My apologies, I would have hoped that in the past week I could come up with an idea for a post. Instead, here are some quick thoughts for discussion at the beginning of the week. Of course there—s also the small matter of Game Six tonight which I—m wagering is the last NHL game we see for the next four to six months. Having wagered on the Devils to win the cup back in April when Bodog had them at 22-1 odds, I can safely say my rooting interests remain with New Jersey. Here are the other discussion points and links.
- David Jones signing a 4 year 4 million dollar a season deal sets the bar for forwards in free agency. It certainly wasn—t a hometown discount, and skews the value for all other middle of the road free agents. If Burke is looking to add a top six forward I—d rather see him overpay on high end talent like Semin or Parise rather than sign Brad Boyes or Olli Jokinen to $4 or 5 million dollar deals. On the upside, if the Leafs are willing to deal in forwards, it makes Connolly—s deal seem spot on, and Lupul and MacArthur probably could net a nice return if Burke wants to earmark one of their spots for Kadri or the 5th overall pick.
- Brad Stuart has had his rights dealt to San Jose. Since it was either going to be Detroit or San Jose where Stuart decided to end his career, it—s not too big a surprise that he—s going back to the city where his family resides. While this certainly gives Detroit even more room for signing both Parise and Suter, I—m choosing to believe this offseason is the beginning of the fall of Rome and the Wings are a couple of seasons away from resembling the Calgary Flames.
- SBNation is holding their annual mock draft, and Pension Plan Puppets had to pick with Yakupov, Galchenyuk, Forsberg and Grigorenko already off the board. In their poll I went with Ryan Murray, and honestly I believe this is the right decision if this scenario comes up on June 22nd as well. Trading down for a lesser forward prospect seems like a waste when the Leafs can still benefit from help on the blueline as well.
- There is no prospect I want to see have success more than Joe Colborne. He—s started bulking up, but seems to be losing a step in the process. It might be time to see if Luke Schenn—s power skating coach has a 2 for 1 coupon. I—d love to see him get a solid shot at the Leafs next season either as the 3rd line center or winger.
- Speaking of Marlies, it seems like Scrivens has made life more difficult by being such a competent goaltender at the AHL level. It—s hard to argue that he—s earned his shot at the NHL level, but it—s also hard to argue that Reimer and Scrivens as a tandem is far from encouraging. It seems like one of Reimer or Scrivens will have to be shipped out, and at this point I still favour keeping Reimer.
LINKS:
My Monday morning routine: Swing by Starbucks for a Venti Dark Roast then lock myself in my office and listen to the Leafs Nation Podcast while catching up on email. Not an exciting routine, but thanks to JP and Danny for giving me something to look forward to at the beginning of the week.
All Hail Mikhail– Acquiring Mikhail—s has served Toronto well in the past, so I—m inclined to agree with Hope in the Big Smoke, provided that Galchenyuk is out of the picture.
The Jets could also be looking for a new top goaltender– Though if I—m a player with a history of collapsing in the middle of games I probably think twice about the KHL.
Jeffler recaps the Calder Cup Finals at Marlies HQ– Frankly I wasn—t too concerned that the Marlies lost. They achieved their goal of getting an extra couple of months of playing time for their prospects.
Does Size Matter At The NHL Draft?– A good look at the correlation between size and success in the NHL. Does size matter in point production? No. Does size hurt will all other things being equal? Nope.
Lowetide—s 30– I—ve really come to respect Lowetide—s draft rankings over the past few years, here are his rankings for the 2012 draft.
It—s also worth noting that TSN.ca will have Craig Button—s final draft rankings posted today. My personal thoughts on his rankings aside, it—s interesting to see how a former GM assesses this prospect pool. Remember it—s 30 Craig Button—s sitting at the draft tables using their lists, not picking based off of all the consensus lists out there.
