Desperate Times…
The decision to call-up Nazem Kadri from the American Hockey League may provide short-term stability on offence, but it speaks volumes of the state of peril of the Toronto Maple Leafs.
I can’t help but cringe at Brian Burke‘s reasoning for the call-up:
“I think in an ideal world, if we would have won a few of the last games, we probably would have given him a little bit longer but he has made the adjustments we’ve asked him to, he’s cut down his turnovers. He’s drawing penalties almost every night by getting hauled down. He’s been responsible and he’s been good offensively so he’s made a lot of the transformations that we needed him to make. In an ideal world, maybe another couple weeks, maybe three weeks, but it’s not an ideal world. We’re scuffling here.â€
Kadri’s 14 points in as many games is impressive, but it’s hardly enough to warrant fast-tracking his development. Let’s not forget that Kadri stumbled out of the gate in his AHL debut and professional scouts even remarked how he looked “like any other AHL player.” In fact, he even got benched during the third period of his first game with the Toronto Marlies for poor defensive decisions. With each passing game he has improved, however, and he has since displayed the offensive flair that got him drafted seventh overall. And with the Leafs’ free-fall in the Eastern Conference standings, perhaps it was inevitable for Kadri to have his turn on the big club.
My personal opinion is that this is nothing more than stop-gap and if the Leafs’ offensive woes are truly as devastating as their slump suggests, then chaos will unfold before long. Whether that means a trade or simply riding out the rest of the 2010-11 season, the end fate is inevitable.
The desperation move from Burke was at least handled appropriately, though, as the expectations set for Kadri have not been blown out of proportion. Still, with the attention now fixated on the 20-year-old forward, he’ll be expected to produce at much higher clip than his pre-season production.
Should Kadri falter and prove that he needs more AHL seasoning, it’s crucial the Leafs do not let him stay dead in the water and instead send him back to the Marlies immediately.
All that said, it’s hard to imagine a rebuilding team opting for a desperation move such as this. The only thing holding the Leafs from the post-season is themselves.
Kadri, please prove me wrong.
You stay classy, MLHS.
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The draft = important to scout and draft well at all positions. If you draft well you do not need high first round picks. Dynasties don't get top picks.
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Pretend the Leafs did not trade for Kessel, sucked and drafter high for a few years...and 5 years from now we are all arguing about the opportunity we once had to land a bonafide sniper...but were too chicken shit to pull the trigger on the sure thing because it would have cost us draft. picks. THAT angers me.
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Jordan wrote:
JEFF CARTER 11 YEAR EXTENSION PER TSN 58 MIL
The kicked us in the nuts big time!
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Cameron wrote:
@ Jordan:
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Ugh. I thought the league agreed there would be no more stupid deals?
Not a bad deal though. Just locked up. Hes only what? 25-26? so he will be either making a joke salary and hating it in 5-6 years, or the Flyers will be stuck with a ton of cap crap from different players
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New blog up
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@ Jordan:
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Ugh. I thought the league agreed there would be no more stupid deals?
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Cameron-I know you like to argue, a trait I admire frankly, and I know you like to be the ying to the yang of fans who you believe undervalue our roster, but honestly I dont even want to argue this with you as it is absolutely comical. It harkens back to when I had to argue with you when you asserted that Matt Stajan was a better player than Tomas Plekanec.
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@ Jordan:
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Of course, but I only said they were comparable. I doubt if you switch Kane with Kessel on the Hawks team that they are any better or worse though.
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JEFF CARTER 11 YEAR EXTENSION PER TSN 58 MIL
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Kane > Kessel but not by much
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@ paso:
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C'mon man, Kane has never scored 36 goals, and has never cracked 30. All the while, he plays for the most stacked team in the league (maybe not this year, but the last two). To say they're not comparable is just moronic. They're both perimeter snipers. Is Kane more creative? Sure, probably, although it's hard to say when Kessel is playing with 3rd liners. Is Kessel a better pure scorer? Absolutely. They each have their advantages.
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TuckerThomas wrote:
@ BurkiewillFINISHthis:
More like Avery. A little bitch that no one wants on their team.
Meh, I'd take AndrewR on my team. He's not a bad guy... he can have his opinion. Every team needs an agitator lol
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@ TuckerThomas:
a wee bit off topic but did you get tickets for when the leafs visit edmonton. i'm trying to get calgary tickets off kijiji but i's gonna cost me a fucking fortune. so far 150 for second level about 20 rows up..
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@Cameron,Jordan-I'm not advocating any approach. It's just foolish to argue that building through the draft is not a more tried and true method of building a Champion-especially in a cap system where you need top tier talent on ELCs. I'm not arguing that it cannot be done another way-it just hasn't been proven-yet.
Chicago almost lost their franchise not because they stunk but because of Bill Wirtz. Most of their games were blacked out locally. when he passed-Rocky changed the approach. and yes, they actually did tank.
Kessel=Kane-on what planet?
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@ BurkiewillFINISHthis:
More like Avery. A little bitch that no one wants on their team.
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For tanking to even be an option really goes to show you what Buttman has done to this league.
I believe the whole tanking method was invented to give hope to southern sun belt teams that just keep losing. "Hey, there is a light at the end of the tunnel". But most of those teams are just getting into deeper shit.
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All of this debate becasue of Andrew R ripping on BB and his plan.....yet again...my gawd....Andrew R is good. lol....I wonder if he can play hockey? Im guessing he would be a Tucker type....just what we need rtight now.
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Jordan wrote:
@ paso:
So you really wanna see the leafs purposely struggle like shit for 8-10 years so we have a shot at doing the same?
Chicago didn't do it on purpose. They just plain out sucked. And almost lost their franchise in the process.
http://www.coppernblue.com/2010/11/7/1743243/relocate-the-chicago-blackhawks-not-so-far-fetched-just-four-years-ago
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@ paso:
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Only two of them were drafted in the top 5, and probably their most significant piece was drafted in the 2nd round (Keith). The Leafs have a top 5 pick in Kessel, who I think, on a good team, is the equivalent or thereabouts of Kane. It's not a fair comparison right now because Kane has an amazing team to play with, but I think Kessel is definitely right there with a top center and a complementary left winger. I think we've put together a defensive core that matches theirs now, and certainly moving into the future. Basically, we're missing our Toews, Byfuglien and Ladd.
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@ Jordan:
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That's what's so aggravating about his position. If anything goes wrong with our viewpoint, which is essentially "trust Burke, top 5 picks aren't mandatory", he can sit there from his ivory tower shooting off insults. However, we can never go back and see his method put on display, criticize his draft picks and so on and so forth.
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Can you imagine the outrage in Toronto if we had started our rebuild 5 years previous and drafted:
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2006: Erik Johnson (1st overall) - leaving Staal, Toews, Backstrom, Kessel on the table.
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2007: Kyle Turris (3rd overall) - leaving Sutter, Voracek, Blum, Perron on the table, and missing the only legit talents in JVR and Kane
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2008: Cody Hodgson (10th overall) - missing all the quality defensemen of Pietrangelo, Bogosian, Schenn, Myers, Carlson, and essentially landing a future 2nd/3rd hyrbrid center
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2009: Scott Glennie (8th overall) - a fine player, but even in a pretty stacked draft, it's not a guarantee to land a grade A talent. Even OEL might not have cut it in TO.
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2010: Erik Gudbranson (3rd overall) - no Hall, no Seguin, and too risky to take Skinner, the potential to bomb another draft has already been evidenced just 6 months after it happened.
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Point is, the potential to mess up, or just miss in the draft is astronomical. It's not an exact science by any means.
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@ paso:
So you really wanna see the leafs purposely struggle like shit for 8-10 years so we have a shot at doing the same?
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@ BurkiewillFINISHthis:
my apologies the link didnt work . but its the vid of jiggy after he called out the boys. dated nov 11
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Chicago Blackhawks:
2002-Duncan Keith,Adam Burrish
2003-Brent seabrook,Dustin Byfuglien
2004-Cam Barker,Dave Bolland,Troy Brouwer
2005-Jack Skille,Niklas Hjalmarsson
2006-Jonathan Toews
2007-patrick kane
2008-Kyle Beach
Stanley Cup
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Jordan wrote:
TuckerThomas wrote:
@ Jordan:
@ Cameron:
We are turning his crank right now like an old phonograph.
Well I love listening to people who think they know the future and can go back in time, change decisions and tell us what WOULD have happened. Im excited to hear
Captain Hindsight?
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TuckerThomas wrote:
@ Jordan:
@ Cameron:
We are turning his crank right now like an old phonograph.
Well I love listening to people who think they know the future and can go back in time, change decisions and tell us what WOULD have happened. Im excited to hear
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dnksdad wrote:
@ BurkiewillFINISHthis:
http://video.mapleleafs.nhl.com/videocenter/console?catid=802 @1:35
Thanks...I will take a listen...but just for the record....I may have lied....this may NOT instill my confidence back in RW....lol. But.....thanks for your efforts to send me link.....gonna go listen.
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