Komisarek Done for Year

This news is for the best. No sense in playing through it, and possibly worsening the damage, when a playoff appearance does not appear to be a reality.

True, he struggled this season – but you have to take his stats, especially the +/-, with a huge grain of salt. The entire team struggled the first half of the year. It will be interesting to see how he does next season, with an established netminder and (hopefully) a few new additions up front to ease the burden on the D.

@ theajmo:

Word is the Leafs remain interested in Mueller, but nothing is happening on that front as of yet.

Here’s the thing: he’s a young kid with decent potential, and the Coyotes would want something back in the deal that will last beyond just this season.

Hypothetically:

- The Coyotes are one of several teams interested in Ponikarovsky. This is not exactly a secret, and their interest has ramped up since Upshall blew out his knee.

- The Leafs are one of several teams interested in Mueller. There’s been talk of their interest, on and off, since November.

- Poni is a veteran UFA, which means there is no way a one-for-one happens for a young player with Mueller’s upside. Phx will want an asset that can remain with the organization, likely a prospect to keep the payroll low (Tlusty’s name was mentioned in Mueller rumours prior to his trade). Naturally, who the prospect is would be sticking point #1, and would have a substantial effect on the points which follow.

- The Leafs figure they can get a 2nd rounder for Poni. Mueller has struggled and arguably does not carry 1st round worth at this point in time. So if the Leafs were to include a prospect, they would require something else to be coming back with Mueller to balance out the deal, likely a draft pick.

- The question is, how high a pick would Phx give up under those circumstances? For Poni straight up, probably a 2nd. But alongside Mueller, for Poni and a prospect, the pick value has to drop in Phx’s estimation for it to be a fair deal. Which is sticking point #2.

So you see, even a hypothetical situation such as Team X wants this guy from us, we want that guy from Team x, is anything but simple.

At this point, there is no indication a deal for Mueller will happen, but word is tires have been kicked in the past and there is enough mutual interest in players on each team that discussions could easily pick up at any time.

Something worth keeping an eye on, anyway – a deal for a kid like Mueller is certainly a much more realistic possibility than, say, a trade for Kovalchuk.