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Leaf Rumours

johnunit said:
Macarthur isn't going to land us a legit 1st line anything, and there are better ways of getting those things than packaging him with someone else.
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True, he wont land one on his own, but if hes included in a package deal, I could see it happening.
 
But he won't land us a number one centre so you can forget that pipe dream. The only one who is even remotely available is Richards and our only chance of getting him is through FA

Mac will get the money he deserves and time to prove if its a fluke or not. If he can keep it up he'll be paid accordingly
 
I'd rather trade Grabo or Kulemin in a deal like that.

MacArhur has been the Leafs best player. Plus he has True Grit.
 
The guy has balls and can play. Its hard to give up on him so quick. One of two you mention could be used as bait for sure though
 
Artnes said:
But he won't land us a number one centre so you can forget that pipe dream. The only one who is even remotely available is Richards and our only chance of getting him is through FA

Mac will get the money he deserves and time to prove if its a fluke or not. If he can keep it up he'll be paid accordingly
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Richards might be available come free agent day, but odds are he'll likely be looking for a retirment contract (7-8) years and Burke has this ridicicoulous code of honor of never wanting to have a contract longer then 5 years, so no I don't see that happening. The only realistic options I see for a top centre are (Spezza and Savard) and secondary centres (Arnott, Connolly). To get a guy like Spezza, they might want a guy like Mccarthur (assuming he keeps up the torrid pace he's on).
 
Age 20
MacArthur - AHL - 69 gp, 21 gls, 53 pts
Sharp - AHL - 53 gp, 14 gls, 33 pts/NHL 3 gp, 0 gls, 0 pts

Age 21
Mac - AHL - 51 gp, 21 gls, 63 pts/ NHL 19 gp, 3 gls, 7 pts
Sharp - AHL 35 gp, 15 gls, 29 pts/ NHL 41 gp, 5 gls, 7 pts

Age 22
Mac - AHL - 43 gp, 14 gls, 42 pts/ NHL 37 gp, 8 gls, 15 pts
Sharp - AHL/LOCKOUT - 75 gp, 23 gls, 52 pts

Age 23
Mac - NHL - 71 gp, 17 gls, 31 pts
Sharp - NHL - 77 gp, 14 gls, 31 pts

Age 24
Mac - NHL - 81 gp, 16 gls, 35 pts
Sharp - NHL - 80 GP, 25 gls, 35 pts

Age 25
Mac - NHL - 49 gp, 15 gls, 40 pts
Sharp - NHL 80 gp, 36 gls, 62 pts
 
Two interesting articles today.. not so much rumours but adressing the coaching survey and the first one pointing out why the Toronto fans (and I use that word not as originally intended) are causing the idea of being a leaf to be something not desired by some players. I can understand chucking waffles... but don't eff with a man's car.

Paul Hunter Sports Reporter
Kris Versteeg, like a lot of the Maple Leafs, has learned not to read or listen to what gets said about him in Toronto’s hypercritical media market.
But when the words were written in the salty dust on his prized Audi R8 and accented with gobs of spit, he had little choice. Versteeg took it as an editorial comment on the Leafs’ play this season; apparently the author felt the team hasn’t lived up to expectorations.


“They were writing stuff all over my $150,000 car,” he recounted after Monday’s practice.


Versteeg wouldn’t repeat the message but he left the impression that it wasn’t: “Wash Me.” He said it was obvious that the vandal knew it was his car and he is considering getting the police involved.

“Sometimes . . . when games don’t go as well, people aren’t happy. Those things are going to happen,” he said.


Despite the desecration of his black beauty — a car with which he proudly posed for a photo in the Star’s sport section in the autumn — Versteeg said he has “no complaints” about playing in Toronto, something that became a talking point in the wake of an NHLPA/CBC poll released on the weekend.


That survey, answered by 318 NHL players, ranked Toronto tied with Montreal as the fifth-least-desirable place to play in the league. The Islanders were first, earning the scorn of 27 per cent of respondents.


The poll also revealed the Leafs’ Ron Wilson as the coach players would least like as their boss. Wilson was named by 24 per cent of those surveyed, followed by the Rangers’ John Tortorella (16 per cent) and Marc Crawford of Dallas (15 per cent).


The Leaf players believe Wilson is simply misunderstood by those outside the room, who only hear his caustic comments that get plenty of airtime on any TV or radio station that cares about hockey.

“I guess if you don’t know Ron, you can maybe take him the wrong way, as being maybe a tougher coach (than he is),” said defenceman Luke Schenn. “But people see him sometimes after we don’t play great or play up to our ability and he’s got to face some tough questions. Sometimes, though, the media people think he’s a tough guy to play for.


“He’s a great coach to play for, when you’re winning especially.”


Goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere said all coaches can be tough but, because of Toronto’s media saturation, people hear Wilson’s comments more or see his anger on the bench more often.


“You can’t just be real polite; that’s not going to work,” he said. “You need to be able to push the guys and get on them when they’re not playing well. Any coach I’ve played for has done that. He might be on TV more than others, maybe that’s why (players voted for him). I just know he’s been nice to me.”


Wilson was not at Monday’s practice. He was in Hershey, Pa., where his late father, Larry, was inducted into the AHL Hall of Fame before that league’s all-star game. Phil Kessel was also not at the workout as he was travelling home from the NHL All-Star Game at Raleigh, N.C.


That Kessel was drafted last in Friday’s draft to select the all-star sides also had the Leafs on the defensive.


“Obviously people want to make a big deal out of it for no reason, which is pretty stupid to me,” said Versteeg. “He earned it and he deserves to be there and to be scrutinized over being picked last overall in a mock draft is ridiculous.”


Added Schenn: “You’d rather be in the all-star game and be the last picked than not be there. You’re still an all-star at the end of the day. In our minds, he’s a real winner for getting a free car.”
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From TSN
A day after a CBC/NHLPA player poll indicated that Ron Wilson was the coach that NHL players would least like to play for, members of the Maple Leafs organization stepped in to defend their beleaguered bench boss.


"The evidence says otherwise and it wasn't because we could offer more money because on the younger guys, we couldn't. It was a level playing field and they chose Toronto and to play for (Ron Wilson)," said GM Brian Burke. "Ron has 600 NHL wins, he won a World Cup and has a silver medal from the Olympics."

In the survey of 318 NHL players, Wilson was named by 24 percent of players as the coach they did not want to play in front of, the highest percentage received by any single coach.


Leafs assistant coach Tim Hunter downplayed the survey, saying Wilson's credentials alone were enough to dispel any such negative notions.

"Ron's record, his coaching, speaks for itself," said Hunter. "600 wins, 1,300 games coached, Canada Cup, silver medal in the Olympics. Our guys like playing for Ron."

Leafs forwad Kris Versteeg said the bright spotlight that is constantly on Wilson in hockey-mad Toronto made for a more critical perception of the 55-year-old Windsor, Ontario native.


"You're in everyone's face every day, and every team in the league gets to see every single interview you do. Obviously it's easy to scrutinize guys a little bit more," said Versteeg. "It's been good so far, me and him, we have a good relationship. I'm sure he does with a lot of other guys in the room too."


Clarke MacArthur, who leads the team in scoring with 40 points in 49 games, seconded Versteeg's "overexposure" theory.


"I like playing for him. I think a lot of it's because he gets so much air time here too. He can be sarcastic and stuff like that," said MacArthur. "He's been great for me here, and I know obviously guys like him here and that's all I can really say about that."


The Leafs, as a team, ranked fourth-last in the survey as a franchise to play for full-time.


"All I know is we haven't had any problems attracting free agents, both veteran players and entry-level guys," said Burke. "We have had eight experienced unrestricted free agents (such as Francois Beauchemin and MacArthur) sign here to play for Ron. Thirty teams were after Tyler Bozak, lots of teams wanted (Jonas Gustavsson). These kids and many others chose to be here. I could go on and on."


Burke also did not seem particularly thrilled that the "coach" question had been part of an NHLPA-sanctioned survey.

"I don't imagine (the players/NHLPA) would be too happy if the general managers got together and voted on which players aren't earning their salaries and who is the most overrated player or anything along those lines and then announced it as from the GMs or the league," he said. "I don't think that would go over too well (with the NHLPA)."


The Leafs have lost three consecutive games and are 19-25-5, which has them sitting 12th in the Eastern Conference with 43 points. They play the Florida Panthers on Tuesday in their first game back after the All-Star break.
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I would love to see a GM or a fan poll on the player that is most overated, or hasn't earned his pay check, or best diver.... or how about wimpiest player? Let's see how the NHLPA would like that
 
From David Shoalts of the globe and mail
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/hockey/sabres-sale-to-kick-off-month-of-mo ves/article1889581/
In Toronto, Maple Leafs GM Brian Burke expects to hear from defenceman Tomas Kaberle’s agent, Rick Curran, this week about a decision on the player’s no-move clause in his contract. If Kaberle finally decides he is ready to accept a trade, Burke will get a list of acceptable teams, which is expected to have just two or three Eastern Conference teams on it thanks to Kaberle’s aversion to leaving Toronto.


For example, it means Burke likely will not be able to ship him to the San Jose Sharks, who are looking for a top-four defenceman and are said to be disenchanted with 24-year-old forward Devin Setoguchi, whose production slipped this season.




A more likely candidate for San Jose is Leafs defenceman François Beauchemin, who has a partial no-trade clause in his contract. Burke, who wasn’t talking Monday, is said to have a list from Beauchemin of 12 teams he would not mind as a new employer.
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People ****ing with Versteeg's car?

So many people don't realize that writing in the salt/dirt on a car DOES **** up the paint. I had to polish out a couple clear "WASH ME"s written in my crown vic when I got it. On an R8 with nice black paint it'd stick out like a sore thumb.


It sounds like Versteeg is definetely not happy here. It's hard to blame him, going from a cup-winner to the incredible negativity we've seen this season.
 
the problem is the bulk of the cap is tiede into the blue line....unless he can move Komisarek resigning Kaberle seems like a bad idea....there is also alot of youth in the D pipeline.

So many errors made

Komi signed

and taking the 2 1sts for Kessel deal as opposed to Kadri and Kaberle

Seguin, 2011 1st, 2010 2nd, Kessel>>>Kadri, ( past 2 years of Kabs) and Kessell
 
If Burke lets Kaberle walk without getting significant value for him he should be fired on the spot. It would be the second time in 3 years he's significantly undervalued what he had and let one of the Leafs most talented players walk without being able to replace them (because short of signing Markov he won't be able to replace Kaberle).
 
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