Lupul, Bozak, MacArthur, and Connolly are all UFAs. I hope we sell off 2 of them at the deadline for sky-high prices. Maybe even 3 of them. I would move them before moving Grabo.
Connolly - Is older, and pretty inconsistent. Not a guy to build around
MacArthur - Is a very "meh" top 6 winger. He can put up some points, isn't particularly good defensively, and isn't a physical menace. Not a guy to build around
Bozak - Has questionable offence, has yet to break 50 points despite playing on the top line with Kessel for 2 years. His defensive game is about average. If he could really develop his defensive game, he could maybe a pretty good 3rd line C. But as is, he doesnt have the offence for top 6, or the defence for 3rd line C
Lupul - Probably the only one worth keeping. Has some size and broke out offensively last year. If he can become a consistent ~55-65 point winger with size, that's a pretty useful commodity.
In short you'd like to move Bozak, Lupul, Connolly, and Mac for our prospects?
In short you'd like to move Bozak, Lupul, Connolly, and Mac for our prospects?
Lupul I would keep, assuming we can get him signed.
But Bozak/Mac/Connolly?? Get deadline prices for them. I think JVR+Kadri+Frattin could perform very similarly, plus we'd get a bunch of reasonably high picks and/or prospects for them.
I think people are right to look at Bozak, Connolly, and Mac as the guys to upgrade on.....not because they are awful players but because they are more one-dimensional and aren't elite in that one-dimension.
If Burke could somehow get us a 1st line C, even if it's a guy at a low point who we can get for a group of secondary players/prospects like we did with Phaneuf, that would be great.
I dream of Burke getting Getzlaf on the cheap like he did Phaneuf, using a bunch of cheap but decent players like Franson, Bozak, MacArthur, and maybe some good prospects or picks....but that's likely a pipe dream.
I like this post. I don't know about Kadri at 1C, but I'd certainly like to see what it looks like. If we do see LKK together I would want our strongest defensive pair with them. Like Gunn and Holzer.
I think people are right to look at Bozak, Connolly, and Mac as the guys to upgrade on.....not because they are awful players but because they are more one-dimensional and aren't elite in that one-dimension.
Boom. You said it right there. If you're going to be a one-dimensional player, you better be VERY good at that one-dimension.
Only being reasonably good at offence, and only being able to produce ~50 points, does not make you a very good top 6 forward. There are tons of players that can produce 50-60 points while still bringing a very strong physical element (Clowe, Brown, Lucic, Franzen, Burrows, etc etc) or very solid two-way play (Pavelski, Krejci, Backes, Steen, Fisher, Ladd, etc) or some combination of both to go along with the second-tier offence.
Kessel can get by without a strong defensive or physical presence, because he can put up 30+ goals a year without much help.
We are slipping worse than even I thought.I only saw the number 30 through 50 rankings,no Leaf prospects in there.Burke really has his work cut out for him.It is now evident after 4 years of failure we have one impact prospect,Reilly.Not only that but those who poh pohed Hamilton as part of that trade,he has jumped to number 2 spot,higher than Reilly,for now.
There is no way Grabo. gets traded unless a new GM comes in or Burke uses him as Getzlaf bait.Bozak may hit 50 pts this year but Grabo is our best center,to trade him would be to throw in the towel on the season.On top of that,we have no centers except Colborne in the prospect pool,so who are we making way for?
Maybe I'm wrong, but Dion is a risk taking d-man. Hard to imagine him steadying a line of Lupul Kadri Kessel. Maybe that will change on a Carlyle though.
Maybe I'm wrong, but Dion is a risk taking d-man. Hard to imagine him steadying a line of Lupul Kadri Kessel. Maybe that will change on a Carlyle though.
He's a two-way kinda guy. Can he lead a rush? Sure. Is he defensively responsible? He's no Shea Weber, but you can be damn sure he's better defensively at the NHL level than Korbinian Holzer.
1. You have an adequate replacement from within, meaning someone like Kadri/Colborne shows they will do as good as or better than Grabs at 2nd line center.
2. If Burke is able to bring in a #1 C and needs Grabo's $ to pay for that guy.
If you trade Grabo, you trade him to get the upgrade.
We don't have any prospects that could replace Grabo's production. It's a bad idea, through and through. Maybe in the future but this thread is premature in 2012
Are you suggesting he's an influential part of the problem, that he's the reason the Leafs suck, that the Leafs would be better without him?
Yep, care to explain to me had he not gone -7 when Kule went down and slumped the last 2 months of the season, would we have had the chance to tank to 25th and not have had the chance to draft Morgan Rielly?
We don't have any prospects that could replace Grabo's production. It's a bad idea, through and through. Maybe in the future but this thread is premature in 2012
There are 3 certain things in life:
Death
Taxes
and 1 or 2 seasonal Grabo slumps.
For this I am thankful to Mikhail, we have Rielly largely impart to mr. hot and cold.
Agreed, Grabo is expendable. There are only a few people in this roster who are not:
Kessel
Lupul (maybe if he can keep it up)
Gardiner
I think Kadri or Colborne can replace Grabo next season even.
When the Leafs turn it around and we have truly impactful winning players, you and I will celebrate. These fans that are happy and willing to accept mediocrity, I don't know. The one's that want a better team, can recall when making the playoffs was expected not hoped, deserve it more than the apathetic fanbase. At times I wonder why we have to cheer with them when losing is accepted along with mediocre players.
Yep, care to explain to me had he not gone -7 when Kule went down and slumped the last 2 months of the season, would we have had the chance to tank to 25th and not have had the chance to draft Morgan Rielly?
The whole team slumped. It's not fair to single Grabovski out of the entire group, especially considering the fact he's played against the toughest competition (of any TML forward) and had the most successful Corsi numbers (of any TML player by a wide margin). You take that away from the roster and you're not going to get better by supplanting a damned rookie for Grabovski
I know, he's overpaid, and he's not as consistent as you'd like him to be but he plays hard and has been a 20+ goal scorer 3 of 4 years here in Toronto. Suggesting the team is better without him is asinine, I'm sorry but it is. I'm not going to argue he's a long-term solution and what-not, because any team with a record as bad as Toronto's should look to improve everywhere, but the lack of credit you've given him just so you could tell the HFBoards collective that you were "right" is getting a little silly.
When the Leafs turn it around and we have truly impactful winning players, you and I will celebrate. These fans that are happy and willing to accept mediocrity, I don't know. The one's that want a better team, can recall when making the playoffs was expected not hoped, deserve it more than the apathetic fanbase. At times I wonder why we have to cheer with them when losing is accepted along with mediocre players.
Yeah, Leafs fans love to over-rate many of their players. Clearly, they can't make it with this roster so it's better to have more moves. Even if it is for high picks.
I would keep our prospects though because they haven't been given a proper chance (like Kadri, Colborne).
Lets face it. We are not good enough a team to make the *post season this year. We have Connolly who's suited to play 2nd, and Bozak is really best suited for the third line role. I say we open up a roster spot to get our young centers some experience:
The whole team slumped. It's not fair to single Grabovski out of the entire group, especially considering the fact he's played against the toughest competition (of any TML forward) and had the most successful Corsi numbers (of any TML player by a wide margin). You take that away from the roster and you're not going to get better by supplanting a damned rookie for Grabovski
I know, he's overpaid, and he's not as consistent as you'd like him to be but he plays hard and has been a 20+ goal scorer 3 of 4 years here in Toronto. Suggesting the team is better without him is asinine, I'm sorry but it is. I'm not going to argue he's a long-term solution and what-not, because any team with a record as bad as Toronto's should look to improve everywhere, but the lack of credit you've given him just so you could tell the HFBoards collective that you were "right" is getting a little silly.
our best players have been our best players for the last 2-3 season's now and havent got it done, with most of them being in there primes now, Lupul, Kessel, Grabo, Mac, Phaneuf, Liles, others like Kulemin(26), Gunner(26 in a month) how many more years are these guys not gonna get the job done before we realize our core isn't good enough and it's time to hit the restart button. some times you have to get worse to get better.
There's not much logic to this post. You can't trade him until a lockout is over, there's no guarantee Minny get's 6th overall and if there is a season Minny will be a playoff team.
Good point. Would just love two top 10 picks in the up coming draft. Really looking like a great draft. I'd be willing to trade Rielly if it were possible to guarantee a top 5 selection.
Yep, care to explain to me had he not gone -7 when Kule went down and slumped the last 2 months of the season, would we have had the chance to tank to 25th and not have had the chance to draft Morgan Rielly?
If you don't remember, when Kulemin got injured near the last month and a bit, Grabo played a lot more with Frattin and Ashton, some with mac, and a bit of a mix of Crabb, Hamilton, Connolly, and Kadri. Lot of games with young inexperienced players and bad mix. Everything about the team basically went downhill.
Yep, care to explain to me had he not gone -7 when Kule went down and slumped the last 2 months of the season, would we have had the chance to tank to 25th and not have had the chance to draft Morgan Rielly?
