Forgotten leaf players.

pucksakes666

Registered User
Mar 8, 2018
661
289
Hello first time posting on here. I was wondering were have Joffery Lupul and Nathan Horton gone since their injuries? It's like they fell off the face of the earth no apperances anywere.
 

Clark4Ever

What we do in hockey echoes in eternity...
Oct 10, 2010
11,530
8,073
T.O.
Robidas_Island.0.jpeg
 

Attachments

  • Robidas_Island.0.jpeg
    Robidas_Island.0.jpeg
    105.9 KB · Views: 2

nuck

Schrodingers Cat
Aug 18, 2005
11,340
2,422
Lupul might have a potential to play somewhere next year, for whatever a glass player contract is worth. While he may have qualified for LTIR, I sort of read into the subtext of all of that, he may have been skating if it was a non cap world. I guess we'll see this summer if he gets a tryout somewhere. Horton is destroyed, and like the infinitely more talented Pronger, he will not be seem again.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Its not your fault

LeafsNation75

Registered User
Jan 15, 2010
37,975
12,506
Toronto, Ontario
If it wasn't for Lupul and his comments on Instagram prior to training camp no one would have cared about him. I don't think any Leafs will forget him because when he was healthy which was very rarely, he still could score for them. However the team was better off without him.

When it comes to Nathan Horton no one expected him to ever play for the Leafs, even when it was announced that they traded David Clarkson for him.
 

pucksakes666

Registered User
Mar 8, 2018
661
289
I know they're both injuried but I mean you never see them even with a made up job for the leafs . Lupul use to always be in front of a camera or out at team events .
 

pheasant

Registered User
Nov 2, 2010
4,226
1,376
I know they're both injuried but I mean you never see them even with a made up job for the leafs . Lupul use to always be in front of a camera or out at team events .

They can't give Lupul a made up job with the organization. To accept it he would have to retire, and give up the millions of dollars he is getting paid while he goes fishing. He collect a paycheque right now just like every other roster player on the team.

And that's why he has essentially disappeared. Whether he's too hurt to play or not, you don't want a guy who is on injured reserve to be making public appearances. It causes questions no one wants asked. A player doesn't want the hate they might get for collecting cheques, and the team doesn't want to be accused of letting him sit while healthy.

With Horton it's different, but not much. He was added to the team with the understanding that he would never put on a Leafs jersey. I read in an interview that he has so much back pain he can barely function as a normal adult. If he has surgery to fix it, he would never be medically cleared to play and he would ave to retire. He doesn't want to abandon hope that he can ever play again, and he doesn't want to cut off the paycheques either. So he's fighting with therapy that he knows is %99.99 likely to never get him back into the game.

So why make any public appearances for a team you have never, and will never, play for? He has no fans in Toronto. It would only serve as a painful reminder, for him and the organization, that you are expensive and done as a player.
 

Tak7

Registered User
Nov 1, 2009
12,623
4,094
GTA or the UK
Welcome to the gongshow Pucksake.

Lupul & Horton are both on long term injury reserve, as a result of their significant injuries - Horton on his back, and Lupul his knees I believe.

This means that while both players are contracted to the Maple Leafs, them being on LTIR means that while the Leafs still pay them, their salaries don't count against the Leafs cap.

Hortons back problems were quite severe, so I'm guessing he's at home resting and trying to find quality of life again.

Lupul is out and about - his Instagram page shows he's quite active (snowboarding, tennis), which leads most to believe that he has some sort of mystery ailment that the team hasn't disclosed, for the purposes of keeping him (and his cap hit) away from the team
 

lifelonghockeyfan

Registered User
Dec 18, 2015
6,283
1,356
Lake Huron
Since Lupul lives in Malibu he hasn't been around Toronto. I thought Horton did make Leafs appearance, well up till last year he did.
Not sure if Lupul was ever to go medically NHL ready. But the Leafs made it quite clear to him, if he was he was going to the AHL if he was deemed medically fit, and at least the Leafs would have saved 1m in cap space. Ride the AHL buses or live in Malibu, was there any question if Lupul was going to NHL medically fit again.
Horton was never going to play NHL hockey again which was the reason for Clarkson/Horton trade. Leafs took a 27.5m out of pocket payment just to save cap space. Isn't that the reason our telecom charges are so high?
 

LeafsNation75

Registered User
Jan 15, 2010
37,975
12,506
Toronto, Ontario
Since Lupul lives in Malibu he hasn't been around Toronto. I thought Horton did make Leafs appearance, well up till last year he did.
Not sure if Lupul was ever to go medically NHL ready. But the Leafs made it quite clear to him, if he was he was going to the AHL if he was deemed medically fit, and at least the Leafs would have saved 1m in cap space. Ride the AHL buses or live in Malibu, was there any question if Lupul was going to NHL medically fit again.
Horton was never going to play NHL hockey again which was the reason for Clarkson/Horton trade. Leafs took a 27.5m out of pocket payment just to save cap space. Isn't that the reason our telecom charges are so high?
I believe Horton had to be at the first day of training camp where he can officially not be cleared and placed on LTIR.
 

lifelonghockeyfan

Registered User
Dec 18, 2015
6,283
1,356
Lake Huron
I believe Horton had to be at the first day of training camp where he can officially not be cleared and placed on LTIR.

Believe the ruling can out last summer, that a player can placed on LTIR any time. Teams can't be punished for having injuried players. The timing of when is player is placed on a roster, including LTIR players is important when determining when a team pays its performance bonuses.
If the Leafs want no performance bonus carried over from 2018/19 to 2019/20, (which might be a good idea) they must show Horton's salary on the opening day roster in 2018, and that opening day roster has to cap compliant. After game one, Horton can be placed on LTIR and the Leafs have 5.2m in cap relief.
If Horton is placed on LTIR before the season starts, (because the Leafs need the cap room at season beginning), the performance bonuses for 2018/19 must be carried to 2019/20.
 

barilko05

NHL FAN
Jan 28, 2011
1,113
851
They can't give Lupul a made up job with the organization. To accept it he would have to retire, and give up the millions of dollars he is getting paid while he goes fishing.

Never stopped Chris Pronger. He worked as a scout for the Flyers, and then went to work for the NHL. Then he got traded to Arizona...and three days later was inducted into the HOF...all while still being under a players contract paying him more than Lupul's deal.
 

LeafsNation75

Registered User
Jan 15, 2010
37,975
12,506
Toronto, Ontario
Never stopped Chris Pronger. He worked as a scout for the Flyers, and then went to work for the NHL. Then he got traded to Arizona...and three days later was inducted into the HOF...all while still being under a players contract paying him more than Lupul's deal.
I highly doubt the Leafs wanted to offer Lupul a front office job and I doubt he would even want one if they asked him.
 

pucksakes666

Registered User
Mar 8, 2018
661
289
I'm surprised sportsnet hasn't gave lupul a job as an analyst yet , the other one I just remembered to was Brad Boyes. He diseapered to after his season playing in Toronto.
 

ITM

As Long As It Takes
Jan 26, 2012
4,536
2,509
Reading the thread title I thought this would be an exercise in remembering obscure or under appreciated Leafs long since truly forgotten. It's too bad Horton couldn't recover and as for Lupul, I admit I saw a spark in him I thought would translate into a great Maple Leafs player. Whatever it was, in the end, Lupul just didn't (and doesn't i.e. Lupul's Twitter gaffe) seem quite right...

...Allan Bester, Dan Daoust and Igor Korolev on the other hand...beauties.
 

Hogan86

Registered User
Jun 21, 2016
1,563
679
Ya 6 million dollars of doing stuff without a puck sounds great.
Scoring 20 goals and forcing turnovers in the neutral zone is quite vital in the game of hockey. We would be a lot worse off as a team without him. He's a horse on his skates, and plays the body all the while using his speed on the wing. 6 mil for 20 goal scorers is kinda the going rate these days. Only ignorant fans wouldn't recognize what he brings.
 

lifelonghockeyfan

Registered User
Dec 18, 2015
6,283
1,356
Lake Huron
I've tried to forgot the years when Ferguson, Burke and Nonis where GMs. They shouldn't been in charge of their fantasy pool hockey teams, never mind an NHL team.
Great free agents signing such as Jeff Finger, Mike Komasarik, Dave Clarkson. Tim Gleeson is still getting money on a Leaf buyout.
 

Ad

Upcoming events

Ad

Ad

-->