Mikko Lehtonen signs with Leafs
- Thread starter herman
- Start date
herman
Well-known member
In case you weren?t following the past couple of days:
Lehtonen parted ways amicably with Jokerit/KHL late last week with the intention of continuing his career in the NHL. He was the top defender last season in points and had a multi-team bidding war going on including the Devils, Kings, and Habs.
Lehtonen parted ways amicably with Jokerit/KHL late last week with the intention of continuing his career in the NHL. He was the top defender last season in points and had a multi-team bidding war going on including the Devils, Kings, and Habs.
Woah this came out of nowhere. I remember reading that this guy was supposed to be pretty decent but never really looked closely because the Leafs weren't being linked to him.
A lefty though, weird.
A lefty though, weird.
Tired: We should move Dermott to RD
Wired: We should move Dermott AND Rielly to RD
Muzzin-Rielly
Sandin-Dermott
Lehtonen-Holl
Wired: We should move Dermott AND Rielly to RD
Muzzin-Rielly
Sandin-Dermott
Lehtonen-Holl
herman said:
Yeah I think he's one of the more likely guys to get traded this offseason. Especially after this signing.
herman
Well-known member
CarltonTheBear said:
I'm not one to usually say this signing now makes that other player expendable because they play the same spot. It's okay to have multiple good players!
But between Muzzin, Rielly, and Sandin, Dermott doesn't really have any standout capability warranting cap space and ice time at this juncture. Especially since he is in the sweet spot of development with a pedigree of junior/AHL success, a combination of Dermott + Kapanen is a very attractive trade package.
herman
Well-known member
Noice.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vpVxZltSjUg
Just from the highlights, which is a very small sample (especially for assessing a defenseman), he does attack both sides of the ice efficiently by creeping into space. His wrist shot is the favoured approach to the net, but he also plays heads up instead of blindly firing slappers from as far away as possible. Might just be survivor bias though, as no one is scoring from the corner pockets, and thus would not appear on the highlights.
https://twitter.com/aj_ranger/status/1257302577416294401
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vpVxZltSjUg
Just from the highlights, which is a very small sample (especially for assessing a defenseman), he does attack both sides of the ice efficiently by creeping into space. His wrist shot is the favoured approach to the net, but he also plays heads up instead of blindly firing slappers from as far away as possible. Might just be survivor bias though, as no one is scoring from the corner pockets, and thus would not appear on the highlights.
https://twitter.com/aj_ranger/status/1257302577416294401
Zanzibar Buck-Buck McFate said:
I actually wonder how many Crazy Hockey Dads are giving their kids right-handed sticks when they first start to play for this reason.
WAYNEINIONA
New member
What? Maple Leafs news! I read all 14 posts three times.
Guru Tugginmypuddah
Active member
Zee said:
"You want Lehtonen? Well we're signing Lehtonen."
https://twitter.com/reporterchris/status/1257361861768548361
A couple of points that I thought were worth repeating from this:
1) His coach from this season says he thinks Lehtonen is best on his strong side (left) and that he played with a fellow lefty who moved to the right on his KHL team. I don't think that 100% guarantees that he won't be able to play on the right side here, but if he stuck on the left there even when his team was short on righties I think that makes it unlikely.
2) It's noted that he didn't take any performance bonuses in his deal. That was the same for Mikheyev and Barbanov. Considering he's got some hype behind him I'd imagine a number of other teams would have been offering contracts with performance bonuses so he likely took less to sign here.
A couple of points that I thought were worth repeating from this:
1) His coach from this season says he thinks Lehtonen is best on his strong side (left) and that he played with a fellow lefty who moved to the right on his KHL team. I don't think that 100% guarantees that he won't be able to play on the right side here, but if he stuck on the left there even when his team was short on righties I think that makes it unlikely.
2) It's noted that he didn't take any performance bonuses in his deal. That was the same for Mikheyev and Barbanov. Considering he's got some hype behind him I'd imagine a number of other teams would have been offering contracts with performance bonuses so he likely took less to sign here.