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Leaf Rumours

The top 6 forwards going into last season and this season are about equal, if you think the Leafs top 6 this season will manage to attain the predictions in that Hockey News prediction issue.
 
The worst part is, that the two moves he should have made were to re sign Antropov (who only wanted 3.5 to stay) and Ponikarovsky (Heard no word on what he wanted to stay...but to continue playing with his best friend, I don't think there would have been much of a problem re signing him)

Poni-Antropov-Kessel
Kadri-Bozak-Kulemin
Versteeg-Grabo-Sjostrom
Orr-Mitchell-Brown


Just don't make the Armstrong signing, along with obviously the Antro & Poni trades, and waive Finger. With our blueline and goaltending, a decent mix of speed and size/toughness in the bottom 6...and we're a playoff team.
 
MindzEye said:
The worst part is, that the two moves he should have made were to re sign Antropov (who only wanted 3.5 to stay) and Ponikarovsky (Heard no word on what he wanted to stay...but to continue playing with his best friend, I don't think there would have been much of a problem re signing him)

Poni-Antropov-Kessel
Kadri-Bozak-Kulemin
Versteeg-Grabo-Sjostrom
Orr-Mitchell-Brown


Just don't make the Armstrong signing, along with obviously the Antro & Poni trades, and waive Finger. With our blueline and goaltending, a decent mix of speed and size/toughness in the bottom 6...and we're a playoff team.
Click to expand...


poni was garbage and in no way shape or form would he play more than versteeg ! versteeg is highly underrated as he was buried on a full team and yet still put out good numbers

antropov schrampov the guy is nothing more than a third if not second line centreman who had way too much hype for what he brings

armstron was an awesome signing and leaf fans are gonna swoon him just like tucker many years ago
 
mikedumar said:
poni was garbage and in no way shape or form would he play more than versteeg ! versteeg is highly underrated as he was buried on a full team and yet still put out good numbers

antropov schrampov the guy is nothing more than a third if not second line centreman who had way too much hype for what he brings

armstron was an awesome signing and leaf fans are gonna swoon him just like tucker many years ago
Click to expand...
Yeah, there sure are a lot of 6'5" third line centermen who can score 60-70 points while also being a terrific defensive player. He certainly sucks compared to a $3M third line winger who struggles to crack the 40 point mark, and another $3M winger who's career offensive season would be a poor showing by Antropov.

Batshit crazy.
 
If you think Poni was garbage, man are you going to hate Armstrong. And please don't compare Armstrong to Tucker either. Tucker was better offensively, hit more, and would drop the gloves as well. Antropov I would love to have over Komisarek.
 
MindzEye said:
The worst part is, that the two moves he should have made were to re sign Antropov (who only wanted 3.5 to stay) and Ponikarovsky (Heard no word on what he wanted to stay...but to continue playing with his best friend, I don't think there would have been much of a problem re signing him)
Click to expand...

Where did you get the 3.5? I think the whole reason Burke moved him was because he didn't want to pay 4. As for Poni, I wouldn't have minded keeping him either. Hopefully Caputi turns into something. I also heard that the reason Poni signed only a 1 year deal is because he still wants to come back here and will try again next summer.
 
I, too, hate the Antropov trade. If Burke realizes he doesn't have enough top 6 forwards coming through the system, he'd have been better off keeping Antropov at $3.5M for a few more years.

That said, putting myself in Burke's shoes, MAYBE I can see the rationale.

Antropov is not a bad player, but when Burke take over this team, he also realizes this team was a bottom feeder, that has a losing culture. The team chemistry, the culture in the dressing room ... etc, just wasn't about winning. Players weren't hungry enough for the W's. Wins are nice, but it isn't the end of the world if we lose. Players weren't willing to sacrifice or execute the little details or spend the extra time at the gym or practice to make this team a winner.

And that, despite what stats the players put up on paper, has gotta change. I am not saying Antropov was a 'cancer', but you gotta admit Antropov and Poni were in a lot of ways, pretty loosey-goosey guys. If you got a team full of Gary Roberts, Ed Belfours, and Wendel Clarks, maybe they can be decent complimentary pieces. But if you are going to change the culture of the team, and Burke doesn't think Antropov, as a veteran on this team now, brings the right attitude and ethics to the team, then that's his reason for parting with Antropov, regardless of what return he gets in return.

Same for Poni. And same reason why he chose to part with Hagman, Blake, Vesa. It's not just about what you can do on the ice, but it's also about the character, the identity and the culture of this team which he was trying to rebuild.
 
I understood at the time why Burke didn't want to pay 4 on a multi-year deal. But I assumed it was because he was going to make better use of the cap space on a better player. At this point we can say that definitely hasn't happened.
 
Burke just flat out misjudged Antropov as a player. No excuses. I'm sure he'd love a mulligan on that one. He gave up exactly what he is looking for right now (a top line goal scoring winger, with size) for practically nothing. He blew it.

Poni is much less of a mistake, but they could certainly use him at this point.
 
Volcanologist said:
I understood at the time why Burke didn't want to pay 4 on a multi-year deal. But I assumed it was because he was going to make better use of the cap space on a better player. At this point we can say that definitely hasn't happened.
Click to expand...
Well, that depends on how you look at it ... if you claim that the Antropov $$ went to Phil Kessel, then it's a good use of cap space.

But you're right, he hasn't made too many acquisition of top 6 forwards. I believe part of the reason is his philosophy of 'getting better and rebuilding at the same time', he tries to get young players in their early 20's with elite potential, who can contribute rightaway, but also has room for development.

These players don't grow on trees, and are rarely available via trade.

The fact he managed to add Kessel and Phaneuf over the same season is actually a pretty big achievement IMO.

If he can pull another rabbit out of the hat I'll be VERY happy.
 
It all depends on Washington's asking price.

I don't see Fleischmann as a first line winger, but he should be pretty good for 2nd line.
 
Metalleaf said:
The top 6 forwards going into last season and this season are about equal, if you think the Leafs top 6 this season will manage to attain the predictions in that Hockey News prediction issue.
Click to expand...

the leafs are clearly a downgraded offensive team from the start of the 09-10 season.

there's just no denying that. the team lacked top end talent, but if nothing else it had depth.

i just don't think that kadri, bozak, versteeg, armstrong replaces what stajan, ponikarovsky, blake and hagman brought to the table offensively. at least, at this point in their careers.
 
Well I don't include Armstrong in the top 6, to me its:

Kessel(67pts) -- Stajan(65pts)
Bozak(57pts) -- Ponikarovsky(57pts)
Kulemin(53pts) -- Hagman(51pts)
Grabovski(52pts) -- Grabovski(40pts)
Kadri(41pts) -- Blake(47pts)
Versteeg(46pts) -- Stempniak(54pts)

The stats on the left are based on predictions, so obviously there are a lot of ifs, but our offence has the potential to match what it did last year prior to Jan 31st.
 
They need Kadri and Bozak to be 20+ goal scorers to come close. Its a lot to expect of a couple young guys, though not out of the question.
 
I don't think its fair to take Kessel out of the top 6 last year. He scored more goals than anyone else.

Of course the Leafs offense will be better than that 8 game stretch to start the season when Kessel wasn't there and they couldn't score period.
 
I understand that, but despite the fact that Kessel wasn't in the lineup game 1, they still had him, and he still scored more goals than any other Leaf forward last year.

He was the largest part of the 2009-10 Leafs offense. So its disingenuous not to include him.
 
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