Maple Leafs 2009-10 Point Predictions

@Steve. You should do it on your blog, the contrast would be interesting.

I based the top six to be primarily this:

Poni-Grabs-Blake
Kulemin-Stajan-Hagman

With:
Stempniak/Kulemin interchangeable (Hagman slips to the left side) and Tlusty gets a good look in one of these spots (as does a Bozak experiment at center). Stajan and Grabovski are also interchangeable at times (when struggling) although not to any great extent and it wouldn’t surprise me to see Grabovski and Kulemin together at some point, just not consistently (more on Kulemin’s part if he falters early and gets demoted to a third line).

I made sure to preface that I thought my prediction was a little light, maybe in the 55 range, but that’s the ceiling. He’s a little too predictable with the puck despite displaying developed distribution skills. Won’t take the NHL by surprise and the opposition will have a game-plan ready this time around. It’s not the sophomore jinx, except for the fact that shutting him down greatly affects the chances of the leafs scoring, (Blake, too) and winning games.

Late last season he had ten points in a five game span (5-2-8-10) and ten in a six game point streak in early November (6-7-3-10). This accounted for 42% of his production (11-9-11-20), with 28 points in the remaining 67 games (67-11-17-28). He may still get those points, but maybe not in the same spurts with more consistency and less swings. I just can’t see how much more he can improve his own numbers above that 55 range, and I downgraded him a bit for the predictability factor. The scouting doesn’t support a breakout, but a good potential season nonetheless.

sorry for the long winded response.