Connolly and/or JVR. Probably Connolly to start, while they try and let JVR adjust to playing centre. If they were actually being legitimate when they said they want to turn him into a centre.
Colborne is not ready. He needs to get some confidence back. I don't know if he'll ever be a top 6 NHL forward. Using Kadri would be a disaster defensively. Lupul-Kadri-Kessel? ... Please no.
At the draft, reports indicated Vancouver asked for centre Tyler Bozak, defenceman Jake Gardiner, a first-round pick and winger Matt Frattin in exchange for the 33-year-old Luongo
Bozak would look really good filling that 3C hole that they made at the trade deadline.
Our 1C will NOT be Connolly, Lombardi or Grabovski.
It might be JvR. It's less likely it will be Colborne. It's even less likely it will be Kadri.
I'm liking the sound of rumours that a deal may already be in place post CBA to acquire a 1C. That sounds practical, although addressing the 1C internally is possible too. Going into this season (or next... should the lockout take all year) with a rookie at 1C (or in the case of JvR, a guy who is basically a rookie in the position) isn't ideal.
If Bozak does go, I would hope it's Conny. There's no better way to inflate Connellys stats than playing him with Kessel and Lupul. Then dump the bum on deadline day for the best return possible. Decent production + last year of contract + shrinking cap = perfect rental.
But as the Star reported exclusively last month — a report that was dismissed by pro-union media — the majority of owners and the Bettman administration are intent on punishing teams that insisted on doing quasi-legal backsiding contracts like Luongo’s. It was no surprise, then, the owners’ proposal of earlier this week included a provision that for contracts longer than five years, every year of the contract would count against the cap even if the player didn’t play.
Morever, if a player with such a contract was traded and then retired before the contract expired, the remaining annual cap hit would revert to the team that signed the player in the first place.
So for Luongo, if the Leafs acquired him and he retired after the 2017-18 season, the Canucks would then have to swallow the $5.33 million cap hit for the final four years.
Now, nobody knows if that provision will be included in the final CBA, or whether there will even be a CBA in the near future or this season.
But if that clause were to be included, it would make a Luongo deal more attractive to the Leafs, and possibly make Burke more willing to meet Gillis’s demands.
For now, it’s all hypothetical. There is no deal or deal-in-principle, and it seems likely both teams will want to know the terms of the new CBA before a trade is possible.
I'm so happy, reading that excerpt. I hope that's true. I got roasted by people for months when I kept insisting that the NHL would hammer GMs who signed those bogus deals, and everyone kept saying the new CBA would grandfather in those BS contracts.
At the draft, reports indicated Vancouver asked for centre Tyler Bozak, defenceman Jake Gardiner, a first-round pick and winger Matt Frattin in exchange for the 33-year-old Luongo.
At the draft, reports indicated Vancouver asked for centre Tyler Bozak, defenceman Jake Gardiner, a first-round pick and winger Matt Frattin in exchange for the 33-year-old Luongo
If Bozak does go, I would hope it's Conny. There's no better way to inflate Connellys stats than playing him with Kessel and Lupul. Then dump the bum on deadline day for the best return possible. Decent production + last year of contract + shrinking cap = perfect rental.
I think he's got good trade value without needing to use him as a 1C since there'll be better options.
Based on that logic it would make sense to use Lombardi in the 1C role, since he's in the same boat but has a lot more to prove than Connolly.
Connolly more or less did what everyone expected of him last season, so a team trading for him doesn't need to see him playing on the top line, as no one acquiring him at the deadline will be looking for him to do that.
Connolly is good in the 2C role or 3C role, and can play on the wing.
Lombardi, given good ice-time and stellar linemates, (especially speedsters like Kessel and Lupul) could be made to look amazing, and possibly worthy of his $3.5M cap hit.
Either way those two guys have value this year as they can help teams get under the cap by year's end. (The Leafs might end up being that team... but that's not bad, either).
Well if Bozak is gone, and Kadri is moved it won't be either of them at center.
I'm just wondering if the 1st. sent along with Kadri is going to end up in the top 5 again? I don't think it will.
Kadri hasn't been contributing to the team, and with Luongo and ____ _______ in the middle I'll be pretty happy. Nice young center who had bit of an off year, but still you have to be happy with that deal.
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Woodlief
using his big frame to create space and his skating ability to find open lanes to drive the net. He stands 6-3 and is a natural goal scorer with plenty of confidence.
He's a scout's dream in the way he prepares himself and plays an unselfish game, making smart decisions with the puck. With his bloodlines, he certainly understands what it will take to make it at the next level.
