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# FTB: reasons for and against signing Alex Pietrangelo
- URL: https://www.pensionplanpuppets.com/toronto-maple-leafs-daily-news-links-analysis-reasons-for-and-against-signing-alex-pietrangelo-nhl/
- Published: 2020-09-25T09:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2020-09-25T09:00:00.000Z
- Description: A special request.
- Author: Hardev
- Tags: From The Branches, #chorus, #Import 2023-04-05 11:01

“No worries. But if you could hammer out 2 articles for tomorrow, one for, and one against signing AP, that would be much appreciated.”

Posted by [**GilDugmore**](https://www.sbnation.com/users/GilDugmore?ref=pensionplanpuppets.com) on [**Sep 24, 2020 | 2:44 PM**](https://www.pensionplanpuppets.com/toronto-maple-leafs-nhl-bubble-surplus-player-storage-is-available-in-species-basement/)

This is for you, Gil. Not quite two articles, but one is in the mail.

Pro  
Alex Pietrangelo is a really great first pairing defenseman that would anchor the top pair for half a decade.

Con  
He’s 30 and might fall off too quickly.

Pro  
He doesn’t cost any assets to acquire and the resulting cap dumps should bring in more assets.

Con  
We’ll be forced to lose Morgan Rielly, Frederik Andersen, or William Nylander.

Pro  
[No they won’t](https://www.pensionplanpuppets.com/what-needs-to-happen-and-what-doesnt-if-the-toronto-maple-leafs-land-alex-pietrangelo-in-free-agency/), [no they won’t](https://www.pensionplanpuppets.com/what-needs-to-happen-and-what-doesnt-if-the-toronto-maple-leafs-land-alex-pietrangelo-in-free-agency/), and [lmfao](https://twitter.com/Thats%5FOffside/status/1307384440721530880?ref=pensionplanpuppets.com).

Con  
It kills the depth on defense.

Pro  
He’ll make the jobs of everyone behind him easier and while they’ll probably lose Travis Dermott, there are lots of depth defensemen available on the Marlies in Lehtonen, Marincin, and Rosen.

Con  
The bottom six will be gutted.

Pro  
The bottom six was arguably overpaid for their production last season so a cheaper version of the third line could provide as much or more value than what was there last season.

Con  
Any injury will decimate the team.

Pro  
Any injury to a top-tier player will hurt the team, but Pietrangelo has played at least 70 games in every season since 2010 (47 in 2013), he doesn’t have a major injury in his past, and Rielly has gotten by with much worse partners before!

For an injury at forward, yeah it’ll suck, but unless the Leafs can trade Marner for two guys making half as much, they were always going to have that problem. It’s going to be time soon to get uncomfortable with the constant need to find bargain bin depth players either through free agency, trades, Europe, or developing prospects. Mikheyev, Rodrigues, Barabanov, Engvall, Robertson, Spezza, Korshkov and in the future with Hallander, SDA, and the 15th overall pick.

### Who won the debate?

| Hardev | 84 |
| ------ | -- |
| Hardev | 85 |

### Various Leafs Branches

[The NHL announced their offseason protocols that will begin six days after Free Agency opens. — Katya](https://www.pensionplanpuppets.com/nhl-announces-offseason-training-protocol-covid-19-prevention-return-to-not-playing/)

[Pierre LeBrun provides some insider updates on the Pietrangelo negotiations. — The Athletic](https://theathletic.com/2088906/2020/09/24/lebrun-exploring-the-possibility-of-alex-pietrangelos-trade/?ref=pensionplanpuppets.com#click=https://t.co/QSWWQ8ToDG)

[Frank Seravalli’s trade bait board from yesterday. Johnsson and Andersen are on it. — TSN](https://www.tsn.ca/trade-bait-the-nhl-s-31-teams-fit-neatly-into-three-buckets-this-off-season-1.1529168?ref=pensionplanpuppets.com)

[Ratings for the Stanley Cup Finals are struggling, largely because Tampa Bay is kicking Dallas out of the water when it comes to their internal shares in viewership. — Sports Media Watch](https://www.sportsmediawatch.com/2020/09/stanley-cup-final-ratings-decline-lightning-stars-viewership/?ref=pensionplanpuppets.com)

The trade is official, now with a splash of Colton Sceviour!

> Trade call just wrapped up: Colton Seviour and Mike Matheson to Pittsburgh for Hornqvist, sources say
> 
> — Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) [September 24, 2020](https://twitter.com/PierreVLeBrun/status/1309232738835345410?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw&ref=pensionplanpuppets.com)