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Leaf Rumours

If Richards is traded at or before the deadline, I think he can be convinced to sign a 4 or 5 year deal prior to July 1st -- especially if he likes the situation there.

But he hits the open market on July, with a bunch of teams bidding, someone will offer a 6 or 7 year deal. And that will be a problem for the Leafs if Burke holds firm on his 5 year max rule.

I think the Leafs will have to trade for him if they want him.
 
Adding a guy like Staal or Richards to our team next year would allow Burke/Wilson to pull off their Top 6/Bottom 6 thing way more effectively. Staal/Richards, Kessel, Bozak, Kadri, Versteeg, Kulemin...
 
The thing is, either way, I think it's stupid to go with a top 6 / bottom 6 thing anyways.

I'm all for getting a 'youngish' 3rd line where Wilson can limit Kadri and Caputi's minutes (and maybe D'Amigo and McKegg? Who knows?), regardless of who's on our top 2 lines.

I am not so sure about Richards. But if Burke is interested, I'm sure he'll talk to Dallas and get a feel on how likely Richards is going to re-sign with the Leafs prior to July 1, or if he's planning to test UFA market regardless. If it's the latter, you don't make the trade plain and simple.

Richards and Kessel should be a real dynamic duo though, to a point you can even put an Armstrong on the line just to do the dirty work and create space for those 2.

Armstrong - Richards - Kessel
Kulemin - Grabs - MacArthur
Versteeg - Kadri - Caputi
Brown - Hanson - Sjostrom

I can live with that.
 
The Leafs just make some questionable personnel decisions.

They don't even have to have a 'scoring 3rd line'. Even if they just put together a line like Caputi-Hanson-Armstrong -- they're better off. It would be a line that can skate, check, play defense, win faceoffs and chip in a bit offensively.

Why they choose to play AHLers / 4th liners on the 3rd line is beyond me.
 
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meh, caputi doesn't look nhl ready to me.

he goes to the net, and he's responsible enough. but he still has to learn to play to his size, and his skating is still questionable.
 
His hands have also got to catch up with the rest of his skillset. He looks like he has major problems handling the puck in the high-traffic areas and even getting a respectable shot on goal most times. I know that he is primarily likely going to be a garbage-goal type player at the NHL level, but right now he's a liability out there offensively if he's not crashing the net.
 
3. Class move of the week: Zach Parise. The restricted free agent-to-be - and UFA in 2012 - selected his new agent, Wade Arnott of Newport Sports (brother of Parise's teammate, Jason). Before making it public, Parise phoned the other contenders so they'd hear the final decision from him. In a time where some athletes fire representation by text message, that's a nice move.
Click to expand...

http://www.cbc.ca/sports/blogs/elliottefriedman/2010/11/debating-rule-48-plus-30-thoughts.html

Not really a rumour but interesting that Parise just hired Wade Arnott as his agent, who Brian Burke credited for getting Kessel and Bozak here.
 
I'm keeping a close eye on two situations right now:

1) SJ's need for a solid defensive defenseman, and their ability to sacrifice one of Pavelski, Clowe, Couture, or Setoguchi to get one.

2) WAS' need for a veteran goalie on a short-term contract (though that's probably more of a deadline day situation).
 
Washington is close to making the mistake that Philli and Ottawa made in the past.. looking at their goaltending last.

last year seems to have been engrained in peoples mind that you don't have to win with a big money goalie, yet I think this is the anomolie more than the norm.

If Washington got themselves a goalie they could be great... they need defense that plays defense though, cuz those forwards in general do not.
 
"Big money" is less important if it's an expiring deal like giggy's. He'd be way easier to trade than he was last season for the Ducks.
 
Why does WSH need a veteran goalie, or ANY goalie at all?

Neuvirth 8-3-0 .910SV% 2.41GAA
Holtby 2-0-0 .930SV% 1.70GAA
Varlamov (last season ... he's been injured this year) 15-4-0 .909SV% 2.55GAA
 
I don't think teams should be hoping for a Niemi. Chicago was pretty damn lucky they didn't have to face one hot goalie all playoffs, and that a .910 guy was the best goaltender in each round.
 
Washington might be fine. Varly and Neuvirth are both very talented young goalies. But they are very young, and very not dependable. Neuvirth started out strong but has been tapering off lately (see the Leafs game), Varly is always injured, and Holtby is nobody.

They'd seem to be the kind of team that could benefit most from adding a cup winning still-solid vet goalie to their team....but again, that's more of a deadline thing and it's a developing situation that might not be necessary for them.
 
I don't think they seen it as necessary last season either, because if memory serves me, the tenders played good in the regular season.

Anyone who is not from Russia knows that the playoffs are a little bit different than the regular season.

If they want to try their luck again this year, all the power to them, but i can't see the goalies being marginally better in the playoffs in one year.
 
If I was the Caps, I'd probably roll the dice with the young guys -- unless a truly elite goalie like Vokoun became available. I don't know how much a Roloson or Giguere would really help them.

They also had some issues other than goaltending in the playoffs. In the last 3 games of that Habs series, the Caps scored a combined 3 goals. A lot of it was hot goaltending, but they need their secondary scorers to step up. Ovechkin can't win it on his own.
 
Exactly. After a year when Leighton and Niemi got to the SC Finals, I don't think an 'experienced #1 goalie' is a must for the stretch run anymore.

Plus, what good is adding a 2nd tier veteran goalie anyways? Giggy's won a cup but if he finishes the season with a .905SV%, while Varlamov / Neuvirth post better stats going into the playoff, are you ever going to start Giggy ahead of those 2 in the playoff anyways?

What Washington needs is a new coach IMO. Remember this whole "horse" vs "hobby" discussion? Well, if Crosby is a horse, then Ovechkin is definitely a hobby. He may be the most talented hobby but he's still a hobby. Until you put some rules and system in place, it'll be tough for this team to go deep in the playoff - which is a different game from the reg season.
 
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