That may be true. I was responding to a post that said Boston didn't want to trade Kessel, which isn't really true considering how they treated him as a RFA. All quality young RFA's were getting decent 5 year deals and they low balled Kessel with a 3 year deal worth less than $4 mil a season.
It's funny though that they were willing to spend $3.3 mil on Morris, but that's a whole other topic that can be debated.
Kessel has been an inconsistent floater his entire career. If he was an FA signed for $5.4mill then maybe, not THAT bad. Considering the price we paid to get him? ****ing brutal.
Give the kid a break... He's 23, had CANCER, mono, torn up shoulder, the crap that went down in Boston, the pressure of playing in Toronto with Tyler Fuqqing Bozak as his center...
In 5 years he will be in his prime - hopefully surrounded with better players... That is, if you numb-nuts don't have run out of town first.
Give the kid a break... He's 23, had CANCER, mono, torn up shoulder, the crap that went down in Boston, the pressure of playing in Toronto with Tyler Fuqqing Bozak as his center...
In 5 years he will be in his prime - hopefully surrounded with better players... That is, if you numb-nuts don't have run out of town first.
whats your excuse going to be when he is the exact same player in 5 years? Doing the exact same things everyone hates to watch him do.
Give the kid a break... He's 23, had CANCER, mono, torn up shoulder, the crap that went down in Boston, the pressure of playing in Toronto with Tyler Fuqqing Bozak as his center...
In 5 years he will be in his prime - hopefully surrounded with better players... That is, if you numb-nuts don't have run out of town first.
You make a good argument for why BB should not have traded for him.
You think this is pressure? What do you think it will be like the next time leaf fans think they have a cup contender? All we are screaming for is that they don't end up friggen in last place over all.
Is it not the GMs job to access the mental make up of players he wants on his roster?
Give the kid a break... He's 23, had CANCER, mono, torn up shoulder, the crap that went down in Boston, the pressure of playing in Toronto with Tyler Fuqqing Bozak as his center...
In 5 years he will be in his prime - hopefully surrounded with better players... That is, if you numb-nuts don't have run out of town first.
Actually, if the pattern continues as it did in Boston, in 5 years he'll be playing elsewhere no matter what the Leafs want or how well he plays or how well received he is by the majority of Leafs fans.
Actually, if the pattern continues as it did in Boston, in 5 years he'll be playing elsewhere no matter what the Leafs want or how well he plays or how well received he is by the majority of Leafs fans.
Stop being insightful on this board , it will fall on to many blind eyes.
Why should we be concerned that BB sold the farm for a 21 year old kid that has already made 1 trade demand and btched that his coach was tough on em.
Kessel - over the past few games he seems at least more willing to involve himself defensively, committing to our own end and checking guys with the stick or even positoning the body on them.
This comes pretty much immediately after Wilson's calling him out. Any correlation?
He's not the best checker, but as we've seen in games such as against Florida earlier, if he can gain possession deep within our own zone, he has the speed and talent to maximize that position individually.
Bozak - Today was really the first game I noticed Bozak open up as a playmaker; speeding into the zone and gaining the goal line down low after rounding the net, centering the puck and slowing down the play to work the ideal pass like he did the last third of 09-10'.
He still needs to work on his strength in the corners, and continued to dish it off immediately to Kessel later in the game, rather than slow the play down and try to create an ideal passing lane. His faceoff percentage has also decreased over the last stretch of games, but this last game was really the first time this season I've noticed him open up his stride, keep his head up, make a move and the sacrifice the body to really open up a play.
Maybe re-unite Kulemin with him and Kessel now that he seems to have started to re-gain the ability to use that vision of his offensively? Kulemin may open the play up just that much more to allow him to more easily re-settle into that playmaking role he was so good at last season.
He's currently on pace for 11 goals and 17 assists - 28 points.
1 goal and 2 assists the last 5 games. Over a full season that's 17 goals and 34 assists - more along the lines I was projecting him to be at (Over the summer definitely 15-20 goals, 40-45 assists).
His underperformance has been a huge boon to us as one that's been expected to be our no. 1, and he still does have a long way to go from here, as I only saw this ability from him this game mostly just during the first period, although he kept pushing himself the rest of the game.
I think Armstrong on that line is better until we find a real first line LWer. Armstrong does everything Kulemin does, he just doesn't have the same shot or speed, but he's uses his body better and can create a cycle pretty much by himself.
I think Armstrong on that line is better until we find a real first line LWer. Armstrong does everything Kulemin does, he just doesn't have the same shot or speed, but he's uses his body better and can create a cycle pretty much by himself.
Ya, Armstrong has been surprisingly good up there - just absolutely flying, and getting some pretty quality scoring chances for himself; but Kulemin is a guy who can open up space for himself for the pass, and has demonstrated good offensive zone chemistry with Kessel, not to mention Bozak, although that relationship seems to be more sporadic.
He's putting a lot of pressure on himself," Leafs goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere said of Kessel. "He's our best player. When Phil is playing well -- scoring goals and skating like he was tonight -- it makes our team a lot more dangerous."
I think Armstrong on that line is better until we find a real first line LWer. Armstrong does everything Kulemin does, he just doesn't have the same shot or speed, but he's uses his body better and can create a cycle pretty much by himself.
Armstrong is a perfect temp solution up there with Kessel, that's the beauty of having a player like him.
He's changing before our eyes. Stronger on the backcheck. Took the puck right up the pipe to the net several times last night and got rewarded with a streak-breaking garbage goal for his efforts. He was always going to need development.
Armstrong is a perfect temp solution up there with Kessel, that's the beauty of having a player like him.
Army will contribute more when his hand is healed. He's carrying/moving the puck better every game. He's actually got a fairly good shot, but you'll notice he hasn't been using it. A week before he returned to the lineup, he still couldn't properly close the hand.
Army will contribute more when his hand is healed. He's carrying/moving the puck better every game. He's actually got a fairly good shot, but you'll notice he hasn't been using it. A week before he returned to the lineup, he still couldn't properly close the hand.
I never believed for a second Army was 100% when he returned, same goes with Phaneuf.
Neither of them strike me as guys who were going to sit back and watch while their team is taking a beating. Glad we have them.
I never believed for a second Army was 100% when he returned, same goes with Phaneuf.
Neither of them strike me as guys who were going to sit back and watch while their team is taking a beating. Glad we have them.
I went to the Flyers game thursday, I can tell you 100% Dion Phaneuf is not even close to healthy, he was hurting with every stride and after like every whistle hed start stretching the leg, and at one point he was on one knee trying to stretch the pain out of his leg.
Although he's mired in a terrible slump, Kessel is still on pace for 31 goals this year - as a 23 year old. I think it's reasonable to say that his total 2010-2011 pace will be higher, and he'll still be able to set personal record for goals.
I went to the Flyers game thursday, I can tell you 100% Dion Phaneuf is not even close to healthy, he was hurting with every stride and after like every whistle hed start stretching the leg, and at one point he was on one knee trying to stretch the pain out of his leg.
Yeah, you could see him trying to minimize his use of it last night. He was being really economical with his steps.
