope he kills it.

 

[indigobuffalo]

Just had a thought... could be this trade is part of a larger deal with Columbus. We’ve been linked to Foligno, so maybe this is just part of bigger deal involving Foligno where they wanted more time to elapse for cap considerations.

Lehtonen also occupied a spot on the taxi squad so that could be a consideration too.

This guy knows...

 

[40BayStreet]

For the love of god. Please no more bumping. Lmao almost had another heart attack.