Director
It is by no means the end of his career, strictly the next step.
On Monday, Nazem Kadri, 7th overall selection in the 2009 draft, was assigned to the Toronto Marlies. The player in whom a whole city had welcomed, became enamoured with and inked into their own starting lineup will not appear at ACC at all… at least not yet. It will prove to be a powerful lesson for the 19 year old, if not the whole city of Toronto; the Toronto Maple Leafs are about winning hockey games, not necessarily selling tickets.
The draft is now just 6 days away, and here's some more draft news to whet your appetite. According to our sources, the Toronto Maple Leafs have expressed significant interest in 2010 draft prospect Brock Nelson out of Warroad High School in Minnesota.
The 6'3 power forward has an impressive on-ice skillset, is very coachable, possesses hockey bloodlines and could very well be the Leafs' target if they manage to trade into the 1st round. This is a project pick that may take a couple years to pay off, but the potential here is sky high. [more…]
With very little good happening at the NHL level, it's time to see how the kids are doing elsewhere. The Marlies dropped a 5-3 decision this afternoon against Rockford, falling to 2-1 on the young season. Jiri Tlusty scored a pair of goals, bringing his totals up to 3 goals and 4 points in 3 games played. [more…]
Former NHLPA Executive Director Paul Kelly finally broke his silence yesterday following his firing early Monday morning. In a vicious 24 hours that also witnessed Glenn Healy's resignation, Kelly was forced to defend himself against allegations he misused his office having reputedly been caught reading a confidential transcript from a players meeting.
For his part, Kelly admitted reading the document to the Executive Board meeting that preceded his departure, saying he felt “duty bound†after union members, concerned that the NHLPA constitution was being violated, actively sought his participation.
One would be forgiven for trying to avoid the latest behind-the-scenes circus to befall the league and its players association. Amid the ongoing and incredulous tug of ego's taking place at the now infamous Phoenix courthouse, Paul Kelly, Executive Director of the NHLPA was fired after a ten hour marathon of meetings in Chicago on Sunday.
Kelly, who was thought to support expansion or relocation back into the Canadian market, was reportedly relieved of his duties following an expensive, ramshackle and unconstitutional investigation fronted by interim ombudsman Buzz Hargrove.
The investigation cited internal disputes surrounding Kelly's direction, a lack of face time with the members of the union and an deep rooted belief that Kelly was becoming too close to the NHL commissioner Gary Bettman and his deputy Bill Daly.
Resulting in a vote of no confidence from the 30 players who make up the NHLPA's executive board, Kelly's position within the union was terminated after just 22 months in office and Ian Penny, former second in command as General Counsel, was installed as the interim executive director.
Hitting the links bright and early on a Thursday morning: Jim Balsillie and the city of Hamilton get new life, Kadri's WJC tryout experience, an update on the Justin Pogge situation, Leafs sign a young defenseman, a mid-summer recap of the offseason festivities, and the Marlies coaching staff announced. [more…]
Picking up on the "defenseman for a forward" trade offer that Burke received the other day, ESPN's Al Cimaglia speculated on a possible fit with the Chicago Blackhawks. After accomodating the acquisition of Hossa and the significant raises to Versteeg, Bolland and Barker, the Hawks find themselves pressed right up against the cap and still requiring a tough, stay at home defender. With Burke having up to six NHL defensive defensemen on his roster right now, Cimaglia suggested the newly acquired Garnet Exelby as a possible fit since he's young, cheap and would fit the mold of what GM Dave Tallon is looking for to round out his defense core. [more…]
For much of the year, scouts from NHL clubs and private scouting agencies scour the globe for the next generational talent, the next franchise player, and the next late round steal. On Draft weekend, a year's hard work is condensed into a single list of names, a few of whom teams hope will become the future building blocks for their franchise. In Part Three of the '09 Draft Preview, the readers of MLHS are in for a special treat, as I recently had the opportunity to pick the brain of E.J. Mcguire, the Director of the NHL's Central Scouting Services and perhaps the most well-recognized face of the scouting world, about the upcoming June Draft. [more…]
