Leafs Regular Season Discussion

[YogiStewart]

And this is where Burke's shortcomings are on full display. Cap management and signing the right people or spending money wisely. Burke's done a good job stocking the farm system and there's good players on their way up that should be here in the next few seasons. But having that much dead weight on the team is just horrible.

but that's where you're wrong.

Leafs top 3 prospects up front?
Frattin, Colborne, Kadri. right?

let's say that they let Kulemin walk.
Frattin didn't stick for most of the year (inexplicably, in my opinion). so which line does he go on? 3rd? 4th?
Then you put Colborne where? not up fron with Lupol and Kessel. Too slow.
Kadri goes up front with them? they tried that this year with no luck.
so do you put Colborne and Kadri on a 3rd line?
or you move Connolley's $4.75 mil/year contract to the 3rd line? 4th line?

what a mess.

[ATLTimekeeper]

What? Orr was never a great fighter? He was easily top 3 in his day. He wasn't worth $1 million because he can't play hockey.

The Connolly signing was a bust, but it's pointless to complain about two-year deals. He's an expiring contract at the end of the year. They'll have the money to re-sign Lupul and add a major talent by the end of next season.

Phaneuf's deal reeks, but that's partly why we were able to get him for nothing. He's more overplayed than overpaid, IMO. Should be getting 2nd defensive unit minutes, but they run him out there like he's Pronger. Komi is really the only waste of capspace, but we have some great value D-men in Gardiner and Gunnarson to off-set that albatross.

[whysoserious]

And this is where Burke's shortcomings are on full display. Cap management and signing the right people or spending money wisely. Burke's done a good job stocking the farm system and there's good players on their way up that should be here in the next few seasons. But having that much dead weight on the team is just horrible.

but that's where you're wrong.

Leafs top 3 prospects up front?
Frattin, Colborne, Kadri. right?

let's say that they let Kulemin walk.
Frattin didn't stick for most of the year (inexplicably, in my opinion). so which line does he go on? 3rd? 4th?
Then you put Colborne where? not up fron with Lupol and Kessel. Too slow.
Kadri goes up front with them? they tried that this year with no luck.
so do you put Colborne and Kadri on a 3rd line?
or you move Connolley's $4.75 mil/year contract to the 3rd line? 4th line?

what a mess.

It's not the mess you make it out to be. I would say Kadri should get another shot on the first line for an entire camp under a new coach. Frattinn's playing the second line already. Grabovski's signing likely means Colborne gets third line duties and as for Connoly, he then becomes the odd man out, just as he is now and he's not signed beyond next year. Heck, if he doesn't have a no movement clause, you could stash him in the minors if need be. Plus, like I said, Burkes' done a good job acquiring prospects so it's not all doom and gloom. The contracts are and cap management though is pretty bad.

[_venom_]

I think the Leafs would be able to move Armstrong for a late pick at the draft. They should also consider burying Lombardi in the minors or buying him out because he has been awful this season. If you can make 2 moves like that then suddenly you're looking at an extra 7 million in cap space.

Lupul/Bozak/Kessel
Macarthur/Grabovski/Frattin
Kulemin/Colborne/Kadri
Brown/Steckel/Connolly

I wouldn't be thrilled with a lineup like that but it's better than what we had this year. Plus you'd be able to absorb money in a trade.

[sanity]

HOpefully the new coach can better utilize someone like Kadri. I'd even try throwing him on the 2nd line or something since he's purely an offensive player. Ron Wilson, like the fool he is, tried to teach the importance of being a checking line player to Kadri and rode him on the 4th line. The kid never really had a chance to do anything on this team

[Relentless88]

Komi is just awful. I counted about 4 bad defensive plays by Komi in the first period alone. One of the worst contracts in the league, that's for sure.

[sanity]

The sad thing is Komisarek wasn't that much better on Montreal---less mistake prone, but wasn't much more than a 3rd pairing d-man. It was Burke's infatuation with big, mobile defensemen that got the better of him

[Deron05]

I dont know why Carlyle is not playing Franson. Franson is way better than Komisarek.

[ATLTimekeeper]

So Lupul is out for a month and they've recalled Ashton to take his place. Does that not seem like an odd choice? He hasn't played a game in the NHL. This seems like it does not bode well for Kadri or Colborne.

[whysoserious]

Burke's trying to show off his acquisition. I don't have a problem with this overall, want to see what this kid can do.

As for Kadri/Colborne, both should be up here already except that Lombardi and Connoly are taking up space on the big club.

[ATLTimekeeper]

I just thought Ashton was more of a third-line grinder, and they're trying to replace Lupul's offense. Seems like Kadri or Colborne would be the natural choice. It's a lot of pressure on a kid to put them in the middle of this mess.

[YogiStewart]

Burke's stated that neither Kadri or Colborne are "NHL ready". plus this is the last call-up the Leafs can make before the season ends.
idunno...the club's a mess.

[whysoserious]

Burke's stated that neither Kadri or Colborne are "NHL ready". plus this is the last call-up the Leafs can make before the season ends.
idunno...the club's a mess.

I could be wrong but this is an emergency call up due to injury so may not affect their regular call ups. Again, things haven't gone well to end the season but it's not a mess.

Ashton supposedly fits the mould of power forward so giving him a shot is well worth it. I just think the other two deserved a shot to end the season under this coach. Wilson jerked Kadri around too much.

It's like having Eberle on Edmonton when he came out as a rookie and asking an offensively talented guy to be a grinder on the third line and worry about defense. It's important to stress defense but they effed him around too much.

[Crowned]

Another loss. What a disaster.

[sanity]

This team can't hold a lead. I've no clue as to why Reimer didn't start tonight either. Luckily Connelly/Komie seem to be playing better under the new coach.

[YogiStewart]

I could be wrong but this is an emergency call up due to injury so may not affect their regular call ups.

you're allowed 4 call ups after the trade deadline.

Frattin was one. Ashton was 2. and Jake Gardiner was recalled on paper so he qualifies for the AHL playoffs. so i think that leaves 1 more call-up before the season ends.

the Leafs sat Lombardi last night, so Ashton wasn't an emergency call-up. they have to lose one more player to injury and then emergency call-ups would be allowed.

Another loss. What a disaster.

its not all horrible news. Buffalo and Carolina went into OT. Carolina got a point, moving them closer to Toronto and possibly giving the Leafs higher draft slotting.

[whysoserious]

I could be wrong but this is an emergency call up due to injury so may not affect their regular call ups.

you're allowed 4 call ups after the trade deadline.

Frattin was one. Ashton was 2. and Jake Gardiner was recalled on paper so he qualifies for the AHL playoffs. so i think that leaves 1 more call-up before the season ends.

the Leafs sat Lombardi last night, so Ashton wasn't an emergency call-up. they have to lose one more player to injury and then emergency call-ups would be allowed.

Another loss. What a disaster.

its not all horrible news. Buffalo and Carolina went into OT. Carolina got a point, moving them closer to Toronto and possibly giving the Leafs higher draft slotting.

Thanks for clarifying Yogi, wasn't sure when they kept saying emergency call-up. Made it sound like it was outside the normal call-ups after the deadline. The cap on 4 call-ups is ridiculous to begin with.

This team is definitely playing a little better at times, but they revert back to those mental and defensive breakdowns. At this point, the playoffs seem way out of reach and Carlyle should just use the games to teach, maybe sit out a couple of guys due 'injury' and get a couple of more youngsters up here.

Oh and for why Reimer didn't start. I think it was better this way. These two both seem a little fragile and even though it makes sense on back-to-backs, at this point after the way they've been jerked around by Wilson, it's better to ride one as much as possible. They both seem to get down if they don't start even in situations like this after the Boston game. Reimer will get a few starts to finish off the season.

At the end of the day, they lost to two very good teams the last two days.

[LLJ]

It's over. I guess this time they decided to do their swoon late in the season rather than in October.

I also find it it bitterly hilarious that Lupul goes down with a serious injury right when he has to play for Carlyle again. I hope this doesn't mean the return of injury prone Lupul again. UGGGGGHHHHH

[Bankai]

And this is why I dont like Toronto Media and its Hypocrisy. Just over a month ago, the Toronto media was slagging the Montreal Canadiens about their ownership going to such extremes in "preserving French heritage" in that the Coach has to be able to speak French, hockey credentials be damned. They also are supposed to have some French speaking Players. And our media was slagging them in especially when that coaching disaster was taking place. "It doesent matter where they are from as long as they can play or coach Hockey"

And now I saw today's front page on the Toronto Sun and they want to get involved in the whole Burke-Cherry feud all of a sudden. "Are the Leafs too American?" is the caption. And the article goes on to debate that Cherry might be right in that the Leafs are getting too American and lost their Canadian identity. They need more Ontario born hockey players all of a sudden. Despite the Leafs already having plenty in the system. Toronto FC had a rule on them in its first years that most of the roster HAD to be Canadian, even if they sucked. TFC realized to win they just need good players where ever they are from and fought to have this limitation removed, they now will be better off for it. I could see the right the Toronto Media has in defending themselves, but I have no qualms of when people like Burke, Wilson, Mitchell or any sports figure we had, decided to lash out against the Media... the media are just complete savages in a Shark Tank. Once they have the opportunity to kill, its all they focus on. Paul Maurice said the Media was akin to constant Drive By Shootings.

Its completely terrible and all the pressure from fans and media makes it really hard for our Sports teams to perform. Despite having no success for years, the pressure here is like all the Toronto Teams were contenders for years, and anything less is a disappointment. I just think the expectations are always unreal, and when its unmet, we love to kick our teams until they go down, and then keep kicking them while they are down. Like we indirectly want them to fail. The sports scene in Toronto is miserable, and it rubs off on our teams. ESPN is right... as an entirety, Toronto is probably the worst sports town in North America. Its also the worst sports town ive been in, and ive lived in Europe and the US as well.

[YogiStewart]

islanders are winning.
so the Leafs are knocking on that 4th overall draft pick.

on a positive note, you can seriously consider giving Lupol some nods for team MVP. team can't buy a bucket with him gone.