Posts tagged hurricanes
Leafs Off-Season Rumors #14
Jun 25th
Just to clarify from my last rumor post, Dustin Brown is almost certainly not in play. He’s their captain, he can hit, he can score and he’s on a great contract. He’s a player Burke would want, but he’s a player Burke won’t get. Anyways, on to the next one:
Rumor
Eric Duhatschek of the Globe and Mail reports that the Blackhawks will still need to trade away at least one more forward to be within the realms of cap normality again and says RFA left-winger Andrew Ladd is the most likely to go. He says he believes the Toronto Maple Leafs and Vancouver Canucks are potential destinations.
My Analysis
Admittedly Andrew Ladd would be a good fit on this team as he provides decent (though not significant) scoring help, can at many times act as a net presence, grinds and hits, is smart defensively and isn’t likely to cost any more than three million dollars on his new contract. Not to mention the fact that he’s now won two Stanley Cups in the last five years.
What the Leafs could offer for Ladd, however, remains to be seen. Given how the Blackhawks fleeced the Thrashers in terms of prospects and picks, given the fact that the asking price for right-winger Kris Versteeg is a second-rounder and a prospect, and given the fact that the Leafs are extremely low on draft picks this year as well as prospects they’d be willing to give up, it’s probable that the Leafs wouldn’t be able to land him.
I should however mention that Brian Burke is our general manager, so anything is possible.
As for a quick update on the Tomas Kaberle talks: the draft is today and it’s widely speculated that he won’t be a Maple Leaf past tonight. Then again, we aren’t experts, so we’ll see.
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Where Can Kabby Go?
Jun 4th
So, its June and the year is 2008 or later. You guys all know the drill. Tomas Kaberle probably used his no trade clause at the trade deadline, and speculation runs wild that the Leafs will trade him at the draft, particularly this year where the pick cupboard is particularly low. The particular opinion is that the Leafs want a top six forward and secondary toughness in return, in an effort to shore up a particularly ailing forward system on a team filled to the brim with defencemen and goaltending for the first time since the birth of Chris Chelios (273 BC).
At this point, everyone agrees that no matter how much we respect Kaberle for being one of the top all time defencemen on this team in terms of contribution, for being far and away the longest serving Leaf left (he’s the only player that was on the roster before October 2008. Yes, you read that right), for being classy as can be during his tenure, for consistantly being an awesome defenceman, and about a thousand things great about him, its his time to go. Dion Phaneuf has come in and declared the team his, essentially making it clear that anyone who disagrees can jump off a bridge. Francois Beauchemin had a solid year. Komisarek, when healthy, was very good after the first few weeks. Luke Schenn had a weak start to the year, but has been evolving at hyperspeed since Dion came in. Carl Gunnarsson has shown amazing strides in his play. And the Leafs have a million and one defensive prospects willing to force Jeff Finger into the AHL. Kaberle is just simply the odd one out.
There is a question that concerns many though – and that’s who would be wanting a player like Kaberle? As great as he is, there are definite concerns in such a trade.
1. How does the other team look for salary?
1a. Do they have a lot of players to sign already? High cap space may not be as good as appears.
2. Do they have enough forward depth to be able to trade someone solid away?
3. Would Kaberle be a first pairing defenceman on the team?
4. Would Kaberle be the #1 puck moving defenceman on the team?
5. Is the team in a position where they’d want to be acquiring a Kaberle to win?
6. How badly would they require Kaberle to sign an extension? And
7. Would Kaberle want to sign an extension there?
I took these 8 categories, and put them in to a chart, to see if it gives a reasonably accurate portrayal of who I thought could aquire Tomas. This is what came out of it.
Kulemin Hits Beast Mode
Apr 9th
Keep checking LeafsHQ over the next few days! I’ll be posting very similar articles for every player, several prospects, and several staff.
The 5 W’s
Who is he?
Nikolai Kulemin is a 23 year old Winger (Left and Right) from Magnitogorsk, Russia. He’s 6’1 and weighs in at 225lbs. A left handed shot, this season was Kulemin’s sophomore season in the NHL, both being with the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Kulemin is the Left Winger on the Leafs first line, playing with Phil Kessel and Tyler Bozak. This wasn’t the case for a lot of the year – not even starting the season with the Leafs. But he worked his way up to the current spot he’s at.
He’s currently on the final year of a 3 year (the first year was taken up due to an agreement after the contract was signed to let him play in Russia for one more year) contract worth approximately $1,600,000 a year.
What do his stats look like this year?
While his stats don’t particularly jump out at you, they’re pretty good for a second year player that nobody expected a hell of a lot out of. He has 16 goals and 20 assists for 36 points in 77 games this year.
When did they acquire him?
Kulemin was drafted by the Leafs in the second round of the 2006 Entry Draft.
Where has he played?
Kulemin began his pro career with Metallurg Magnitogorsk of the Russian Super League (now Kontinental Hockey League) in 2005-06, and stayed there for 3 years, winning the RSL MVP award in 06/07 (amazing, considering this was the year Alexey Morozov broke the single season points record. Imagine someone else winning the Hart during Gretzky’s 215 year?). He would join the Leafs straight from Russia, with a 5 game stint with the Marlies in 08/09. He started the year on the Marlies as well this year, but was called up before actually lacing the skates up for a game.
Why was he originally acquired?
Kulemin showed potential with Magnitogorsk due to his power forward style of play, which isn’t used that often in the RSL. He showed immense ability to crash the net, and looked like a very good checker (think, very poor mans Ovechkin. Very poor, like I said, though).
Role Changes
What was his role to be at the start of the year?
Kulemin was expected to sit on the 3rd or 4th line with limited minutes, unless Wilson wanted to reunite him with Grabovski. A slight offensive jump was to be expected, but no real increase in defensive play.
What is his current role with the team?
Kulemin has arguably been the best two way forward on the Leafs. Not only has he improved offensively, the Kulemin seen in the RSL is starting to show. He’s playing well positionally, and he’s actually checking people this year. He’s been able to give Bozak and Kessel space on the front line, and even make some for himself to contribute.
Has he exceeded or failed to reach expectations of him to date?
He might be the best example of exceeded expectations on this entire team. Nobody thought he’d play this well in any way except for maybe in terms of point production. But his all around game has grown so much, its incredible.
Will he continue to improve in the future with the Leafs?
One can hope. He’s still missing the drive to the net he used to have in the Russian Super League, but I’m sure that’ll come again soon.
Is He Worth Keeping?
Absolutely. Look for him to be resigned in the coming weeks, no doubt.
Anything Else?
To everyone who pulls out the “lol lets trade him and a 2nd to Pittsburgh for Stall (sic)” because they think the Penguins will see chemistry with Malkin – they only played together for Magnitogorsk for one year. Kulemin got 13 points in 31 games. Malkin had 47 in 46. No way they played on the same line. Its like saying Gaborik and Brashear should have chemistry.
Also, if you’re one of the idiots who have been proclaiming him the next captain because you like his way of play (or were before the Phaneuf trade) – stop embarrassing yourself. It’s been an irritating past two years with rotating captaincy suggestions, usually on the guy with no leadership experience whatsoever and a hot streak.
Play of the Year
His goal against the Hurricanes, no doubt. It was quite the gorgeous play.
Unseen Leafs Photos – Part I – All Kessel Edition
Nov 16th
The plan is for Unseen Leafs Photos to become a daily routine of odd photoshopped photos. Lets see how it goes.
February 15th, 2010 - The first of many acts of “I told you so” to the Boston Bruins organization.
April 10th, 2010 – Batman discovers he has been laid off. Must mean the Leafs season is over.
June 23rd, 2010 - Though the Leafs end of season push still left them only ninth in the Eastern Conference, tears were wept by Bruins fans everywhere regardless. Taylor Hall, not shown, is eating a hot dog, and has spilled ketchup on his jersey. Good thing its a Hurricanes home jersey.
January 20th, 2011 - Phil is seconds away from taking a shot during Chara’s attempt at the breakaway challenge, leading to the first skills competition line brawl in the history of the game.
February 16th, 2011 - After smashing the fastest skater record at the skills competition on the night of the previous picture, Kessel now has an addicton to proving himself the fastest object alive. He would start this race in 42nd with 10 laps to go, and win it by 9.8 laps. The race, held just outside Miami, sold more tickets that night than the Lightning and Panthers combined. And thats with all 41 games each combined.
Until Next Time,
Jeff
Leafs Win 3-2 In Carolina
Nov 7th
Okay, so maybe I posted on my twitter and on MapleLeafs.com that I’d do a video for this one. And maybe I was going to. However, I’m still new too this thing, and noticed I didn’t learn the best thing you could do for these videos – memorize in pieces, and edit the dead space in the middle. For this reason, I look like I’m staring down in all of my recordings and I am much too tired to re-record it. I’ll give it another whirl tonight.
Anyway, some good news – the Leafs won last night?! Yes, for the second time this year, I can actually say they did. Sure, it was to the only team that’s worse than them, and we had to come from behind, and that team is coached by Paul Maurice, and the Leafs were very shakey to start the game, but the point is, the Leafs have come out of the RBC centre with a win!
Don’t worry, I’m not going to pull a Howard Berger ‘plan the parade’ rant. I won’t lie, I just ran into that video and wanted to post it somewhere.
The Leafs had a solid game from middle to end, in my opinion, but of course they had some issues.
Lets dissect this video just a slight bit.
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