franchise player
Toronto Maple Leafs General Manager, Brian Burke should have uttered one phrase to explain the situation, one simple little phrase to envelope the reasoning for the Phil Kessel trade;
“Our picks in our vision of where we ended up are overvalued in accordance to the available crop of prospects.â€
But in Toronto, to admit that in what’s deemed as a ‘rebuild’ would have been a PR disaster.
Despite popular opinion, he wasn’t wrong.
The world is no longer flat, it’s round .. like a full-cirle
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times and it was the most idiotic decision in Dominic Moore's career. From a player who was initially claimed by the Maple Leafs off waivers from the Minnesota Wild, and became the ether to Jason Blake's resurgence last season, it seems either greed, a serious misjudgment, or just flat out stupidity cost him nearly $4M dollars.
I must confess, I bought in. I bought into the mantra of improved team toughness, improved goaltending, improved and revamped defense, and an improved top6 forward unit possessing speed and skill who would be protected and insulated by a tough as nails complimentary group of players. I watched the pre-season and was salivating at the skill, speed, and determination exhibited by the up and coming Leafs prospects. But, then something very strange happened, something I cannot comprehend nor understand. Every single player (with the exception of Stalberg), which had led to such optimism and belief of brighter days ahead - were demoted to the OHL or the AHL. I sat there shaking my head, and privately and publicly went on and on about how this team could not succeed without the youth. Ironically enough, I had absolutely no idea how right I was and how bad this could and would get.
The window dwindles. And so what?
I'm not a proponent of trading the smooth skating 31-year-old Czech native, yet not inflexible to believe the right offer would send him packing. Not so much due to lessened mobility, but because of the skill set he delivers and the fact there are other solutions that retain his services, yet keep the rebuild's momentum.
But what's the rush? What happened to the rebuild? Why all of a sudden is there a heightened sense of urgency in turning this ship around and would Kaberle bring the elite forward for the rebuild? What about drafting and development?
Fans clamored for a proper rebuild, understood it takes time to accomplish that, yet threw that out with a few well-placed signings. Turn around time seems to have gone from long term, to quick, fast, do it all now and get rid of that Kaberle to do so!
Assuming the only option to improve the club is by trading Kaberle alone is not entirely accurate. There are other alternatives.
Coming into this offseason, GM Brian Burke promised to drastically overhaul the Maple Leafs roster, and he knew that the primary asset at his disposal was cap space: lots and lots of it. After handing out long-term contracts to Orr, Beauchemin, and Komisarek, he's got a little under $3 million left to play with in order to add an impact top six forward. In an attempt to minimize the amount of outgoing "talent" via trade, it's no secret that he's been trying to corner GM's of teams that are pressed right up against the cap. [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…]
With just a little over two weeks until the draft, it's time to turn our attention towards some of the favourites to go off the board first. Last year, a small group of about six players (Stamkos, Doughty, Bogosian, Pietrangelo, Schenn and Filatov) managed to distinguish themselves from the rest of the class, leading the Toronto Maple Leafs to pay a hefty price to move up. As we inch closer to the twenty-sixth, a trend is beginning to emerge that has the same five players at the top of every team's draft board. Let's meet the candidates. [more…]
by Darkjester
Many Leaf fans are counting down the days until Draft Day 2009, when we anticipate that our beloved Leafs will draft the franchise player that will lead the blue and white to the promise land. Some dream of John Tavares after witnessing him lead Team Canada to Gold at the WJC. Others dream about Evander Kane and his amazing hands or Brayden Schenn, who seems to be the Burke archetype we could all potentially revere. What you're not typically finding on fans' wish lists is a defenseman, which most aren't prioritizing due to the fact we have, in some beliefs, eight NHL-caliber d-men. We do lack the type of star player upfront that can potentially compete for the league lead in goals. So I ask the question: is that really what this team needs right now?
[more…]
Thanks to the lack of high end technology (No PVR damnit!) at home, I was faced with a tough decision tonight: CHL Top Prospects Skills Competition or Leafs vs. Preds. Sadly, I chose the Leaf game. Pretty much a low chance, slow pace snoozer from the get-go so I eventually started flipping back and forth to catch glimpses of the NHL's next crop of exciting young stars showing off their various talents. Little metaphor there I suppose? [more…]
