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The ****ing Off Season thread

Montana said:
1) $5.2 million in capspace for 6 years.

2) Increased confidence in the abilities of our scouts and GM.

3) Increased roster flexibility....ie - if a kid proves himself worthy of top 9 minutes, he won't be blocked by a plug, solely based on salary.
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I'm not sure about number 3. We waived Liles, we waived Komisarek, we waived Finger. Maybe for a few months he'll block one guy, but in the grand scheme of things the total albatross contracts haven't really led to long-term playing of expensive busts more than they deserve.
 
Volcanologist said:
I just don't think replacing Clarkson with one presumably good player for the same term makes a radical difference in our outlook. It was a terrible signing and we'd be better off with someone different, but it doesn't elevate the Leafs into the next echelon of teams or anything.
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It makes it harder to make the right moves to put us into said next echelon, no?
 
johnunit said:
I'm not sure about number 3. We waived Liles, we waived Komisarek, we waived Finger. Maybe for a few months he'll block one guy, but in the grand scheme of things the total albatross contracts haven't really led to long-term playing of expensive busts more than they deserve.
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If you think Clarkson will be waived anytime soon, or will be playing on our 4th line....I personally think you're mistaken.
 
We have to play Clarkson and find a way for him to be useful. Thats the only way this thing isn't a complete disaster. Maybe get someone to take him in 3 years if you eat half his salary. How can you afford $5 million in dead cap space for 6 years? You aren't competing.
 
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Actually not bad.
 
hockeylover said:
It makes it harder to make the right moves to put us into said next echelon, no?
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sure it does, any bad contract does. but it's not like if Clarkson and his deal could be fired into the sun right now, we're suddenly going to be a regular playoff squad let alone a contender. we're a fundamentally flawed team that is a number of players away.

I believe Clarkson stopped us from getting Vanek at the deadline, but how upset you get about that would depend on your opinion of Vanek.
 
Volcanologist said:
sure it does, any bad contract does. but it's not like if Clarkson and his deal could be fired into the sun right now, we're suddenly going to be a regular playoff squad let alone a contender. we're a fundamentally flawed team that is a number of players away.

I believe Clarkson stopped us from getting Vanek at the deadline, but how upset you get about that would depend on your opinion of Vanek.
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Sure okay, but I don't see where anyone ever implied that.

I think nearly every single person sees we need a significant upgrades at C and an upgrade on D, at the very minimum. The Clarkson is just a really bad contract and an obstacle to getting that done.
 
Yeah of course. Clarkson the player isn't stopping the Leafs from being a contender. But not completely wasting that cap space obviously makes the contending thing a little easier to get to.
 
leafman101 said:
We have to play Clarkson and find a way for him to be useful. Thats the only way this thing isn't a complete disaster. Maybe get someone to take him in 3 years if you eat half his salary. How can you afford $5 million in dead cap space for 6 years? You aren't competing.
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I think he can useful on a line which spends time in the offensive zone to any degree, which we don't really have. He's a fish out of water the way the Leafs played hockey this past season, but the good news is that will have to change anyway. If we can get him back to a 15-20 goal level he'll be movable with some salary retained, especially if the cap continues to rise.
 
You have to think Clarkson is going to work his ass off to compete next season - the guy has to be totally embarrassed. there is no reason the guy shouldn't be putting in his toughest offseason.
 
BG said:
You have to think Clarkson is going to work his ass off to compete next season - the guy has to be totally embarrassed. there is no reason the guy shouldn't be putting in his toughest offseason.
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I hope so. But there is also just so much pressure here. The big contract he could never live up to. His last name has Clark in it. Wearing 71. His home town. All the media and fan attention. And now the terrible first year.

Its a tough situation for him.
 
BG said:
You have to think Clarkson is going to work his ass off to compete next season - the guy has to be totally embarrassed. there is no reason the guy shouldn't be putting in his toughest offseason.
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I don't think the issue with Clarkson last year was his work ethic, that's one thing he wasn't lacking. The problem with Clarkson was his stupidity out there, he had plenty of oppurtunities to create chances by either dishing to his linemates or by firing a quality shot at the net, instead most of the time he just blindly fired weak shots into the opposing goalies chest which just killed whatever play that line had going..... I really don't think at 30 his inteliigence on the ice is going to get any better.

The best thing that can be done is Carlyle puts Carlyle in a position to thrive which are with linemates that love to crash the net and/or contribute on the cycle, him playing with "rush style" players with Kadri/Lupul/Raymond just isn't the right mix.
 
cmaleski2 said:
So let me add a wrinkle to that Leafs trading Kadri, Phaneuf and their pick to Florida rumor that I've seen spreading around a bunch of different boards. How about making it a 3 team deal:

Leafs get Eric Staal and Ed Jovanovski

Canes get Kadri and the 1st overall pick (Canes draft Ekblad)

Panthers get Phaneuf, the Canes 7th overall pick and the Leafs 8th overall pick (they draft Fleury and Ritchie)
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That's super convoluted. However, if you are giving Kadri, and Phaneuf and the 8th, and Carolina is in the mix, then you could probably take on both the Staals to save the Canes money. and tell Florida to eff off with that Jovo contract.

They trade Eric and Jordan for the first overall and Kadri. (saves them a tonne of money)
Florida gets Phaneuf the 7th and 8th

That totally solves centre one and three. Bozak plays on the second line and were good.
 
leafman101 said:
I hope so. But there is also just so much pressure here. The big contract he could never live up to. His last name has Clark in it. Wearing 71. His home town. All the media and fan attention. And now the terrible first year.

Its a tough situation for him.
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Boo-fvcking-hoo.
Everyone here knows how cap-strapped this team is because of him, and after yet another flame out ending to the season, everyone knows what an albatross his deal is at this crucial time.
If that bothers him, he should just retire and spare us all the trouble.
After the performance he pulled this season, he might as well keep the fvcking press box bench warm all season long, even for all that money we're paying him. It won't make one bit of difference to the on-ice team whether he's there or not.
 
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