offensive player
Leafs Preseason Synopsis Part 1Â - Defense and Goaltending
By: Michael Cuttell
With free agency cooling off and countless free-agent and team roster questions floating around, it’s time for Leafs fans to look at what they have, what they can afford to lose , what they need, and what they can realistically get to fill those needs. This is a step by step speculative analysis of those questions. [more…]
It's been a hot topic, and a touchy one at that for the better part of almost a year, since the day the trade was consummated. Â The Toronto Maple Leafs, toward the end of the pre-season, announced that they had traded two firsts and a second round pick to the Boston Bruins in exchange for Phil Kessel, a young American born sniper who the B's were having issues resigning.
It was a steep price to pay, but you have to give to receive, and in Kessel the Leafs got a bona fide goal scorer who looks like he could be a perennial 30 goal scorer (more on that later.)
And yet some people have cast Kessel to fail, no matter what impact he has on the Leafs, attaching him forever to the trade that brought him here.
This past week, Bill Watters took that to the extreme, and took a piece of integrity written journalism and turned into something sensational and downright wrong, all in the name of making Phil Kessel look as bad as possible because he doesn't agree with the trade.
Yesterday was a big day in Leafs Nation. Â And I think I speak for all fans when I say it's about time. Â While two teams are currently battling for the opportunity to lift Lord Stanley's Cup, the Toronto Maple Leafs have been forced to sit on the sidelines and watch, bide their time with the other half of the league who wasn't fortunate enough to make into the NHL's playoffs.
And while they have kept themselves busy, and Brian Burke has shown a penchant for rarely letting his team slip into the background, a lot of hype has been leading toward this time of year.
Even without a first-or second-round draft pick, the Toronto Maple Leafs are still making plenty of waves, and it appears Burke is fit to make an impression at the draft, whether he is selecting or not.
Which, although he would never admit it, would be the perfect way to steal the spotlight back from the doom and gloom position of Boston using the Leafs pick to select a potential franchise cornerstone.
Tomas Kaberle, long been rumoured to be on his way out of Toronto, may be inching closer and closer with each passing day. Â As the calendar flipped to June yesterday, and now with the entry draft and free agency now firmly in sight on the horizon, it appears Kaberle's time with the Toronto Maple Leafs is now being measured in days. [more…]
Took a couple days off, but now let's get back to the draft profiles. Today's 2010 draft primer will focus on Andrew Yogan, an American-born power forward who plays for the Erie Otters of the OHL. Yogan might've garnered first or second round consideration at the beginning of the season but has been all over draft boards of late because of his inconsistent play. However, the invaluable package of size, character and high end skill he brings to the table is undeniable. [more…]
Warning: The following could make your eyes fall out, your ears explode, and cost you years of therapy. How’s that an introduction for you?
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It's been the story of the summer in Toronto, the one that just will not go away. Â
What will the Maple Leafs do with Tomas Kaberle?  Will they trade him this offseason? Will they keep him hoping his play on an improved team will up the demand for him?  Or will they keep him with the intention of building around him?
The Toronto Maple Leafs' first draft under the watchul eye of Brian Burke displayed a stark change in the team's draft philosophy. The scouting staff searched for the type of players and attributes that would be able to fit into the mold of a tough, physical checking style of game that the Leafs hope to play several years down the road. As a result, we saw a lot more emphasis placed on size and toughness than skill and speed. Not surprisingly, all of Toronto's seven selections were from the North American ranks, four of them from the Ontario Hockey League and three from American hockey programs. [more…]
On a night where we can say the "Sundin Saga" came to its exciting and fitting end, the Leafs played a second straight game where they showed the hard work and energy that was so characteristic of their early-season stretch of hockey. Upon the shootout conclusion of this game, I received three different messages all musing over the same thing: "Whoever scripted this game did it perfectly." In the steady, reliable fashion that Leaf fans became accustomed to over thirteen years of service, Mats Sundin skated down the ice and with apparent effortlessness netted the shootout winner for his team. Except this time, he was doing it for the Vancouver Canucks.
*A little late posting this - my apologies. But RG's foresight was bang on...
Yes, yes it will.
The Belorussian native is struggling amidst his rookie season – still searching for a point on the score sheet – but it's not as if the speedy center isn't trying, in fact, he's displaying the work ethic head coach Ron Wilson is demanding.
Alright everybody, let's sit down and do some good old fashioned stat crunching. I call this the GM Game.
Hypothetically speaking, let's say you had two young defensemen: Player A and Player B. [more…]
