Leafs waive Raycroft/Wellwood

[bryant08]

Surprised no one has posted this yet:

http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/2008/06/ ... d_waivers/

Not so sure about Wellwood, but I'm guessing he had some issue with his hernia, or Fletcher just didn't see him having a role with us next season. I'd still like to see us at least make a minimum offer to him to allow him to try and work his way up starting with the Marlies next season. Someone will definitely have a look at this kid.

[TR50]

A little surprised with Wellwood, i wouldnt mind him back either...obviously 'razor' couldn't bring anything back for us

[Geddy]

Wellwood isn't bad and would like him to stick around, but good that Raycroft is gone.

[bryant08]

Wellwood was claimed by the Canucks:

http://tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=241636&lid= ... Story_main

[Crowned]

I have no idea why we just waived Wellwood. This is going to come back and haunt us. He has a poor year, and we suddenly waive a young talented offensive player? Smart.

[LLJ]

Getting rid of Wellwood probably means Cliff intends for the Leafs to be in contention for the number 1 pick next year. I really don't see anything other than a deliberate tank effort.

[bryant08]

^Cliff's gone on the record saying the Leafs will spend to the cap, or at least close to it. I don't know what he's going to fill the rest of the roster with to be honest.

[Test of Wills]

Cliff is sending a message with the Wellwood waiving. This is a new era in Leaf Nation. Wellwood was terrible the past 2 years this kid was expected to get something like 20-50 or 25-45 but he didn't even close to half of those stats. And many also question his work ethic so i'm glad he is gone. As for Raycroft waste of space he was just sad the whole year no production out of him whatsoever. DAMN YOU FERGUSON trading Rask for Razor.

[Crowned]

Cliff is sending a message with the Wellwood waiving. This is a new era in Leaf Nation. Wellwood was terrible the past 2 years this kid was expected to get something like 20-50 or 25-45 but he didn't even close to half of those stats. And many also question his work ethic so i'm glad he is gone. As for Raycroft waste of space he was just sad the whole year no production out of him whatsoever. DAMN YOU FERGUSON trading Rask for Razor.

Horrible the past 2 years? He scored 42 points in 48 games in 2006-2007.

[Marmoset]

I don't get this at all. The Leafs aren't exactly stocked with young talent. If Wellwood comes back next year and stinks, so what? What have you lost other than his salary, and taking up a roster spot that would only go to someone like a John Pohl instead? It would be a different story if they were trading Wellwood and getting something in return. This just doesn't make any sense, unless there is something behind the scenes that we don't know.

[Griff83]

haha who cares that we waived Wellwood. Hes small, doesnt battle is bad in his own zone, basically outside of a couple of flashy moves and being able to produce on the PP hes a liability everywhere on the ice. Wellwood would never survive under a defensive strict system that Wilson runs and certainly isnt the type of player Burke likes. Also the guy isnt really good enough to be a #2 center in the league, so where is he going to play? 3rd line? 4th line? Wing? The guy is a center thats basically not good enough to be a solid 2nd line center and doesnt have the intangibles to be a third line role playing center. He also isnt big enough and not good enough along the boards to be a effective winger.

Wellwood might make a flashy move here or there but he has so many holes in his game that hes really not much of a asset. The guy has also shown no will to get himself into good shape and has constantly been known to be a lazy player that doesnt believe in offseason training and that kind of stuff wont fly under the new regime of big/tough/hardworking players.

[Griff83]

I don't get this at all. The Leafs aren't exactly stocked with young talent. If Wellwood comes back next year and stinks, so what? What have you lost other than his salary, and taking up a roster spot that would only go to someone like a John Pohl instead? It would be a different story if they were trading Wellwood and getting something in return. This just doesn't make any sense, unless there is something behind the scenes that we don't know.

so the leafs should have gone out and paid him 900k or so, for a player who doesnt fit into what there trying to build (big, tough, hardworking players/ defensive system)? Wellwood is majorly overrated by some leaf fans. He has good offensive skills, but is a liability almost everywhere else on the ice and over the past two seasons has shown almost zero urgency to get into game shape.

did you see that picture of him sitting by the pool with his huge beer gut? Ya im sure Wilson and flecther were really happy seeing that and just itching to send a qualifying offer his way.

[Marmoset]

I don't get this at all. The Leafs aren't exactly stocked with young talent. If Wellwood comes back next year and stinks, so what? What have you lost other than his salary, and taking up a roster spot that would only go to someone like a John Pohl instead? It would be a different story if they were trading Wellwood and getting something in return. This just doesn't make any sense, unless there is something behind the scenes that we don't know.

so the leafs should have gone out and paid him 900k or so, for a player who doesnt fit into what there trying to build (big, tough, hardworking players/ defensive system)? Wellwood is majorly overrated by some leaf fans. He has good offensive skills, but is a liability almost everywhere else on the ice and over the past two seasons has shown almost zero urgency to get into game shape.

did you see that picture of him sitting by the pool with his huge beer gut? Ya im sure Wilson and flecther were really happy seeing that and just itching to send a qualifying offer his way.

Wellwood unquestionably had a poor season. Nobody will dispute that. But he's what, 23, 24? It's way too early to be giving up on him. Nik Antropov was about 29 before he did anything, and as far as I'm concerned should have been traded years earlier.

The Leafs need to get tougher, but you can't have a team that is ALL big, tough, etc. Even those Ducks have/had some smaller talented guys. More to the point, as I said earlier, the Leafs need talent, PERIOD. It doesn't matter whether the guys are big or small, tough or soft, they need talent. Wellwood has talent. Guys like Earl or whoever might make nice grinders for the team, but Wellwood still has a chance to be more than that. If you pay him the 900k and he doesn't work out, so what? Is there someone better down with the Marlies waiting to replace him? If the Leafs are truly rebuilding, then I'd much rather give Wellwood another chance to get it right than sign some 32-year-old "tough" veteran who won't do anything to move us forward.

If the Leafs had anything resembling a farm system, I'd feel a little differently, but as it stands this team can not afford to part with the few young players that it has that show some promise. Especially when they have traded away and are still trading away draft picks with foolish moves like the Mayers trade. (I'm not criticizing the trade to get Schenn because that landed an excellent YOUNG player).

Moves like giving away Wellwood and trading for Mayers make me wonder if this team is truly going to rebuild, or if we're just seeing a temporary blip to placate the fans. We shall see. But this is straying a bit. In the end, what happens to Wellwood won't be as important as many other moves that Fletcher has made or will make, but in this case I think it's a bad move.

[Griff83]

I don't get this at all. The Leafs aren't exactly stocked with young talent. If Wellwood comes back next year and stinks, so what? What have you lost other than his salary, and taking up a roster spot that would only go to someone like a John Pohl instead? It would be a different story if they were trading Wellwood and getting something in return. This just doesn't make any sense, unless there is something behind the scenes that we don't know.

so the leafs should have gone out and paid him 900k or so, for a player who doesnt fit into what there trying to build (big, tough, hardworking players/ defensive system)? Wellwood is majorly overrated by some leaf fans. He has good offensive skills, but is a liability almost everywhere else on the ice and over the past two seasons has shown almost zero urgency to get into game shape.

did you see that picture of him sitting by the pool with his huge beer gut? Ya im sure Wilson and flecther were really happy seeing that and just itching to send a qualifying offer his way.

Wellwood unquestionably had a poor season. Nobody will dispute that. But he's what, 23, 24? It's way too early to be giving up on him. Nik Antropov was about 29 before he did anything, and as far as I'm concerned should have been traded years earlier.

The Leafs need to get tougher, but you can't have a team that is ALL big, tough, etc. Even those Ducks have/had some smaller talented guys. More to the point, as I said earlier, the Leafs need talent, PERIOD. It doesn't matter whether the guys are big or small, tough or soft, they need talent. Wellwood has talent. Guys like Earl or whoever might make nice grinders for the team, but Wellwood still has a chance to be more than that. If you pay him the 900k and he doesn't work out, so what? Is there someone better down with the Marlies waiting to replace him? If the Leafs are truly rebuilding, then I'd much rather give Wellwood another chance to get it right than sign some 32-year-old "tough" veteran who won't do anything to move us forward.

If the Leafs had anything resembling a farm system, I'd feel a little differently, but as it stands this team can not afford to part with the few young players that it has that show some promise. Especially when they have traded away and are still trading away draft picks with foolish moves like the Mayers trade. (I'm not criticizing the trade to get Schenn because that landed an excellent YOUNG player).

Moves like giving away Wellwood and trading for Mayers make me wonder if this team is truly going to rebuild, or if we're just seeing a temporary blip to placate the fans. We shall see. But this is straying a bit. In the end, what happens to Wellwood won't be as important as many other moves that Fletcher has made or will make, but in this case I think it's a bad move.

Wellwood is 25 and wasnt taken with a high first round pick so theres no reason to keep him around and hope he breaks out sooner then later, like was the case with Antropov. The Leafs dont need small one dimensional players who arent commited to be fulltime NHL'ers and Wellwood has shown hes not willing to make the necessary sacrifices to becoming a consistant NHL player by getting in top shape. There is a reason he continues to get these injuries and id wager a bet it has alot to do with his reluctance to training in the weightroom.

Its simple. Ron Wilson is a system freak and loves his teams to be defensively great. Wellwood is a liability in his own zone, soft, doesnt battle and these are traits that dont fly with whats being built here. He hasnt proven to this point he can be a 2nd line center in this league because he has various holes in his game that limit him. That 32 year old veteran brings a ton of certain intangibles that these leafs teams are going to be built on going forward (toughness, size, hard work). Also with this team going into a rebuild mode, a guy like Mayers will be very valuable in showing certain young players how to play the pro game especially seeing we could very well have few vets left over when all the housecleaning is done.

Wellwood although plenty of skill, didnt show the necessary things (hardwork, willingness to play with JAM) that Fletcher, Coates, Wilson are going to be structuring these teams on and all you have to do is look at who they drafted (every player was 6'2 or over). They werent going to go out and throw a qualifying offer his way when he wasnt showing anything close to hard work to prepare for the season. Yes he broke his foot, but does that mean he can do no upper body work? The guy has a beer belly twice the size of my grandfather. Management wasnt going to go out and pay him money when he was showing no effort to further his career and make sacrifices.

[Marmoset]

You could turn it around and say that a coach like Wilson might be able to light a fire under his rear. Either way, I still don't see the point in tossing him away for nothing given the Leafs' current situation. Again, what do they lose by keeping him other than about half a million, which is nothing if this team is truly rebuilding? If it's mid-season and he's still lazy and unproductive, they can either trade him for a mid-round pick or just cut him loose. To do it now accomplishes nothing at all.

I also don't mind acquiring Mayers - I agree that he can help. But they could have signed a similar guy for close to the minimum as a free agent without giving up a 3rd round pick.

I guess we'll have to agree to disagree.

[Griff83]

You could turn it around and say that a coach like Wilson might be able to light a fire under his rear. Either way, I still don't see the point in tossing him away for nothing given the Leafs' current situation. Again, what do they lose by keeping him other than about half a million, which is nothing if this team is truly rebuilding? If it's mid-season and he's still lazy and unproductive, they can either trade him for a mid-round pick or just cut him loose. To do it now accomplishes nothing at all.

I also don't mind acquiring Mayers - I agree that he can help. But they could have signed a similar guy for close to the minimum as a free agent without giving up a 3rd round pick.

I guess we'll have to agree to disagree.

Obviously Wilson doesnt think he can turn around Wellwood or they wouldnt have waived him so quickly. There trying to send a message that toughness and hardwork are going to be important to play on these leafs team and what kind of message would it be to go out and sign a player to a million dollar contract when all he has been doing is sitting on his rear and not trying to keep in top shape. Wellwood has some skill but bottom line he didnt fit with what they were trying to build and they werent willing to spend cap space on a guy who wasnt showing any signs of hard work.

Mayers is one of the best third liners in the league. He's a great PK'er, strong and will drop the gloves. Along with his on ice skills hes known to be a awesome leader in the dressing room and hes also from Toronto. Tell me what player your going to sign thru free agency this upcoming offseason that will bring you all those intangibles?

[Crowned]

Wellwood's injury really prevented him from completing an intense offseason last year. At the start of the year, I personally saw him at Lakeshore Lion's (while he wasn't playing) by himself well after Leafs practice was over. It's not like he didn't work.

Where we are, we shouldn't be giving young talented players away. Give him another shot this season, if he doesn't perform...send him to the Marlies. You get rid of him right after.

We're talking about a player that was on a point per game pace 2 seasons ago, and really struggled with conditioning last year due to his injury. Teams that win hockey games are quick and talented, Wellwood is exactly the type of player you want sticking around, even if it's on a 3rd/4th line role. He was inexpensive, and proved that he had offensive upside. We just let him walk for free.


What message exactly is he sending? Is he going to waive Kaberle because he's terrible in his own end? What about the 35 other 4th line players we've got, are they gone too? Are we going to waive Poni because he's inconsistant? What about Tlusty and his nude pics, is he gone too?

Bottom line, we're not going to be competing this year (depending on what Fletcher does this FA)...does it matter if Wellwood doesn't perform? He's young. Again, if he repeats last season...you send him to the Marlies or release/trade him. If he shows up to training camp out of shape, you send him to the Marlies....THAT'S a message sent. What message are we sending that we're not allowing the opportunity for young players to improve and make a difference in training camp?


It doesn't make sense.