Post by Personnel Representative on Jul 2, 2008 21:51:55 GMT -5
A Closer Look at the 2008 Toronto Maple Leafs
By: Micheal Aldred
The Maple Leafs situation is looking less grim this week than it did last. Trading up to land Luke Schenn at the entry draft could have been the best decision the Leafs have made in the last decade. The waiving of Andrew Raycroft was a strong decision by Cliff Fletcher – a move that did not seem to cross former Leafs GM John Ferguson’s mind - but buying out Darcy Tucker has left a little less than mediocrity on the left side and will the team with nothing but a buy-out cap hit of 6M over 6 years, or 1M a season. The presumable loss of Mats Sundin and the waiving of offensive artist Kyle Wellwood have left me without a doubt in my mind that the Leafs are going for John Tavares, but are taking a lack of interest on behalf of the fans in the process in the short run.
Assuming the rumors that one of McCabe or Kubina will be dealt this summer, the Leafs projected lineup lacks both character and dynamic presence. The anticipated addition of Russian sniper Nikolai Kulemin has already begun to entice hopeful followers that he can mirror his skills in Europe to North America, but if he alone is the Leafs calling for goal scoring this upcoming season, it could be a long one.
On the front line, the big name players of Jason Blake, Nick Antropov and Alex Ponikarovsky prove to be nothing more than a soon to be a 35 year old one-time 40 goal scorer, an injury-laden late bloomer, and a good fore checker. This is an average connection for a first line unit and would be the second line on the majority of teams in the league. Unfortunately, this is the situation of which the Leafs have succumbed. Blake’s illness has undoubtedly affected his playing skills, and with good reason, but to imagine the veteran reaching his once forty-goal plateau is more than stretching it. Antropov is expected to come off a strong season and continue his productivity but he has yet to provide a full 82 game season, and Alex will remain his usual forty to fifty point aggressive self.
Comparing their projected top line with rival division teams the Leafs lack offensive presence, but with the additions of Jamal Mayers and possibly Luke Schenn to the immediate lineup the Leafs have turned their attention to more physical presence despite moving heavy hitter Chad Kilger and enforcer Wade Belak at the deadline. Point production wise, the Leafs top line (Blake, Antropov and Ponikarovsky) totals from the 2008 campaign combine to 143 points respectively and a plus/minus +13. Here are the top line totals on behalf of their divisional rivals: Buffalo Sabres (Tomas Vanek, Derek Roy and Jason Pominville) combined for 225 points and a plus/minus +24; Boston Bruins (Marco Sturm, Marc Savard and Chuck Kobasew) combined for 173 points and a plus/minus +20; Montreal Canadiens (Saku Koivu, Tomas Plekanec and Alex Kovalev) combined for 209 points and a plus/minus +29; Ottawa Senators (Danny Heatley, Jason Spezza and Daniel Alfredsson) combined for 263 points, almost 100 more, and a plus/minus of +74. Although team by team style of play must be taken into account, it is clearly evident the Leafs are competing for fourth or fifth in their own division. Goaltending will be of greater advantage for the Leafs this season, but despite Vesa Toskala’s in credible performance going down the stretch it’s unlikely the fast-gloved Fin can steal enough games to get them into the playoffs next season.
The remaining lines for the Leafs are nothing more than checking lines, but the biggest part for Leafs fans to look forward to this season is the increased amount of time for youngsters Stajan, Steen, Colaiaicovo (pending he stays healthy) and young Swede Anton Stralman who gave a strong performance at the 2008 IIHF World Championship.
With around 15M to spend this summer, the Leafs used some good cap space to bring back former Leafs Curtis Joseph, brought in a great two-way forward and goal scorer Niklas Hagman and signed an unknown figure quoted as a “top five defensemen in the West during the second half” last season in Jeff Finger, but the dollar figures seem to be a bit inflated for the latter. It will be interesting to see if the Leafs continue to rebuild throughout the rest of the summer or if the board steps in to make sure their pockets are sitting well financially.
Projected Leaf Lines 2008:
Blake - Ponikarovsky - Antropov
Hagman - Stajan - Steen
Bell - Mayers - Devereaux
Kulemin – Williams - Tlusty
McCabe - Kaberle
Finger - Kubina
Stralman – Colaiacovo
(Kronwall, Harrison, White, Schen)
Toskala
Joseph
(Pogge)
Micheal Aldred
mx_aldred@laurentian.ca
By: Micheal Aldred
The Maple Leafs situation is looking less grim this week than it did last. Trading up to land Luke Schenn at the entry draft could have been the best decision the Leafs have made in the last decade. The waiving of Andrew Raycroft was a strong decision by Cliff Fletcher – a move that did not seem to cross former Leafs GM John Ferguson’s mind - but buying out Darcy Tucker has left a little less than mediocrity on the left side and will the team with nothing but a buy-out cap hit of 6M over 6 years, or 1M a season. The presumable loss of Mats Sundin and the waiving of offensive artist Kyle Wellwood have left me without a doubt in my mind that the Leafs are going for John Tavares, but are taking a lack of interest on behalf of the fans in the process in the short run.
Assuming the rumors that one of McCabe or Kubina will be dealt this summer, the Leafs projected lineup lacks both character and dynamic presence. The anticipated addition of Russian sniper Nikolai Kulemin has already begun to entice hopeful followers that he can mirror his skills in Europe to North America, but if he alone is the Leafs calling for goal scoring this upcoming season, it could be a long one.
On the front line, the big name players of Jason Blake, Nick Antropov and Alex Ponikarovsky prove to be nothing more than a soon to be a 35 year old one-time 40 goal scorer, an injury-laden late bloomer, and a good fore checker. This is an average connection for a first line unit and would be the second line on the majority of teams in the league. Unfortunately, this is the situation of which the Leafs have succumbed. Blake’s illness has undoubtedly affected his playing skills, and with good reason, but to imagine the veteran reaching his once forty-goal plateau is more than stretching it. Antropov is expected to come off a strong season and continue his productivity but he has yet to provide a full 82 game season, and Alex will remain his usual forty to fifty point aggressive self.
Comparing their projected top line with rival division teams the Leafs lack offensive presence, but with the additions of Jamal Mayers and possibly Luke Schenn to the immediate lineup the Leafs have turned their attention to more physical presence despite moving heavy hitter Chad Kilger and enforcer Wade Belak at the deadline. Point production wise, the Leafs top line (Blake, Antropov and Ponikarovsky) totals from the 2008 campaign combine to 143 points respectively and a plus/minus +13. Here are the top line totals on behalf of their divisional rivals: Buffalo Sabres (Tomas Vanek, Derek Roy and Jason Pominville) combined for 225 points and a plus/minus +24; Boston Bruins (Marco Sturm, Marc Savard and Chuck Kobasew) combined for 173 points and a plus/minus +20; Montreal Canadiens (Saku Koivu, Tomas Plekanec and Alex Kovalev) combined for 209 points and a plus/minus +29; Ottawa Senators (Danny Heatley, Jason Spezza and Daniel Alfredsson) combined for 263 points, almost 100 more, and a plus/minus of +74. Although team by team style of play must be taken into account, it is clearly evident the Leafs are competing for fourth or fifth in their own division. Goaltending will be of greater advantage for the Leafs this season, but despite Vesa Toskala’s in credible performance going down the stretch it’s unlikely the fast-gloved Fin can steal enough games to get them into the playoffs next season.
The remaining lines for the Leafs are nothing more than checking lines, but the biggest part for Leafs fans to look forward to this season is the increased amount of time for youngsters Stajan, Steen, Colaiaicovo (pending he stays healthy) and young Swede Anton Stralman who gave a strong performance at the 2008 IIHF World Championship.
With around 15M to spend this summer, the Leafs used some good cap space to bring back former Leafs Curtis Joseph, brought in a great two-way forward and goal scorer Niklas Hagman and signed an unknown figure quoted as a “top five defensemen in the West during the second half” last season in Jeff Finger, but the dollar figures seem to be a bit inflated for the latter. It will be interesting to see if the Leafs continue to rebuild throughout the rest of the summer or if the board steps in to make sure their pockets are sitting well financially.
Projected Leaf Lines 2008:
Blake - Ponikarovsky - Antropov
Hagman - Stajan - Steen
Bell - Mayers - Devereaux
Kulemin – Williams - Tlusty
McCabe - Kaberle
Finger - Kubina
Stralman – Colaiacovo
(Kronwall, Harrison, White, Schen)
Toskala
Joseph
(Pogge)
Micheal Aldred
mx_aldred@laurentian.ca
