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Leaf Rumours

he has skills, and even making the show was pretty good for a 5th rounder.

but he certainly never improved at all, or learned how to use his skills in an effective way.
 
He was a very good late-round find but he never learned how to simplify his game properly. He'll be a tremendous addition to the Marlies though: he's a damn good AHL'er.
 
Burkes going to have quite the offseason. He only has 15.31M to work with in cap space (I included the Finger contract in here) to resign Bozak, Kaberle, Schenn, Mccarthrur, Sjostrom, Mitchell, Brent, Gunnarson, Riemer. Kaberle alone will cost about $5-5.5M, Schenn will be in the $3.5M-4M range, Mccarthur will be hitting pay dirt $2.25-3M, Sjostrom should cost about the same he did last time (750K), Gunnarsson will be likely in the range of 1.4-1.5M. That brings it to 12.9M, which leaves 2.4M in cap space to work with signing everyone else. If Burke buries finger again, that will bring the cap space up to $5.9M. This is also assuming he doesnt make any trades and I'm not sure if it includes bonuses or not.
 
According to Dreger, a few teams have tried to ply Gunnarson from the Leafs and Burke is listening to all offers. I don't think he's necessarily trying to trade him, but if 1 of Gysbers, Holzer is ready, that's a 3rd unit role he can easily fill for cheap.
 
I think Gunnar is a goner, same with Sjostrom, Mitchell's already a Marlie. Brent would take a league min. deal. Reimer won't cost much yet.

Schenn and Mac will probably get $6.5M combined. Bozak will get an extension but won't cost much yet as he hasn't earned it.
 
I know.

Gunnarson was top 4 last season, but he was terrible to start his sophomore season, and though he played better as of late he's still highly inconsistent.
 
number17 said:
I know.

Gunnarson was top 4 last season, but he was terrible to start his sophomore season, and though he played better as of late he's still highly inconsistent.
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teams have been honing in on him on the forecheck all season long. he's getting destroyed along the boards. way too many turnovers.
 
Gunnarsson is a sixth defenceman at this point in time. He has a decent skillset but he's been plagued by inconsistency and he's not even all that young either. He'll be 25 years old this season, which doesn't exactly make him prospect material (he was a 20 year-old draft pick who was passed over twice before we took him to start with).

Could he possibly be a late-bloomer? Sure. But I just don't see the type of high-end skill that would lead Burke to be hesitant to deal him. If they could package him with another potentially attractive asset or take on some salary in return from a team looking to dump a contract (Edmonton with Penner or Tampa Bay with Malone) then it would be something you have to start considering.

He's simply not good enough to be a core player on this team moving forward. Cash in on his value when it's at its peak as a "young and improving" player and take advantage of the present seller's market that exists.
 
msun30 said:
teams have been honing in on him on the forecheck all season long. he's getting destroyed along the boards. way too many turnovers.
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This. He's weaker than melted margarine along the wall on most nights. It kills the break-out from the Leafs zone and makes starting the transition game more difficult when opposing forwards can pin you deep by punishing Gunnarsson physically.
 
I don't think he's weak, but he is definitely losing those position battles on a regular basis. I still wouldn't want to trade him.
 
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