2011-12 Season
Leafs Nation was parked outside Brad Richards' agents' office on July 1st, singing songs they hoped would sway him to our little corner of the universe. It was not to be, along came Tim Connolly, the Leafs' silver medal. He has been notorious in his time in Buffalo for injuries that leave him absent from the team for large chunks at a time. At only 2 years, is Connolly a gamble worth making for the Leafs? Time to find out. [more…]
Please read the preceding article in this series on top 6 forwards here. For this article, the bottom 6 forwards on the Leafs are: Colby Armstrong, Joey Crabb, John Mitchell, Darryl Boyce, Fredrik Sjostrom, Tim Brent, Mike Brown, Jay Rosehill and Colton Orr. I decided to leave Kadri out of my forward reviews due to his few games played in conjunction with his rapid change from top 6 to bottom 6 from game to game.
When all is said and done, the bottom 6 forwards on Toronto in the 2010-11 season dropped the ball in a big way. This is no more obvious than in their scoring. We've established that Toronto's top 6 scored at a decent clip, but the bottom 6 had almost none at all. The leading scorer in Toronto's bottom 6 was Colby Armstrong with a measly 8 goals. Third liners should all be expected to score at least 12-15 goals per year if you want to be a serious championship contender. In 09-10, the leading bottom 6 scorer on the Leafs was Lee Stempniak, who managed 14 goals in 62 games (and somehow ending the year with 28). It goes without saying that if a bottom 6 group scores as little as Toronto's did this season, they have to be making up for it with some stellar defensive play. Let's take a look at some of the relatively unseen stats (which can be found at BehindTheNet.ca) and see what we can find. [more…]
If this is an "Inception" inspired dream, James Reimer is going to be one angry guy. Â But who's kidding, Christopher Nolan is tied up on other projects, and even more of a stretch would be to see the happy-go-lucky Reimer mad.
Although I'm not sure he's even had to time to sit down, lean back, and take in everything he has accomplished this past season, James Reimer is on a whirlwind tour through the land of hockey, picking up fans and supporters along the way.
One little note: The terms top 6 and bottom 6 are thrown around rather frequently, but they’re anything but that simple in reality. Lines change often and players move up and down based on recent performance. For the sake of the article, I will be naming the following players top 6 players on the Leafs: Phil Kessel, Clarke MacArthur, Mikhail Grabovski, Nikolai Kulemin, Joffrey Lupul and Tyler Bozak.
The curtain has closed on another disappointing Leaf season without the playoffs. This year had more than its fair share of ups and downs, but the emotional end leaves hope for the future. Goaltending was certainly the biggest change in the second half, with Reimer stepping up after Giguere and Gustavsson tumbled to the floor. But there was another noticeable improvement to the Leafs this season: top 6 scoring. Two players reached 30 goals this year (Phil Kessel, Nikolai Kulemin), improving on last season’s one (Kessel again). This was helped by two further players getting at least 20 goals (Mikhail Grabovski, Clarke MacArthur), again improving over last season’s one (Niklas Hagman). However, there is much more to winning NHL games than scoring some goals. With that said, we’re going to analyze the Leafs’ top 6 forwards and see which players rise to the top. [more…]
The season is over, but the postmortem examination is just beginning. I'll open this period of speculation, hope and dissection of our favorite hockey team with a piece that grades our entire roster beginning with forwards and ending with the masked men of TO.
Players who played part years like Matt Lashoff were not included because I think most would agree 11 games are not nearly enough to grade him on a seasonal basis, nor is it fair to that particular player. The grading system varies from A+ to D- but there is one exception (guess who?). Everyone likes grades.
Well, what are you waiting for? Do continue. [more…]
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"Put a candle in the window,
'cause I feel I've got to move.
Though I'm going, going,
I'll be coming home soon.
Long as I can see the light."
- John Fogerty
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You probably don't need the following statistical breakdown to know the answer to the above question. I'll try to keep the anointing oil on the shelf but we haven't had a Leaf rookie step into the lineup and make this type of immediate impact since Felix Potvin. Just as the post-lockout plight of terrible goaltending looked to be continuing to haunt the Leafs, the new year brought new hope; Optimus Reim rolled out, and Leafs Nation has been walking in a Reimer wonderland ever since. [more…]
Last night's 3-2 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers combined with the Buffalo Sabres 4-3 (OT) victory over the Boston Bruins has nearly sunk the fading playoff hopes of the Toronto Maple Leafs. In fact, the Maple Leafs are almost in need of a miracle to regain any real chance of actually making the big dance. According to Sports Club Stats the Leafs current chances of making it are now sitting at an all-time low of 2.3%.
To make the playoffs the Leafs are going to have to nearly run the table to get to the needed 92 or 93 points. With 14 games remaining in the season the Leafs will have to go 11-1-2 just to get to 92 points, and that might not even be a guaranteed playoff spot. If I just killed your spirit I apologize but this is just the reality of the extremely bleak situation facing the Toronto Maple Leafs. [more…]
With another trade deadline behind us, the NHL season truly enters "crunch time" as rosters are set (for the most part) and the push for the Cup gets underway.
Most teams, including the Leafs, chose not to ripple any waters on February 28th - save for a few minor deals and an even smaller amount of major transactions.
While some media outlets will suggest that the teams surrounding the Leafs in the playoff race added key components while Brian Burke sat on his hands, this simply isn't true.
If Toronto fail to make the postseason, it won't be due to the fact that the Hurricanes and Thrashers added Bryan Allen and Radek Dvorak, respectively. Nor will it be because Brad Boyes is now a Buffalo Sabre.
As rumors swirl regarding Tomas Kaberle's future in Toronto, the blueprint general manager Brian Burke has imprinted for the Toronto Maple Leafs is anything but definitive---but that doesn't make it any less effective.
With the departures of Francois Beauchemin and Kris Versteeg, Burke has managed to not only add some prospects to the cupboard, but relieve some cap space for acquisitions via trade and/or free agency . If Burke and Bruins GM Peter Chiarelli reach an agreement and Kaberle decides to waive his no-trade clause, the Leafs would free even more cap space assuming the team doesn't acquire a bloated contract in return---which Burke is apparently willing. Considering Kaberle is eligible for free agency this summer, it's hard to envision a lucrative return from the Bruins for his services. That's not to say the Leafs won't be able to acquire some important building blocks moving forward, but Kaberle won't net an impact player of such caliber as, say, Jeff Carter.
As the February 28 trade deadline approaches, the yearly tradition of pondering Tomas Kaberle's future with the Toronto Maple Leafs has been a hot topic in the rumor mill, but there's another dilemma facing general manager Brian Burke.
And that's whether to retain the services of 24-year-old forward, Kris Versteeg.
in return for prospect Mikhail Stefanovich.
Update: Brian Burke tells MLHS Brunnstrom will start with the Marlies - "we'll see how he does." He adds that there's no change in the Standard Player Contract count as Stefanovich was still Leaf property, "but he had time left, Fabian does not." A trade off of term for salary from the sounds of it.
The 25-year-old Brunnstrom, who generated a sweepstakes of sorts after a big year for Farjestads, was originally a target of John Ferguson's when he opted for the Dallas Stars as his NHL destination in spring, 2008. A promising if injury shortened rookie campaign of 17 goals in 55 games preceded a disastrous sophomore season that saw him spend some time with the AHL's Texas Stars and nearly led to arbitration after he felt he was lowballed by the Stars' initial qualifying offer. The sides settled on a one-year, one-way contract extension worth $675,000. [more…]
