NHL Off-season Moves

[Fred Derf Veteran]

Peca is better than signing Allison or Lindros. Peca's regular season was disaapointing and thus the Leafs are hoping to get the player from the playoff run.

Allison, on the other hand, was a -20 player and Lindros is still only one hit away from retirement.

[goodcase]

im pretty happy with the peca signing. I would have liked to see lindros back. And I dont mind allison, he may be a slow skater, but he has smart hands and always knows what to do with the puck.

[quick]

im pretty happy with the peca signing. I would have liked to see lindros back. And I dont mind allison, he may be a slow skater, but he has smart hands and always knows what to do with the puck.

Problem is now the NHL is all about speed, all these slow players aren't worth much anymore. Not a big fan of Allison anyway, I found it annoying to watch him play, i was constantly yelling at my TV lol...

[Fred Derf Veteran]

Yeah, I almost yelled at the newspaper when I heard they were even considering resigning Allison several weeks ago. Apparently somebody talked Ferge out of it.

[DreadBoat89]

yay, another decent player is coming to T.O

[bayrider]

So thats like 8 centers the Leafs have in their lineup now?

[Matrix XII]

LOL :rofl:

[Steffan]

I'm scratching my head over this move. After only 40 days on the job, Neil Smith was fired as the Islanders' GM. He's replaced by the recently retired Garth Snow, yes the goalie.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/news/story?id=2522886

[bayrider]

LOL

now LaFontaine has quit as advisor to Wang (the owner of the Isles).

Apparently Smith didn't want to "work in [Wang's] his environment of team" aka Smith didnt want to be Wang's and Milbury's puppet GM.

Is there a franchise as stupid as the Isles? Wang has completely destroyed that team since he took ownership and put Milbury as GM. I mean, look at the players they have lost:

Luongo

Bertuzzi

Jokinen

Chara

Redden

Palffy

Jason Spezza

And what do they hvae to show for? Alexei Yashin and his 10yr 87.5M contract? LOL

[Fred Derf Veteran]

I'm scratching my head over this move. After only 40 days on the job, Neil Smith was fired as the Islanders' GM. He's replaced by the recently retired Garth Snow, yes the goalie.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/news/story?id=2522886

He was the backup goalie right up until he was offered the GM job. He only retired to take that position.

[Razorwing]

So thats like 8 centers the Leafs have in their lineup now?

hmmm here's everyone and how much they make this season 06/07 for Leafs...

GOAL

Andrew Raycroft ($2M)

Mikael Tellqvist (519,500)

DEFENCEMEN

Bryan McCabe (5.75M)

Pavel Kubina (5M)

Tomas Kaberle (4.25M)

Hal Gill (2.1M)

Staffan Kronwall (612,500)

Carlo Colaiacovo (901,740)

Andy Wozniewski (462,500)

LEFT WINGERS

Darcy Tucker (1.596M)

Alexei Ponikarovsky (712,500)

Chad Kilger (900,000)

Aleksander Suglabov (550,000)

CENTRES

Mats Sundin (6.33M)

Michael Peca (2.5M)

Kyle Wellwood (875,000)

Matt Stajan (738,150)*

RIGHT WINGERS

Alexander Steen (900,600)

Jeff O?Neill (1.5M)

Nik Antropov (1.007M)

Ben Ondrus (450,000)

EXTRAS

C John Pohl (450,000)

RW Wade Belak (670,000)

[ambiance]

I am very happy with Peca and feel terrible for Islanders fans. They wrote the book on how not to run an NHL hockey team.

[Fred Derf Veteran]

GOAL

Andrew Raycroft ($2M) - It's a gamble. Do we get the 03/04 Raycroft or the 05/06 Raycroft?

Mikael Tellqvist (519,500) - I don't think he has a future in the NHL but he is cheap enough for a backup.

DEFENCEMEN

Bryan McCabe (5.75M) - An overpaid defensive liability that excels on the powerplay. Hope for penalties.

Pavel Kubina (5M) - new to T.O. so I don't know him well

Tomas Kaberle (4.25M) - This was actually a very good 4 year signing for the Leafs.

Hal Gill (2.1M) - new to T.O. so I don't know him well. Hopefully he can push people away from the net.

Staffan Kronwall (612,500) - We have two spots that any several youths could fill.

Carlo Colaiacovo (901,740) - We have two spots that any several youths could fill.

Andy Wozniewski (462,500) - We have two spots that any several youths could fill.

LEFT WINGERS

Darcy Tucker (1.596M) - He serves as both an agitator and as a reliable 20 goal scorer.

Alexei Ponikarovsky (712,500) - Seems to be a late bloomer. Improved last year with more playing time.

Chad Kilger (900,000) - Can you believe this guy was once drafted 4th overall?

Aleksander Suglabov (550,000) - Acquired from NJ last year.

CENTRES

Mats Sundin (6.33M) - Often vilified team leader. He often plays well when the team is down.

Michael Peca (2.5M) - 2 way defensive centre that is good on draws and nullifying an opponent

Kyle Wellwood (875,000) - Offensive minded player that surprisingly had a decent +/- last year.

Matt Stajan (738,150)* - 2 way defensive centre which is a bit surprising considering his youth.

RIGHT WINGERS

Alexander Steen (900,600) - The Leafs are hoping he develops into a future team leader.

Jeff O?Neill (1.5M) - One of the worst players last year in terms of +/-.

Nik Antropov (1.007M) - A once overrated player that had a decent year last year.

Ben Ondrus (450,000) - Hard hitting player with limited offensive skills.

EXTRAS

C John Pohl (450,000) - I don't know much about this AHL player. I've seen him in a few games.

RW Wade Belak (670,000) - Versatile in that he can play defence. No offensive game to speak of.

[R-Flex]

I can't believe how the Islanders, once of Mike Bossy, Clark Gillies, and Denis Potvin is now this, the Milbury-affected team which has little chance of ever regaining that dynasty status.

I think I have one word for Toronto's roster: Lacking.

[Matrix XII]

Yeah, TO is going to struggle again this year for sure.

The Isles are a whole other story.

[Ayepecks]

The sad thing is the Isles were actually starting to get decent in the last 5 years or so... it's amazing they can do that with a horrible owner; imagine what would happen if they had a GM who actually had control.

[Matrix XII]

Decent? With Yashin? :rofl:

[Ayepecks]

Decent? With Yashin? :rofl:

Well that was a great response :rolleyes:

Considering that for the most part they've been contenders for the playoffs the past 5 years, I'd say so.

[Fred Derf Veteran]

Yeah, TO is going to struggle again this year for sure.

Two top off-season priorities were to imrove the team defence and to get a #1 goaltender.

By jettisoning Aki Berg, Alexander Khavanov and Luke Richardson and replacing them with younger, bigger and more talented players (Kubina and Hal Gill) isn't an upgrade then I don't know what is. Yes, the Leafs will still need two young players in the 5/6 slots like last year but we do have some decent players in the system. While I don't think that McCabe is worth 5.75 million per year, his +/- wasn't bad considering that the vast majority of his points came on the powerplay (which doesn't count towards +/-). Yes, he makes some goofs but he has improved. Overall, I think the Leafs are better on defence.

In goal... Well, I certainly wasn't looking forward to using Belfour again this year. Yes, his buyout (and Tie Domi's buyout) was very expensive for the team as they counted towards the salary cap. If Raycroft is injury free and can regain his 2003/2004 form then the Leafs will have a goaltender worth $4 million that will only cost them half of that. Alternatively, if they get the Raycroft from 2005/2006 then the whole team will suck. It's a gamble.

Offensively, the Leafs didn't have problems last year. They were in the top 10 for goals scored in the league but they suffered from poor play 5 on 5. Much of their offence came on the man advantage. The hope is that Peca will help their 5 on 5 play with respect to +/-. Allison was attrocious at even strength and so was O'Neill but we have him for another year.

[bayrider]

Kubina is certainly an upgrade, but he's definately not worth his paycheque. Most projected him to earn 3.75M to 4M in free agency. Definately not $5M. In your other post, you said you didn't know much about Hal Gill: He's big, but useless. Think of Chara's height with McCabe's defensive abilities. He does add some muscle though, which might nto be all too useful in the new NHL, especially against speedy wingers.

Raycroft... ehhh even in his Calder season, he wasnt THAT great, but he was good. He is still unproven, and at $2M he could be a burden if he doesnt pan out. Last year he was absolutely horrible and lost his spot to a european journeyman. The prospect TO gave up for Raycroft (Tuuka Rask) is projected to be an excellent #1 goalie in the league some day.

But you guys did unload a lot of dead weight like Lindros, Allison, Berg, Richardson etc... but the Leafs are still incredibly weak along the wing(s). The Leafs are packed with natural centers, and not so many natural wingers, so the transition might take a while.

[Fred Derf Veteran]

Everyone says we needed wingers but we were able to be in the top 10 in scoring last year with these wingers (essentially).

Yes, once upon a time Antropov was supposed to be a centre. He was also supposed to be a superstar. Same thing with Chad Kilger. Even Darcy Tucker played a fair bit of centre back in Tampa Bay. These players have all made a transition to the wing over the last few years. Matt Stajan also seems capable of playing the wing. Other guys like Wellwood would best be left as a centre.

Whether or not we are loaded at centre is a bit of a perspective thing.

The biggest problem with the Leafs last year was that they sucked horribly when at even strength.

[bayrider]

Don't forget, 130 of those points came from your top 2 D-men. 60+ points came from Allison, which the team has also not found a replacemnt for.

[Fred Derf Veteran]

Don't forget, 130 of those points came from your top 2 D-men. 60+ points came from Allison, which the team has also not found a replacemnt for.

Allison was a net loss due to his +/- and the fact that Sundin didn't have as much playing time. When Allison was injured Sundin player much better and team soared (relatively).

We have those same two d-men this year. Hopefully the refs will continue to call the penalties.

[R-Flex]

Here's a surprise: Sean Avery has been re-signed by the Kings, 1 year, $1.1 million. GM Dean Lombardi, however, told the press that he is on "double-secret probation", and Avery has said he is excited to return to the club that sent him home near the end of last season.

[Mystical112]

Allison was a net loss due to his +/- and the fact that Sundin didn't have as much playing time. When Allison was injured Sundin player much better and team soared (relatively).

We have those same two d-men this year. Hopefully the refs will continue to call the penalties.

i didnt like allison at all, glad we didnt sign him. i remember reading that if he was point per game player he'd get a bonus, which would make him very expensive and his +/- was just ugly.