Race for Tyler Bozak in the Final Stretch

by on April 2, 2009 in Uncategorized - 64 Comments

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The Tyler Bozak “Sweepstakes” are nearly coming to an end and according to Bob Mckenzie, the talented young forward from the University of Denver may make his decision as early as today after much speculation that he was supposed to sign yesterday. Apparently, the 23 year old Regina, Saskatchewan native has narrowed down his list to 3 or 4 teams, with Toronto and Ottawa believed to be among the finalists.

The third team that seems to make sense would be the Colorado Avalanche, whom are said to also be in hot pursuit. The thinking here is that Bozak may have grown comfortable playing in the Denver area, where he has blossomed over the past two years. However, with Stastny, Sakic, Arnason, and Hensick already lining up down the middle, it stands to reason that there wouldn’t be as much guaranteed playing time to go around as in Toronto where young players have been getting increasingly larger roles, or in Ottawa, whom have lacked quality depth down the middle.

From Mckenzie’s blog:

“The Toronto Maple Leafs and Ottawa Senators are two of those teams that are squarely in the mix for Bozak’s services.

He’s been in Toronto since Monday and was actually on the phone today, calling individual teams to say thank you for the offer but I’m no longer interested.

The Philadelphia Flyers were one of those teams to be on the receiving end of those calls.”

Whatever the case, Bob figures this issue to be resolved fairly soon and his guess is that the young Canadian comes back home across the border.

Always a pleasure,

Alex Tran

[email protected]

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  • Largus

    Tyler, it appears I’m the jackass.

    Well found bro, just saw it on Sportsnet connected as well.

    Damn this is good news.

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  • Ace Pinball

    Good move! Way to go Leafs. Another good Saskatchewan kid to add to the ranks.
    .
    Now let’s try not to over-hype this. He’s not a saviour, but he’s got a lot of potential to be a strong contributor for many years. There are no negatives to this, only a lot of potential positives.

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  • Tyler

    Telling me I should be banned when I’m trying to update you with the latest news, I want an apology

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  • Ace Pinball

    Oddly enough, Tyler laughed when he read that, knowing that he is, indeed, Tyler Bozak. Having signed, he felt like getting online karma by breaking the news before anyone. Well done, Mr. Bozak. Well done.

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  • Blue Max

    Thanks for the post Tyler! You got to forgive people for being on edge, and reacting negatively if they think that someone mislead them. After all we could not feel anything but pessimistic given our experiences as Leaf fans. As a Leaf fan you should know yourself. I’m pretty sure our brother-in-arms will apologize when he sees that he was the one that “jumped the gun”, and not you.

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  • Wendel

    Congratulations on the new contract Tyler, best of luck.

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  • Dan

    Congratulations Tyler!
    .
    Re: Stajan
    Let’s see if he puts 50+ points up next year or fizzles back down to 30 points before we start putting him in the same category as Drury and Jokinen.

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  • Roger Boucher

    Welcome Tyler Bozak to Leafs Nation! Good to have you on board.

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  • CarltontheBear

    @Dan

    I wasn’t putting him in the same category as the likes of Jokinen or Drury, they are both first line talent. I was merely pointing out that Stajan has put up the same amount of points as said 1st line players, making it hard to believe that people claim that he is not even 2nd line talent.

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  • Roger Boucher

    Bozak will prove to be a Burke type player soon enough…..just wondering who’s shipping out……Looks like we’ve got to free some room for Hanson and now Bozak.

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  • Dan
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  • CarltontheBear

    Fair enough, let me ask you this then, who is our 2nd line next year?

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  • Jordan

    Stajan would be a great 3rd line center for us, but I like Mitchell a little better so therefore Stajan should go for some picks of something to help keep moving forward

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  • Dan

    Very hard to say right now, not knowing what Burke has planned in the offseason.
    .
    I think there will be too many changes to tell. Does Bozak make the team? Does Grabovski stick around? Does Burke go out and buy a #1 Centre? Any of those moves could push Stajan down our depth chart.
    .
    And then who do we draft this year? Do we trade up and try to grab Duchene or Schenn? Both are centremen. Not that they will be playing in the NHL next year, but it could add to Stajan being expendable moving forward.
    .
    I could see him sticking around next year to finish out his contract, maybe being dealt at the deadline. Because I don’t think he will get an extension. At the same time, I don’t think he will be horribly missed if he gets traded this summer.

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