Anthony Petrielli
When it comes to the Toronto Maple Leafs, one of the first things often mentioned is money.
The team is, after all, the most valuable franchise in the league. With that in mind, it is always expected that they use that kind of financial power to the best of their abilities to put themselves ahead of other teams in the league.
And due to that, Brian Burke's stance on cap circumventing contracts (the fact that he won't do them) is pissing a lot of fans off.
Let's look at it. [more…]
With the Leafs announcing they would not be participating in a prospect tournament this year due to CBA negotiations, development camp became all the more important for young prospects trying to make an impression on Toronto management.
By using (admittedly amateur) videos of the scrimmage sessions, I put together a few notes upon request from the camp. I didn't originally plan to write anything up, but this is a slow time of the year and many people asked me to so I changed my mind.
A few things to keep in mind when reading these observations: [more…]
As we approach the dog days of hockey, more and more Leafs fans are coming to the conclusion that there's a strong chance we will see a James Reimer and Ben Scrivens goalie tandem to start the year.
Barring a trade for Roberto Luongo (or a surprise move for another goalie), that's the duo the Leafs will start the season with. So with that, I decided to take a look at other AHL goalies over the years and how their numbers translated to the NHL.
In a nutshell, Ben Scrivens led the AHL in goals against average this year while also having the fifth best save percentage. A lot of fans have hung their hats on these stats and his generally-speaking strong season, and in light of this I decided to go all the way back to the 2005-2006 season and look up the top three goalies in GAA category of each season. Then, to increase the sample size, I also included the top three save percentages while pointing out notable goalies from each season that year who have had some NHL impact. [more…]
The Leafs have added some strength down the middle by signing Jay McClement to a two-year deal worth $3 million total.
They were also able to agree to terms with Matt Frattin on a two-year deal that totals $1.7 million, while resigning Ryan Hamilton and Jussi Rynnas as well as adding Mike Kostka to the organization, too.
It wasn't a banner day for the Leafs, but it was still an important one.
Most notably, they finally added the third line center they've needed for quite some time and that has serious ramifications on the rest of the roster. [more…]
Having been called into pinch-hit for the morning mashup, I figured this would be a good time to include some other draft thoughts that I didn't write in my review mainly due to the fact that I didn't think there was enough room to add these tidbits. Anyways, here's some draft "bonus points" before we get to your morning links:
- I didn't touch on Viktor Loov simply because I don't know anything about him. He was selected primarily due to the recommendation from the Leafs head European scout Thommie Bergman. Bergman has been with the Leafs since before the JFJ and Quinn eras and is the guy you credit when it comes to the drafting of players like Carl Gunnarsson, Viktor Stalberg, Staffan Kronwall and Anton Stralman (who were all chosen relatively late). You could also look at him when it comes to the selection of players such as Daniel Brodin and Sondre Olden, both of whom just went unsigned by the Leafs. Since Bergman has found some solid players in a low percentage segment of the draft, I think the pick is worth paying attention to. He also drafted Petter Granberg, who signed his ELC from the Leafs this year. [more…]
The worst kept secret in all of hockey finally became a reality.
Luke Schenn is now a Philadelphia Flyer, and James Van Riemsdyk is finally a Toronto Maple Leaf.
JVR (whose name I'll probably never type in full again) was the second overall pick in the 2007 draft and has had a slow, but upwards, trend in his development since. After getting drafted he returned to New Hampshire, where he played college hockey, and threw up 40 points in 36 games along with 10 points in six world junior games. He ended that season playing some AHL games, but jumped straight to the NHL the following year and put up a respectable 35 points in 78 games. The next year he had five more points in three less games well also breaking the 20 goal barrier by notching 21.
His big breakout moment though was in the playoffs of last year when he put up seven goals in 11 playoff games while single- handedly dominating some games. To put it into perspective, he had 70 shots throughout those playoffs. That's over six shots a game. In the playoffs. [more…]
"We shoot for a top four group that has a high skill level, [and] bottom two guys who look to do the plumbers work. Which are really important jobs on my teams."
- Brian Burke
At the risk of over analyzing a few sentences said nearly four years ago, this is a good starting point to quote when it comes to looking at the Leafs defense.
It's really a very basic structure that doesn't require much of a break down.
The interesting thing is that, when Brian Burke was with Anaheim, he actually had three elite defencemen at the time, a middling fourth player and then two roster "plug-ins." [more…]
I wanted to start this question and answer blog by addressing some debate that came about in my previous post.
I'm sure many of you remember the top-six bottom-six article detailing the Leafs roster and where players currently fit in (read it here). A lot of people messaged me on Twitter or wrote on the board here in response to Grabovski being the shutdown center and I want to respond to that with a really simple answer.
Simply put, I didn't build this team.
This isn't my roster and we all know that. I simply took the information at hand and applied it as best I could. How Carlyle and Burke have combined to formulate their roster is pretty specific. I tried to root that in evidence and express that to all of you. After that, I used my own opinion to slot players into specific roles. The only debate to be had was whether Grabovski, Bozak or Steckel (or Connolly/Lombardi) were best suited for that role. If either Bozak or Steckel become the Leafs shutdown center, well, it's going to be one interesting season. Does that mean Grabovski will be the shutdown center once training camp begins? No. It just means he's currently the best option on the roster. [more…]
Can we all agree right from the top that the hiring of Randy Carlyle signals the Leafs are back to following the top six, bottom six formula Brian Burke originally told us he would put into place?
Can we also all agree that it's nice our General Manager and Head Coach are now on the same page, philosophically speaking?
Okay, good.
So what exactly is a top six, bottom six mold? A few years ago Pension Plan Puppets ran this piece, which explains how each line in this system is utilized. Essentially you have a top line, a shutdown line, a scoring line and an energy line. [more…]
There are two lines of thinking when it comes to the Toronto Marlies.
One: Let's just enjoy the ride, a team in Toronto is finally winning.
Two: How does this translate to the Leafs? (Which then shoots off into a million different opinions of how this helps, if this even matters, and so on).
Frankly, we won't be able to answer that until, at minimum, next season. Although it will probably take longer than that though for us to fully understand the significance, or insignificance, of this run.
I've already written out the players to focus on as potential future pillars to the Leafs organization so you can focus on them if you're looking towards next year.
If you're just enjoying the run? Sit back, relax, and if you're able to attend a game this round, by all means do so. The Marlies and Barons split their season series one regulation win apiece. Ben Scrivens played against Oklahoma once and got a shutout (Owuya lost against OKC earlier in the year), but really there's not much we can take away from two measly games in the regular season that happened in November and at the beginning of January. [more…]
"Championship is the goal. Not to get in the 8th spot and get your ass kicked."
- Leafs GM Brian Burke
You've probably seen this quote before, because it's been repeated by Toronto media and sports fans alike throughout the NHL playoffs.
Now the LA Kings are in the Western Conference Finals and even though the Leafs haven't played hockey in a month, many are back to pointing their finger at Burke and saying "Don't want to finish eighth and get your ass kicked, huh!?"
The difference between the Kings and the Leafs? One team was thought of as a Cup contender before the season started, the other was thought of as a playoff bubble team, at best. I think we all know who each label applies to.
Another difference? The Kings have arguably the best goalie in the world right now on their team. As for the Leafs? Let's just say calling their goalie situation a question mark is being generous at this point.
Goaltending. Now that's a good place to start when it comes to the Leafs, the playoffs and this quote. Because the purppse of this quote constantly being brought up is that Burke should have made trades during the year to make the playoffs, is it not? [more…]
When Brian Burke officially came to Toronto he told everyone exactly how he wanted the Toronto Maple Leafs to play hockey.
He wants his team to be tough, physical, entertaining and to fit into a top six/bottom six scheme. Fans of the Leafs were giddy after his opening press conference. This team would no longer be soft. This team would no longer be pushed around.
Fast forward three and a half years later and they are arguably softer.
So what's happened? This vision Brian Burke had for this team has not come to fruition at all. Did he abandon the plan? Did he all of a sudden wake up and decide he no longer likes toughness? No. He's just built it - or at least is attempting to - in a way that none of us saw coming. Especially after he essentially started his tenure by trading two first round draft picks and a second for Phil Kessel. [more…]
