• Moderators, please send me a PM if you are unable to access mod permissions. Thanks, Habsy.

Leaf Rumours

PlayerToBeNamedLater said:
In just a year, Burke added a 1st line forward, two top 4 defensemen and a starting goalie. That's not a bad first year.
Click to expand...
Yes, but if I am to nitpick, he didn't really "add" 2 top 4 d-men.

He REPLACED a top 4 d-men in Kubina with Komisarek, and added Beauchemin.

Kubina is on pace to a 42 pts season and is 2nd in defenseman scoring for the Thrashers, and lead the team in +/- at +13 (Antropov is 2nd at +11)

You can talk all day long about dressing room presence, chemistry etc etc, but on the ice Kubina is at the very least as effective as Komisarek as a top 4 defenseman.

And if you include Fletcher's trades, then we didn't really add any top 4 defenseman at all because we gave away Colaiacovo, who's a fine 2nd unit defenseman in St.Louis.

And this is not a knock on Burke, but while it's commonly believed Toronto's blueline needed improvement, if I am to compare who we have (Komi, Beauch, Exelby) vs who we let go (Kubina, Colaiacovo, Stralman, Kronwall) ... I'd say the improvement is minimal, at best.
 
Don't get me wrong. I DO like Beauch and Komi.

But to say we ADDED 2 top 4 ... we HAD top 4's in Cola and Kubina.

I have no problem saying we added a #1 goalie though ... now only if Wilson actually plays Gusto like one.


Speaking of trade rumors though, boy has it been a BORING season on the trade front of what????!
 
Honestly, the team isn't half as tough as I expected coming in to the season.

The players who weren't expected to be tough, haven't been - Stajan, Kessel, Hagman, Grabo, etc.

The players that were specifically brought in to be tough, have been so-so, on and off - Komi, Orr, Beauch, Exelby.

The toughest player overall this season has actually been Kulemin. Stemp has actually thrown his weight around as well.

One thing that gets overlooked is that we desperately need a third line that HITS, and hits HARD. Primeau, Stemp, and Blake just don't cut it. We need some serious grinding hitters there, to wear down the other team.

There's definitely a LOT of room for improvement on this team, and once the expiring contracts are gone, we'll get a chance to see what Burke can really do. Next year will truly be Burke's team, as the only holdovers from the previous regime (unless UFAs a resigned) will be Grabo, Hagman, Blake (ech), Kulemin, Kaberle, White, and Schenn.
 
number17 said:
Don't get me wrong. I DO like Beauch and Komi.

But to say we ADDED 2 top 4 ... we HAD top 4's in Cola and Kubina.

I have no problem saying we added a #1 goalie though ... now only if Wilson actually plays Gusto like one.


Speaking of trade rumors though, boy has it been a BORING season on the trade front of what????!
Click to expand...

If you want to compare the in/out of our top 4, I'd say Beauch is a fair comparison to Kubina and Komi is a massive upgrade over Cola.
 
Burke never had Colaiacovo anyway.

There is nothing wrong with stating he added two top 4 d-men anyway. He did. Of course they replaced other people. Every addition replaces someone. In the grand scheme of things adding two top four defenseman definitely has an impact on the team in a big way.
 
LeafOfFaith said:
Honestly, the team isn't half as tough as I expected coming in to the season.

The players who weren't expected to be tough, haven't been - Stajan, Kessel, Hagman, Grabo, etc.

The players that were specifically brought in to be tough, have been so-so, on and off - Komi, Orr, Beauch, Exelby.

The toughest player overall this season has actually been Kulemin. Stemp has actually thrown his weight around as well.

One thing that gets overlooked is that we desperately need a third line that HITS, and hits HARD. Primeau, Stemp, and Blake just don't cut it. We need some serious grinding hitters there, to wear down the other team.

There's definitely a LOT of room for improvement on this team, and once the expiring contracts are gone, we'll get a chance to see what Burke can really do. Next year will truly be Burke's team, as the only holdovers from the previous regime (unless UFAs a resigned) will be Grabo, Hagman, Blake (ech), Kulemin, Kaberle, White, and Schenn.
Click to expand...

I think you forget how embarassingly we got pushed around last season, and how Luke Schenn was the only guy who in any way took care of business that way.

It was pretty bad last year.

We're a pretty tough team now. Not the toughest around but pretty good.
 
Burke has made some good moves, but he's ****ed it up overall by not sending Toskala to the Marlies along with the overpriced stiffs and not bring up our many promising guys down there.

Overall, he's fialed big time for this season. And the treatment of the young guys ... could be weak in the future.
 
zeke said:
I think you forget how embarassingly we got pushed around last season, and how Luke Schenn was the only guy who in any way took care of business that way.

It was pretty bad last year.

We're a pretty tough team now. Not the toughest around but pretty good.
Click to expand...

Oh, I remember clearly.

We're toughER, but we're still not a tough team.

Just look how Calgary hits everyone that touches the puck. How often do we hit the puck carrier? Rarely, very rarely.
 
I would love to be able to attack a PK as Calgary does. I hate the just stand in the way of the puck and wait for it to cycle a half dozen times before we go for it....ugh.
 
LeafOfFaith said:
Oh, I remember clearly.

We're toughER, but we're still not a tough team.

Just look how Calgary hits everyone that touches the puck. How often do we hit the puck carrier? Rarely, very rarely.
Click to expand...
I agree. We're toughER, but not a team opponent hate to play against because they know they'll get rocked.

I was expect Bay-Street-Bullies tough ... I was expecting a mean, bullying team. I miss the Corson, Tucker, Green, Roberts, Yuskekvich, Markov tough.

Our defense doesn't send nearly enough opponents to their butt, and our forwards is pretty soft actually.

It'll help a lot if we can get a few forwards with Poni's size and Stempniak's heart.
 
blkngldbabe said:
I would love to be able to attack a PK as Calgary does. I hate the just stand in the way of the puck and wait for it to cycle a half dozen times before we go for it....ugh.
Click to expand...

teams do that against toronto because their puck movement is atrocious.

it's like they have one designed play on the pp -- give the puck to kessel and let him deke everybody. it doesn't work. at all.

the leafs hardly ever shoot the puck into the zone, it's always skate it over the blueline, scrum it along the wall and then try and work it back to the point.

it doesn't work.

teams just apply pressure to everybody but kaberle because they just aren't good enough in a stationary position with the puck. it's an embarrassment because i've seen powerplays with far less skill do a much better job of moving the puck around.

but it's all on the coaching. when teams play you so aggressively it's important to move the puck into open areas of the ice -- really, it should be leading to at least SOME scoring chances because it means there is invariably an open man. unfortunately either that man isn't putting himself in a good spot to get the puck, or the other players just can't get the puck to him.
 
It's getting very very close to time to concede that Wilson knows how to get his troops to work hard, but he has no ****ing clue about strategy and player usage.
 
I'd really, really like to see White inserted into the top unit, and have Kaberle switch sides. I have a hard time believing that Kaberle's vision and puck movement wouldn't translate to the other side of the ice. It puts a better puck mover across from him, and gives him the diagonal pass to Kessel. It also forces the box to shift across the defensive zone to cover Kaberle on the puck, freeing up Kessel to find openings.

The PP has to, absolutely has to go through Kaberle though. Kessel doesn't handle and distribute the puck well enough to run a PP....and I've never been a fan of any forward running a PP off of the half boards. Sundin is probably the best I've ever seen at it, and our PP was still more effective when Kaberle dominated the puck.
 
Martin Biron has been on the trade block for a while now. And with Rick DiPietro likely playing in the next few days, Biron is now expendable.

So what will it cost his suitors? According to Islanders Point Blank, a third-round pick: "The rest of the league knows what Biron is as a locker room presence and as a goaltender. His nightmarish 2-11-2 record doesn?t diminish his value."

One possible destination for Biron was the Flyers, but the emergence of Michael Leighton probably means they won't make this trade. Also, the Ottawa Sun writes that Biron might head back to Buffalo because the Sabres aren't sold on Patrick Lalime as their backup.

Puck Prospectus write that the two teams most likely calling up the Islanders will be the Toronto Maple Leafs and Los Angeles Kings.

As for Islanders Point Blank: "Oh, the wonders his positive outlook and goaltending could do for a team down in the dumps like Edmonton."
Click to expand...



a 3rd? Done.
 
I don't care how bad our goaltending has been the thought of giving up ANOTHER draft pick for a goalie sickens me. I'd rather bite the bullet for the rest of the year and sign one in the summer for nothing.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top