The Farjestads Maple Leafs?

First, it was the failed courtship of a talented, young Farjestads star forward named Fabian Brunnstrom, who went on to post an impressive 17 goal rookie campaign for the Dallas Stars. Then Toronto went back to the Swedish club and relieved them of one of their top stay at home defenders, bringing over Jonas Frogren to add some much needed grit and toughness. Early into this summer, Brian Burke turned his attention to Farjestads’ young goalie phenom, Jonas Gustavsson, in a highly publicized negotiation process. As if that wasn’t enough, the Leafs are rumored to now be attempting to steal away Farjestad’s captain, forward Rickard Wallin as well. Their rising young forward, top defensive defenseman, top young goaltender and now their captain. Something tells me their fans aren’t too thrilled with the Leafs.

The report recently surfaced in the Swedish newspaper that 29 year old captain Rickard Wallin is expected to make a bid to jump over the NHL next season. Although he recently signed a 4 year contract to remain with Farjestads, there is a clause that allows him to leave for the NHL before July 15th. The apparent frontrunners for the talented playmaking forward at this point would be the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Now there are two very interesting storylines to consider here. On one hand, it makes sense that the Maple Leafs are exhausting every possible avenue when it comes to accumulating under 30 talent without sacrificing assets. Wallin is a 6’3, 201 lb forward with some excellent offensive skills, plays with an edge, and is a useful disrupting presence in front of the net on the powerplay. The drawback is that as a player of that size, he’s not exactly the fleetest of foot. That certainly sounds like an intriguing replacement for a player that was recently let go by the Maple Leafs, doesn’t it?

Perhaps the more interesting twist to this story is the obvious fact that he’s a teammate of the highly sought after goaltender Jonas Gustavsson. Having recently lost his mother, Jonas is currently having a tough time making a decision and is seeking out the comfort of friends and family. He recently had dinner with Jonas Frogren to discuss the merits of playing in Toronto, and had a similar outing with Fabian Brunnstrom. Bringing over the team’s captain and veteran teammate Rickard Wallin may be a brilliant tactical move by Burke to ease the tension of a brand new start, thus tipping the balance in Toronto’s favor.

This move, if true, certainly seems like a nice fit on a multitude of levels and this time, there at least appears to be some sort of concrete deadline.

Always a pleasure,

Alex Tran

alex.tran@mapleleafshostove.com

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  • Scot Loucks

    Schenn… the line that rocked last year (at the end) was Grabovski, Ponikarovsky and Kumelin.
    .
    Now pick 3 for line 2/3 … knowing the Burke is bringing in true 3rd and 4th line players.
    .
    The Burke is making me a happy camper.
    .
    Cheers

  • Jordan

    @Schenn
    Ya Im worried too about losing games, but Im sure it will be fun to watch. If I had to pick the top 2 line I would go with

    Hagman-Grabo-Kulemin
    Tlusty-????-Kadri/Bozak/Hanson (The ???? would be whoever we get for Kaberle) then whoever is ready for the jump can fill in the other. I still like Ponikarovsky though too, I would just rather have Hagman. Although he could be useful to fetch a 2nd rounder at the deadline. So many different combos, I just it depends on whoever looks better from the start really

  • Pete

    Leafs Lineup needs to be something like this given the current roster of players which I expect will change shortly.

    Hagman Mitchell Blake
    Poni Grabovski Kulemin
    Tlusty Stajan Hanson
    Mayers ???? Orr

    Need to have Mitchell up front till we have a better replacement and Stajan must show his worth at the 3 hole. The 2nd line needs to remain intact as they were sensational together late last year.

    Bozak and the others should all spend a year in AHL getting up to NHL speed and taking callups with injuries for their auditions. Next year they will get their run for sure.

  • Jordan

    @Pete
    If they keep their current roster then thats EXACTLY how I would have it, then sub Devereaux in at the 4th line center. I just think theres alot more changes going to be made. Burke said the roster will look alot different and guys wouldnt be on it who he felt didnt deserve it, so we will have to wait and see

  • Jens

    Wallin is on his way over to Toronto and sign a contract. “I want to play with Gustavsson the next season and than it´s best that I signs for Toronto” -Wallin told Aftonbladet

  • Ryan

    “He’s a good two-way player who has played over here before,” Nonis said of the 6-foot-3, 195-pounder who was a sixth-round pick of the Phoenix Coyotes in 1998. “We’ve got a lot of things on our plate right now and he’s a little way down.”

    That Last line strikes me as interesting, as it must mean they are exploring quite a few things, most likely the trade route because a couple days ago Nonis said they were pretty much done on the free agent front. Should be an interesting month, I think there are still a lot more changes that will be made between now and training camp. Maybe we will even get a bonafide top 6 forward.

  • mapleaforever

    I read a lot of comments that assume Brad May is still a Leaf. I don’t believe he’s under contract (as yet).

  • fred

    the leafs just signed another defenceman beauchemin to a 3 yr contract what a defence this yr for the leafs looking forward to it. and i bet he gets a few scoring forwards also.

  • Schenn

    It’d be a great defence if teams dressed 10 d-men a game, however most only dress 6 and on occassion dress 7, so I don’t see the need for the extra 3-4 NHL Calibre defencemen!!

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