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

[indigobuffalo]

Agree 100%. Dumb, dumb trade.

This has a lot to do with the Leafs’ reputation.

First off, the Leafs have put a lot of money into their big 4, so they rely on signing guys like Lehtonen to cheap contracts and finding the best ones out of the bunch to keep. The Leafs have worked hard to cultivate a reputation in Europe as a marquee destination for UFA signings.

If you start leaving guys to rot on the bench after they made a huge change to come to NA, you quickly get a reputation as a bad place to sign.

Next, the Leafs are at the top in the standings. Every one is gunning for the top dog, and nobody is looking to do the Leafs any favours. So finding trade partners is tough, especially when you’re showing weakness. The Leafs goalie situation is looking bad. Campbell is injured, Andersen is playing hurt, Hutchinson is also not 100% and not the most reliable to boot. Then we’ve got Woll who is completely untested.


The Leafs need goaltending support to rest Andersen and Campbell. This trade, while definitely not great, fixed those issues of goaltending and keeping our relationship with the KHL in good standings.

 

[Guided by Veseys]

Honestly would have been nice to have seen him in more games. Team is basically a lock for first place. They could have given him a bit more time. His offence could have come in handy if we had some key injuries. I’m a little disappointed just cuz it was exciting when we signed him originally and he was scoring like crazy in khl

 

[lovemyleafs]

I'm glad Lehtonen will get a better opportunity. I saw this coming from a mile away. It was unfair to keep him rotting on the bench.

Leafs definitely lost this trade btw.

 

[123offtheglass]

Why do we need depth D? Sandin, Liljegren, and Rosen are around Lehtonen's level.
People are acting like we just traded Rielly, relax, we traded our 7th D and have capable bottom pairing Ds in the system.

Best D outside of North America, just wasn't given a fair shake. Like Keefe's been saying this year's lack of training camp hurt him not being able to get kinks out of his KHL -> NHL game. He'll become a good NHL D over the next couple seasons if he doesn't start right away with Columbus. Honestly have had close to zero thought change about him since we signed him. I was pumped when we signed him & now I'm pissed about the missed opportunity.

 

[hockeywiz542]

Veini Vehviläinen – DobberProspects

Veini Vehviläinen

Fantasy Summary

A technically-sound goaltender who has played well in big games. Slightly undersized n comparison to NHL goaltenders of today.

Observations

March 2021 – Vehviläinen has been traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs in exchange for defender Mikko Lehtonen. This could give Vehviläinen an opportunity as Toronto doesn’t really seem sold on their pipeline in net at the moment. He likely won’t get NHL time but with the injury issues in the crease, there may be an opportunity to get on the bench as a backup as Joseph Woll has on a few occasions. At that point, you’re one bad game away from the starter from making his Leafs debut. It will be interesting to see where Toronto thinks Vehviläinen fits in as the season progresses. Tony Ferrari

 

[Leaftors]

Agree 100%. Dumb, dumb trade.

During our 3 game losing streak, we were outplayed for a maybe 10 minutes total and none of which was of the result of a specific Dman. Lehtonen more than likely wanted out, hasn’t shown in his time here that he’s warranted taking over dermott - and thus was traded. We still have both liljegren and sandin.

 

[Twine Tickler]

I get why it happened but I don't like it. Lehtonen looked no worse than either of Dermott or Bogo and had lots of potential.

I disagree. I personally think Derms and Bogo have both looked far more comfortable than Mikko this year. That said, hard for Mikko to get comfortable when he is not playing. I suspect Mikko will be used in CBJ, but I really did not see a budding superstar at all. And clearly the Leafs coaching and management didn't either. I think we should rest easy knowing this will not bite us in the ass. I promise you, he was never going to be on this team going into next year, so what exactly are we losing? if he becomes a superstar next year, it would not have been on the Leafs either way. By the time he is done quarantining he will have maybe 20 games to show he is an NHL defensemen. and if he cant, he will be back over seas

 

[Racer88]

I get their reasons for not making a lineup change, but is that the best possible deal they could get for Lehtonen? I'm shocked that they couldn't get more than an AHL goalie with (very) average stats for the best Dman in the KHL and a guy who hasn't shown to look out of place when given a shot in our lineup

If he was the best Dman in the KHL then the KHL is in trouble

 

[Magic Man]

The Marlies have had ECHL caliber goaltending from last minute AHL signings with Andersen and Cambell out for an extended period and with Scott being out for 2 years in a row. Now, Woll is back with the Marlies and Andersen and Cambell are healthy for the Leafs. It's a boost for the goalie depth issue that has plagued the developing Marlies this season. It also provides some internal competition. With Woll, Veini, D'Agostini and Scott who you'd think would be nearing return there is some talented young hungry goalies all of a sudden looking for ice and Marlies roster who have to be begging for it.

I don't like the value here or the use of assets. Lehtonen is worth more and the return probably never see's NHL ice. Lehtonen is also great depth for a playoff run. He's an NHL caliber bottom pairing D right now.

It does punch a hole for Sandin and Liljegren to play important minutes down the stretch. It's time for them to develop. While being a nice favour to Lehtonen giving him increased responsibility in another organization. He didn't stand a good chance going forward with those two behind him and the top-6 the Leafs have now. He could see top-4 minutes potentially elsewhere. He wasn't going to here.

 

[hotpaws]

The Leafs need goaltending support to rest Andersen and Campbell. This trade, while definitely not great, fixed those issues of goaltending and keeping our relationship with the KHL in good standings.

cool story but how the heck do you think this fixes our goaltending issues ?

and what this says is if you sign with the Leafs chances are you won't get a shot with the team you choose and then you'll get dumped to a team you may not have wanted to go too so your better off avoiding the Leafs and choosing another team

 

[Pi]

cool story but how the heck do you think this fixes our goaltending issues ?

and what this says is if you sign with the Leafs chances are you won't get a shot with the team you choose and then you'll get dumped to a team you may not have wanted to go too so your better off avoiding the Leafs and choosing another team

or it says that if you are good enough to stick you get a chance and if you aren’t you get traded?

Is Mikheyev still not here? Doesn’t Barabanov get time to play as well? See how easy it is to twist things?

 

[Machinae]

The sky is falling..

Nothing gets the Leafs fan base more worked up than depth players.

 

[notbias]

Best D outside of North America, just wasn't given a fair shake. Like Keefe's been saying this year's lack of training camp hurt him not being able to get kinks out of his KHL -> NHL game. He'll become a good NHL D over the next couple seasons if he doesn't start right away with Columbus. Honestly have had close to zero thought change about him since we signed him. I was pumped when we signed him & now I'm pissed about the missed opportunity.

I agree with him being a good D, and not getting a fair shot. I'd have loved to see him get more of an opportunity over Dermott, but I'd also rather see him get a chance somewhere else over him sitting.

He wasn't cracking the top 4 and I think Bogo has outplayed him and Dermott handily, so we are looking at a #6 D being traded at best.

I probably would have rather seen Dermott dealt, but it is what it is, the difference in our team with and without Lehtonen is none if everyone is healthy and minimal if we have a couple of injuries.

 

[Esko6]

He was the backup goalie on that loaded Finland team where Kapanen scored the OT Golden Goal on Home Ice.

Laine, Aho, Puljujarvi, Rantonen, Kapanen,

Initially he was the starter, but he lost that spot to Kähkönen who now is having a fantastic rookie season. Veini has always been a very promising goalie, but he got reputation of being too nervous and melting down in significant games

 

[NK94]

Lehtonen's situation was no different than Leivo's before it. Vehviläinen may turn into something, he may not. It beats keeping Lehtonen rotting on the bench or with the Marlies only for him to walk away for nothing this summer.

 

[Muston Atthews]

I feel like we're going to regret this

we have no room. I’m sure he was promised playing time when he came over or that we’d trade him.

dubas keeping his word I’m sure

 

[Byron Bitz]

Does this mean Dermott won the battle with Lehtonen for the 3LD spot?

 

[hotpaws]

or it says that if you are good enough to stick you get a chance and if you aren’t you get traded?

Is Mikheyev still not here? Doesn’t Barabanov get time to play as well? See how easy it is to twist things?

how are you supposed to show your good enough to stick if you're not given the opportunity ?

Barabanov barely plays so i don't what time you believe he gets so spin till you get dizzy but chances are KHL players might start to avoid signing here if they don't get a decent shot at proving them selves .

 

[Magic Man]

Veini has two years after this with waiver exemption with Woll and Scott his competition. They may be thinking long term here.

 

[Leaftors]

how are you supposed to show your good enough to stick if you're not given the opportunity ?

Barabanov barely plays so i don't what time you believe he gets so spin till you get dizzy but chances are KHL players might start to avoid signing here if they don't get a decent shot at proving them selves .

When he played, he got power play time. He had his fair share of opportunity. Bias towards a player because he’s new shouldn’t trump that of a guy who’s proven to be good where he is [dermott].

 

[Twine Tickler]

dubas keeping his word I’m sure

People are massively undervaluing the effect this move makes on the teams reputation. Look no further to the Houston Texans. How long will it be before anyone of note wants to play for that dumpster fire? probably a long time. There are reasons why we are almost always in the hunt for euro FA's. Make no mistake, this is part of their pitches to players

 

[Machinae]

Yeah the team is tops in the division and looks good even in losses, but what about maximizing the value of this guy we signed for free and has proven nothing for us? Quite frankly I'm livid that we didn't paper win this trade and I think our management needs to have a serious reality check here.

 

[All Mod Cons]

how are you supposed to show your good enough to stick if you're not given the opportunity ?

Barabanov barely plays so i don't what time you believe he gets so spin till you get dizzy but chances are KHL players might start to avoid signing here if they don't get a decent shot at proving them selves .

Other than Mikheyev I'm not really sure who these European gems are that we apparently keep unearthing. Might be time to stop that exercise, put more effort into the NCAA?

 

[The90]

To me this looks like Dubas being a ‘players gm’ and moving lehtonen because he wasn’t playing. They clearly feel Sandin is very near to ready if they’re comfortable with him as a #7.

I’m sure he will gain respect from free agents for doing this.

that being said, I do think lehtonen can have a nice career and would’ve liked to see him play a bit more before moving on. He looked like he could definitely make an impact as a 2nd pp guy. Hope he does well in Columbus

 

[supermann_98]

If he was the best Dman in the KHL then the KHL is in trouble

No doubt they are but Lehtonen was Ray Bourque level in the KHL the last 2 years, and had a couple beautiful assists for us this year only to see the bench the very next game.

He's got much more to his game than he got a chance to showcase as Keefe's boy was Dermott from their Marlie days and nothing Mikko did or didn't do on the ice was gonna change that. Can't blame Keefe for showing that loyalty to Dermott either.

The thing that probably convinced Dubas was Dermott's solid play this year and his ability to stay healthy, two things he's struggled with in the past.