Recap: Clarke MacArthur Speaks To FAN590
The newest member of the Toronto Maple Leafs, Clarke MacArthur, took time today to speak with Greg Brady. Â Below is the recap.
–MacArthur said the last few days were pretty hectic, but he was relieved to sign with the Toronto Maple Leafs and will be coming into town next week. Â He also stated later in the interview that he and his wife will immediately begin the process of looking for permanent residence in the city’s downtown area.
–He admitted that there were three others teams interested in his services, but thought Toronto represented the best opportunity, and also the best fit with the look of the team.
–When asked to summarize his thoughts on the Leafs he said he thought the forwards and young players had a lot of skill. Â He also said he liked the strong defensive core and they finally have good goaltending. Â He said he played the team late in the season while with Atlanta, and said he thought the team was making great strides towards being a good team.
–He stated he was pretty surprised when he was traded from Buffalo to Atlanta at the trade deadline, but called it a good learning experience. Â He only had good things to say about Atlanta, but said he was excited to get to Toronto and play in a real hockey city where he will play in front of sold out crowds every night.
–When asked about his expectations coming into the season, MacArthur stated he will be looking to bring offensive touch to the lineup and will be looking to add goals. Â He also said he would be looking to add a dimension of grit to his game, which he thinks will suit the Leafs aggressive style of play.
–When asked about his familiarity with the team, he told Brady that he played with Colby Armstrong in Atlanta briefly, and was excited to be playing with him again. Â He also spoke about his experience of playing with Dion Phaneuf in the World Juniors, and against Kris Versteeg in junior hockey.
–He spoke of the important of division games, and of the early start that teams need to have in order to be successful.
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@ DefenseWinsChampionships: I agree with you somewhat – he’ll be undervalued around the league for the most part. But I’m optimistic that if he plays the 60 or so games up to the deadline this year as well as he played last year, he will get noticed. Especially if there’s an injury in our Top 4 that gets him big ice time. . @ 4evrb1lue: Agreed, likely Lebda won’t be as good as those other guys. Then again, we said the same about Gunner this past year. You never know. Regardless, my point was that if he plays well enough to cover for the absense of Beauch, and there’s an oportunity to get a decent return for Beauch that helps the forwards, I’m not sure BB would pass it up.
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@ Loric: I cant see Lebda stepping it up and outplaying Komi, Kabs, Phaneuf, Schenn, Gunner or Beauch, thats a hell of a group to try to top. IF Beauch was moved now I dont think we would miss him, Lebda would step in on the bottom pairing and Lashoff could take the 7th spot, no biggie. I think if we wait until the deadline it will be harder to move him because if we’re fighting (or looking like a sure thing) for a playoff spot then it would be a matter of why fix whats not broken?
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Good point about Komi’s NTC, forgot about that. As for Beauch, it all depends on how he’s playing relative to the other 7 D. If Lebda with more minutes suddenly turns into a Top 4 D, or one of the Marlie Towers comes up to replace an injury and turns into another Gunnerson, Beauch could be moved regardless of where we are in the standings, especially if the trade brings in some help up front. . It could be Lebda that’s moved, but I’m not sure if BB moves a player in the same year he’s signed, unless things aren’t working out. If Lebda plays at or better than expected levels, I don’t see him going anywhere. That leaves Gunnerson aside from the untouchable list, which like you I hope isn’t moved unless something really big is coming the other way.
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@ Loric: Komi has a NTC and unless i’m mistaken he gets to give a list of 10 teams that he would accept a trade to at the end of each season so i cant see him being moved midseason. In fact I can’t see anybody being moved if we are in the hunt for a playoff spot. If I were Burke I would be looking to move Beauch right now for the rights to Mueller, Martin Hanzal, or something like that, a big body with top 6 potential
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@ 4evrb1lue: There’s a good chance either Beauch or Komi’s moved at the deadline, for much more than they’d get now.
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I can’t see him having 8 D on the roster the whole season. Both Finger and Lebda are on one 1 way contracts so they won’t get paid less if they’re assigned to the Marlies, so its not a big deal to put either or both in the AHL as injury call-ups. . The likely outcome here is Finger will be assigned the Marlies while Lebda will be on the Leafs as the 7th D, playing occassionally but spending a number of games in the press box.
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@ DefenseWinsChampionships: He always said “if there was a move to make us better I would bury a player”. So If Kadri makes it, I bet for sure he walks the walk and will bury someone
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So you guys… what if Burke refuses to bury Finger? I think he might stay on the big club next year, which causes some deep cap trouble. This would be the line-up if none of the young guys (including Kadri) make the team out of camp, with Hanson estimated at $1 million: . Nikolai Kulemin ($2.350m) / Tyler Bozak ($3.725m) / Phil Kessel ($5.400m) Clarke MacArthur ($1.100m) / Mikhail Grabovski ($2.900m) / Kris Versteeg ($3.083m) Fredrik Sjostrom ($0.750m) / Christian Hanson ($1.000m) / Colby Armstrong ($3.000m) Mike Brown ($0.537m) / John Mitchell ($0.725m) / Colton Orr ($1.000m) Jay Rosehill ($0.512m) Dion Phaneuf ($6.500m) / Francois Beauchemin ($3.800m) Tomas Kaberle ($4.250m) / Mike Komisarek ($4.500m) Carl Gunnarsson ($0.800m) / Luke Schenn ($2.975m) Brett Lebda ($1.450m) / Jeff Finger ($3.500m) Jean-Sebastien Giguere ($6.000m) /Jonas Gustavsson ($1.350m) BUYOUTS: Darcy Tucker ($1.000m) CARRY-OVER BONUS PENALTY: $1,400,000 CAPGEEK.COM TOTALS (follow @capgeek on Twitter) (these totals are compiled using the bonus cushion) SALARY CAP: $59,400,000; CAP PAYROLL: $63,608,333; BONUSES: $5,120,000 CAP SPACE (23-man roster): $246,667 . Barely any cap space left. And due to Kadri’s cap hit, if he made the team, the Leafs wouldn’t be able to have a 13th forward: . Nikolai Kulemin ($2.350m) / Tyler Bozak ($3.725m) / Phil Kessel ($5.400m) Clarke MacArthur ($1.100m) / Mikhail Grabovski ($2.900m) / Kris Versteeg ($3.083m) Fredrik Sjostrom ($0.750m) / Nazem Kadri ($1.720m) / Colby Armstrong ($3.000m) Mike Brown ($0.537m) / John Mitchell ($0.725m) / Colton Orr ($1.000m) Dion Phaneuf ($6.500m) / Francois Beauchemin ($3.800m) Tomas Kaberle ($4.250m) / Mike Komisarek ($4.500m) Carl Gunnarsson ($0.800m) / Luke Schenn ($2.975m) Brett Lebda ($1.450m) / Jeff Finger ($3.500m) Jean-Sebastien Giguere ($6.000m) /Jonas Gustavsson ($1.350m) BUYOUTS: Darcy Tucker ($1.000m) CARRY-OVER BONUS PENALTY: $1,400,000 CAPGEEK.COM TOTALS (follow @capgeek on Twitter) (these totals are compiled using the bonus cushion) SALARY CAP: $59,400,000; CAP PAYROLL: $63,815,833; BONUSES: $5,970,000 CAP SPACE (22-man roster): $39,167 . . Both rosters leave the Leafs with very little cap space, something that could come back to bite them in the ass if players hit their bonuses this season. Another cap penalty next season would just be annoying.
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Jordan wrote:
I hope get does hit Kadri though to wake him up. Better him now not so hard then to be hit by Volchenkov or someone like Stalberg wasIt’s all good. Dion pulled out at the last second. I mean, pulled back. . “Just ask Nazem Kadri, who was caught with his head down coming across the blue line and had Phaneuf about to clobber him with a stiff shoulder until pulling back at the very last second.”
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I hope get does hit Kadri though to wake him up. Better him now not so hard then to be hit by Volchenkov or someone like Stalberg was
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Phaneuf doesn’t get hurt. Hurt gets Phaneuf’d. . . Lol that made no sense but you get the point.
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http://www.nhlpa.com/News/Headlines/EB37C981-996E-4594-A9EF-2045BD336BA7/Inspired-Play . . Komi is a beauty.
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@ Marlies Man: He’s a crazy man on a mission. I love it.
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Phaneuf in Toronto and ready to go … http://www.torontosun.com/sports/2010/08/30/15188901.html
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