Just For Fun: Starting a Franchise

by on April 22, 2010 in Leafs News - 565 Comments

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Boy the playoffs have been pretty good this year huh? News is slow in Leafland nowadays so let’s talk some hockey.

On Tuesday night, I witnessed Sidney Crosby light up the Senators to the tune of a 4 point night, bringing his series totals up to 11 points in 4 games played. And that Malkin kid who also scored, ain’t too shabby either. Last night, I was privy to a a pair of lasers launched by Ovechkin which basically choked the life out of the Bell Centre. To cap off the evening, I was wowed by a 20 year old Drew Doughty, who has 6 points through his first 4 career playoff games, and thought to myself that this kid might already be the best defenseman in the NHL. So then I started thinking: If you could pluck a single player off any roster to build a franchise around who would it be?

Do you go with the second year co-winner of the Rocket Richard trophy in Steven Stamkos? Do you go with the Golden boy Sidney Crosby? Maybe one of the Russian snipers in Malkin or Ovechkin? Honestly, I’d have a helluva time turning down Doughty… the kid is a fricking monster… and defense wins championships. So there you go.

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  • Pazuzu

    The only way the Leafs get a sure thing young top 3 forward is to PACKAGE Kabs with Grabo or a good prospect. Now if you could get Hemsky for Kabs + mid-prospect, you can then keep Grabo and hope he and Hemsky get some mojo. Otherwise, good luck landing a top 3- 22 year old forward for Kabs, ya might as well resign him and let him retire as a leaf.

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  • reversethecurse67

    @ Pazuzu:
    i think we have more of a chance getting Lecavalier from TB. And personally i think i would rather have him, we lack depth at center. We could rotate Kadri between Lecavalier’s wing and 3rd line center. Maybe play the power play with Kessel and Bozak, develop some chemistry.

    If we took on Lecavalier’s contract and swap Kaberle and early rounder we could possibly nab their first round pick this year.

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  • Schenn

    There is no way I’d trade Kaberle for Hemskey, let alone Kaberle and Grabovski for him!! Gotta think alot of people on here are undervaluing Kaberle.
    As for bringing in Niedermayer to replace him, I’ve never really though of it before and now that I have, I think it is quite possible that he would come to Toronto, seeing has Burke is the GM and they’ve probably got a decent rapport from their time together in Anaheim.
    I would love a trade of Kaberle for Levaclier, as long as Vinny can find his game, although I believe he’d be our first line centere ahead of Bozak. Not quite sure they’d part with their first rounder in the trade though.

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  • Pazuzu

    2reversethecurse
    Ya I agree with that one as well, although I think Tampa would want more for Vinny(Vinny scares me…seems to play with an “I got it made” attitude, and I’m sure y’all know what I mean. We are seriously over-evaluating Kabs and if thats the case, many of you are going to be very disappointed.

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  • Pazuzu

    @ Schenn
    No not both…I said Kabs + middling prospect with the intention of placing Hemsky on Grabo’s wing. .

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  • Pazuzu

    @Schenn
    Wienermayer? Please , I’d much rather a34ear old 80-90 point winger with speed than a 37 year old D-man who can’t decide whether or not he wants to retire. BTW, St.Louis makes our decisions on the top six much easier than if we acquired Vinnie. Gives Bozak, Kadri, Grabo a chance to take the number two line job.

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  • reversethecurse67

    @ Pazuzu:
    Actually that might be a great idea. The main reason for not movin Kabs is the loss of a puck moving defenseman. Neidermeyer would come relatively cheap, and would have to accept less ice-time. We can’t hope that Gunnarrson and Komisarek can play consistent minutes, leaving a top four of: Phaneuf, Beauchemin, Schenn and Niedermeyer.

    Obviously the key to our offense next year is Kadri. If he can play wing, he’ll get top line minutes without as much defensive responsibility. Can fit onto a line with an acquired centre (see Lecavalier). If he needs to play centre, he is either capable of replacing Grabovski or gets the Gilmour treatment and learns the defensive game from the third line.

    I see him flip-flopping with Grabovski all year as he will most likely play hot and cold and Wilson has a penchant for switching lines.

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  • Pazuzu

    @reversethecurse
    Well, I guess I’ll have to agree to disagree. Dion is the man on D and I really don’t think we need to spend more money on the blueline AT ALL. Hemsky or St.Louis are better choices IMHO, but that’s just me. Grabo is a shooter/puck keeper and I think Hemsky would be a real good fit with him. BB didn’t sign Grabo at 2-3 million or whatever it was cause he thought he sucked. I think Kabs gets us St. Louis for the first line LW playmaker or Kabs + gets us Hemsky to get Grabo goin , or Kabs + Grabs for a legit top line center, just my opinion.

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  • Schenn
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  • reversethecurse67

    Yea i dont think there will be much of a roster turnover. Wilson said that the main people who we needed to rid ourselves of are gone. So now we make decisions about players based on ability and our need for them. That means Primeau, Wallin, Lundmark, Exelby are gone. Mitchell will play on our bottom six with Sjostrom, Hanson, Orr, Kadri, FA/Didomineco

    Our top 6 would consist of Bozak, Kessel, Kulemin, Grabovski, Stalberg, (Kaberle Trade)

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  • Pazuzu

    Either way…sign Torres and then either trade…
    Kabs + Prospect for Hemsky =top six of…
    Kulemin-Bozak-Kessel
    Torres -Grabo-Hemsky
    or
    Kabs for M.StLouis+pick=
    St.Louis-Bozak-Kessel
    Kulemin-Grabo-Torres
    either way, nice top 6 IMHO. Ya treat Kadri like Kulemin or Stalberg and the others, Stal-Kadri-Caputi is a nice 3rd line don’t ya think?

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  • Schenn

    If Burke could trade for St. Loius and Byfuglien, while signing Niedermayer as a free agent, I’d be quite happy with the offseason.

    Kulemin – Bozak – Kessel
    Byfuglien – Kadri – St. Louis
    Stalberg – Grabovski – Hanson
    Sjostrom – Mitchell – Orr

    Niedermayer – Phaneuf
    Beachemin – Schenn
    Gunnarsson – Komisarek

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  • reversethecurse67

    @ Schenn:
    I definitely like Byfuglien, but how do you suppose we get him? Torres is a good signing, him or Armstrong. My thought is Hanson should start in the AHL, he was nice when our team was using minutes to develop but our goal next year is different. I think we pick up David Clarkson from NJ and pick up Lecavalier instead of St. Louis.

    Kulemin-Bozak-Kessel
    Clarkson-Lecavalier-Kadri
    Stalberg-Grabovski-Torres
    Sjostrom-Orr…Caputi, Dido, Mitchell, Hanson, Irwin (remember him!)

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  • Pazuzu

    I don’t understand the Vinny hard on. That cap hit is whorendous. Very long and very expensive. By the time Kabs and’or Marty retire we will be at the end of BB’s and Kessel’s contracts w/the Leafs and we all know BB wants an unconventional rebuild, plus we may escape the “Boston gets a top 5 pick” scenario again. People tend to forget that Marty can pot 30 goals and is an extremley good playmaker, ala Savard on the wing with Bozak to boot, and Bozak is capable of 25 goals himself. I just think replacing Kabs offence on the LW(especially considering the play of Gunner) is a smart payoff for ther next 3-4 years. By then. it’s BB’s and Kessel’s last year on their contracts and if things aren’t happening by that time, it’s try, try again.

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  • Julie Sucks

    Say no to Vinny! I say go after Plekanec. He’s free and it would burn the Habs fans. He’s 27, right in his prime and a fine playmaker. While we’re at it, sign Frolov.
    Frolov-Plekanec-Kadri
    Kulemin-Bozak-Kessel
    …It’s late, may be this won’t make sense in the morning.

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  • kingkessel

    I love how by triple overtime the refs dont call shit.

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  • Pazuzu

    Does anyone on this board beleev Marty will drop from 94 points(if he is playing with Bozak and Kessel) to 50 points in the next 3 years?

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  • kingkessel

    No to Plekanec.

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  • kingkessel

    Fuck.

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  • Pazuzu

    didn’t think so. I’d take Marty’s not gonna happen 50 points as a forward over Kabs on the back end anyday.

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  • reversethecurse67

    I definitely don’t love Lecavalier, i was just basing it on a trade with TB. I would just rather have him than St. Louis. There are obviously tons of options for return from Kaberle. I think we have needs at both C and W, depending on Kadri. We’ve talked about Ryan, Horton, etc. but i think the Kaberle return will be much smaller than we all think, and we use some of those assets to take on a salary dump and pick up more in return.

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  • Pazuzu

    Horton’s a pussy. Big, fat pussy Outside of hockey, I love big fat pussies,
    but. I’d rather take a hit on the point side of the ledger with Backes than spend the next 3 years whining about how Horton doesn’t use his size etc—etc

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  • Schenn
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  • Pazuzu

    @Schenn[
    mart plays both wings, currently LW on Stamkos line with Downie

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  • Pazuzu

    @Schenn
    dont try to bullshit a bullshitter lol

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