Yes, I know … it’s been a looooong time since I’ve posted anything here, but there is reason, and not because it’s off season. You’ll see a lot more frequent postings moving forward.
I’ve been working on the fantasy staple, McKeen’s Annual Hockey Pool Yearbook, writing up player scouting notes for about a dozen players each for all 30 teams.
Just finished up with my predictions for the NHL and thought it would a good discussion point for Leafs fans. The predictions process is a team effort for the Yearbook, but these were my contributions for the Maple Leafs next season.
Notes:
John Mitchell, Rickard Wallin, Wayne Primeau and Jamal Mayers will be fighting it out for the bottom two pivot spots (3rd and 4th line)
You’ll notice Jiri Tlusty playing less than an entire schedule .. aside from a breakout performance on the Marlies last season, I feel he will make appearances in both the AHL and NHL in ’09-10. He has a top-6 spot to lose
I went conservative with Hagman, feeling he flirts with career high 27 goals. Grabovski and Kulemin are a little light too.
I think Bozak is a potential top-6, and will get spot duty there.
I’m not an Ian White fan, and recognize his value to the Buds, but don’t see that translating into a points bonanza.
Ladies and gents … your 2009-10 Toronto Maple Leafs Points predictions.
| Player | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | Pts/Gm |
| Blake, Jason | 80 | 26 | 32 | 58 | 28 | 0.725 |
| Ponikarovsky, Alexei | 77 | 23 | 31 | 54 | 28 | 0.701 |
| Kaberle, Tomas | 79 | 6 | 45 | 51 | 18 | 0.646 |
| Hagman, Niklas | 76 | 24 | 27 | 51 | 32 | 0.671 |
| Grabovski, Mikhail | 76 | 23 | 26 | 49 | 52 | 0.645 |
| Stempniak, Lee | 79 | 19 | 24 | 43 | 38 | 0.544 |
| Kulemin, Nikolai | 79 | 22 | 19 | 41 | 22 | 0.519 |
| Stajan, Matt | 79 | 13 | 21 | 34 | 48 | 0.430 |
| Tlusty, Jiri | 48 | 14 | 12 | 26 | 22 | 0.542 |
| Bozak, Tyler | 62 | 12 | 14 | 26 | 24 | 0.419 |
| White, Ian | 77 | 6 | 19 | 25 | 50 | 0.325 |
| Wallin, Rickard | 58 | 8 | 16 | 24 | 26 | 0.414 |
| Van Ryn, Mike | 54 | 5 | 18 | 23 | 44 | 0.426 |
| Finger, Jeff | 72 | 4 | 18 | 22 | 48 | 0.306 |
| Mitchell, John | 70 | 10 | 11 | 21 | 39 | 0.300 |
| Beauchemin, Francois | 78 | 6 | 14 | 20 | 67 | 0.256 |
| Schenn, Luke | 80 | 4 | 14 | 18 | 66 | 0.225 |
| Komisarek, Mike | 74 | 3 | 15 | 18 | 139 | 0.243 |
| Mayers, Jamal | 62 | 6 | 11 | 17 | 91 | 0.274 |
| Primeau, Wayne | 60 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 49 | 0.133 |
| Orr, Colton | 80 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 218 | 0.063 |
| Exelby, Garnet | 54 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 98 | 0.093 |
katshockey@www.mapleleafshotstove.com
