Posts tagged Kane
Ron Wilson Can Be Funny
Jul 20th
Unrestricted Free Agency: Day One
Jul 1st
In the weeks leading up to free agency I made it clear that there were a few people I didn’t want on this team: Raffi Torres, Colby Armstrong and Dan Hamhuis. Torres is just a mess of a human and a player, Armstrong is an unneeded right-winger, and Hamhuis is an unneeded defenseman.
Which is why I’m very happy to announce the status on all three players in regards to the Toronto Maple Leafs: Vancouver outbid Toronto for Dan Hamhuis, and…are you ready? Colby Armstrong signed with the Leafs!
Yep, that’s right, the so-called gritty right-winger previously of the Atlanta Thrashers and Pittsburgh Penguins has signed with the blue and white for three years, making three million dollars in each of those three seasons. Armstrong put up just 29 points last season, and in his final season with Pittsburgh he had just 24 points in 54 games playing along the league’s top centers in Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. Yeah, serious questions have to be asked when it comes to this kids offensive abilities.
On the other hand, Armstrong’s a pretty gritty kid, and a character kid at that. His countless interviews on Hockey Central over the last year were hilarious, and he seems like a real loveable kid. He can play at both ends of the ice and, according to some analysts should make a pretty good net presence.
But along the likes of Kessel, Versteeg, Kulemin, Sjostrom, Brown and Orr, Armstrong becomes the seventh right-winger on this team, and he appears to be an overpaid one at that. This might not end badly, but I’m really not sure I like this one.
Who Cares
Jun 10th
With Patrick Kane scoring the goal that nobody saw without the aid of video replay, 93.34% of the NHL media wrote their reports celebrating the victory of the Chicago Blackhawks as the 2010 Stanley Cup Champions. As for the other 6.66%, half of it were the Flyers media, obviously mopey over their cinderella team’s loss in one of the most confusing plays in hockey history. The other half? Yep, none other than Toronto. The article that most of our writers have been waiting years to write has finally arrived, that being that the Toronto Maple Leafs now have the longest Stanley Cup drought in NHL history.
Personally, I’ve never cared much for championship droughts, period, in any league. It’s a stretch grasp to pick on teams and their fanbases, to me. But considering we won’t hear the end of this until the Leafs win a cup (2246 is the latest projection), it might as well be addressed now. So here’s what I’m going to go through with this article.
I’m going to go through who exactly are the people doing the mocking. I’m going to go through how this drought looks in comparison to other teams. I’m going to go through a theory that states we might not actually be the team with the longest drought in the NHL, why people should embrace it rather than counter argue it, and more importantly, why we typically shouldn’t care. Lets get started.
Nikolai Kulemin is an Urban Legend
Jun 7th
Over the past few months, Leafs Nation has become obsessed with an exciting 23 year old gent who honed his skills with Metallurg Magnitogorsk until 2 years ago. Now the longest serving leaf forward (and they say the roster hasn’t been blown up), Nikolai Kulemin has come off of a year that has left many people excited. But now they’re worried.
Kulemin’s contract expires at the end of the year, making him a restricted free agent. And a lot of people are worried. July 1st is in 3 weeks, meaning he’s close to be able to look at offer sheets, the Kontinental Hockey League, and arbitration. So everybody’s in a rush to sign him. But the thing is, for how much? And are the Leafs as rushed?
Well, the general consensus around the fanbase is they’d be content with anywhere between 2.25-3 million dependant on the length of his contract (less years = less money). Kulemin’s agents like that last number, and have been using it in negotiations. Of course, Burke isnt a fan of it, meaning negotiations have been rather slow, with nothing really being done on the matter in a few weeks.
So I figure I’ll play arbitrator. We’ll take a lot of factors throughout the league, and figure out what his worth is. And it may surprise a lot of you.
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.
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