Recalled/Assigned: Brennan/Campbell/Kapanen/Lindberg up, Brown/Hyman/Valiev/Carrick down

Parkdale

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Jan 14, 2013
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I wanted to chip in on this discussion. They probably don't see Kapanen as a slam dunk as much as they do Nylander and thus want a longer evaluation period. Look at a guy like Barkov. The Panthers got an amazing deal for him coming off his ELC at 6x5,9M. A guy like Kapanen will probably get a brigde after his ELC. Nylander is a guy who they want to give a Barkov type contract. Him getting it earlier and with a lesser track record keeps the AAV down.

The reason why this doesn't happen more often is because 1) teams who are tight on the cap want to keep players on their ELCs for as long as possible (the Leafs aren't) or 2) Teams see risk in committing to a guy early on. IMO Nylander's ability was good enough to start the year in the NHL but the Leafs decided to keep his RFA years intact which helps keeping his cost controlled even further.

This is a smart move if you ask me and if you are confident in Nylander's ability.

You make good points and many will agree with you. In the end, it's a judgement call and whether it works out or not won't be known for several years. I will also add that although the Leafs are not currently a cap team, they are expected to be down the road and will/should be operating now with strict cap management.
 

Morguee

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Jan 22, 2010
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Yes, under certain senerios, I understand where it could possibly be beneficial to the team's negotiation position to expire Nylander's current contract one year earlier, but there is imo too many ifs and buts (unknowns) involved to give up the flexibility of having a good player under one more ELC year. The odds are that burning an ELC year is almost always beneficial to the player (if he is a good player) and therefore not so beneficial to the team. By doing what the Leafs did, they are "rewarding" Nylander. Assuming the management is competent (I do), then it must be for reasons like fulfilling a gentlemen's agreement....eg. in return for Nylander agreeing to develop in the AHL rather than staying in Sweden. Like others have said, if burning an ELC year was a good strategic move, why is it not proactively done elsewhere...eg why not burn off a year for Kapanen too?

Careful what you ask for. I believe it will b e burnt if he plays out the rest of the season.
 

080

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Sep 14, 2009
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Careful what you ask for. I believe it will b e burnt if he plays out the rest of the season.

I believe Kapanen can play three more games before a year is burned. My guess is he goes back and someone like Leipsic comes up.
 

burpsalot

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Feb 12, 2015
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hilarious tank maneouvre.

Lou is awesome.

They were planning these moves for a while, in order for the players to be reacquainted with the Marlies & to be ready for the Calder Cup playoffs. The only question was the timing of it.
 

Silver91

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May 27, 2007
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Yes, under certain senerios, I understand where it could possibly be beneficial to the team's negotiation position to expire Nylander's current contract one year earlier, but there is imo too many ifs and buts (unknowns) involved to give up the flexibility of having a good player under one more ELC year. The odds are that burning an ELC year is almost always beneficial to the player (if he is a good player) and therefore not so beneficial to the team. By doing what the Leafs did, they are "rewarding" Nylander. Assuming the management is competent (I do), then it must be for reasons like fulfilling a gentlemen's agreement....eg. in return for Nylander agreeing to develop in the AHL rather than staying in Sweden. Like others have said, if burning an ELC year was a good strategic move, why is it not proactively done elsewhere...eg why not burn off a year for Kapanen too?

I posted this in the main Nylander thread, but I'll post it here as well.

They burned the year off the ELC on Nylander because, while it lets his contract end a year earlier, he doesn't accrue enough service time to be be eligible for an offer-sheet. Considering what everyone hopes / believes he can do in the next 2 years, that is a huge bargaining chip off the table for Nylander's camp when negotiating a new contract. So it's not really a "reward" as much as it is Pridham working his magic in protecting our future cap.
 

sommervr

Registered User
Feb 25, 2013
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No matter what the leafs say publicly this was an effective tank move. Once Holland comes back the leafs could very well lose out the rest of the year. I'm fine with that.

I wish Brennan could show a little something here just for his own sake. He at least needs to play himself into expansion draft consideration.
 

Trapper

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Nov 21, 2013
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They were planning these moves for a while, in order for the players to be reacquainted with the Marlies & to be ready for the Calder Cup playoffs. The only question was the timing of it.

Everything looks questionable when you are in the bottom of the league position as we are.
I agree, I believe win or lose, these moves were planned regardless to give Babcock (and upper management) a chance to view every player moving forward.
I would not be surprised if they are sent home with an assesment package for the summer of things to work on for training camp. Some skating, some fitness, some diet, some strength etc.
 

Silver91

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May 27, 2007
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No matter what the leafs say publicly this was an effective tank move. Once Holland comes back the leafs could very well lose out the rest of the year. I'm fine with that.

I wish Brennan could show a little something here just for his own sake. He at least needs to play himself into expansion draft consideration.

Brennan is FA after the season, and will probably only get a 1 year deal anyways, doesn't need to worry about an expansion draft that is a year away and will probably include a lot of much better NHL D-men. He is what he is, a great soldier who puts up points in the AHL, but can't handle the speed of the NHL, which is fine, but not something to write home about. There's nothing to feel sorry about for Brennan, the guy gets to play professional hockey making more than 600k a year in his home-town. That's an accomplishment and nothing to scoff at.
 

TheGroceryStick

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Jan 19, 2009
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Brennan is FA after the season, and will probably only get a 1 year deal anyways, doesn't need to worry about an expansion draft that is a year away and will probably include a lot of much better NHL D-men. He is what he is, a great soldier who puts up points in the AHL, but can't handle the speed of the NHL, which is fine, but not something to write home about. There's nothing to feel sorry about for Brennan, the guy gets to play professional hockey making more than 600k a year in his home-town. That's an accomplishment and nothing to scoff at.

He is from NJ. But irregardless, he is doing just fine. Worst case, he goes over to play some Euro hockey in his later 30s - at 26 he still has some decent money. He actually is a decent, 1 step below NHL, player.
 

Parkdale

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Jan 14, 2013
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Toronto
I believe Kapanen can play three more games before a year is burned. My guess is he goes back and someone like Leipsic comes up.

Kapanen has played 5 NHL games to date, meaning he can play 4 more games without an ELC year being burned. Leafs have 5 more games to play, so he will burn a year only if he plays all 5 games.
 

Parkdale

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Jan 14, 2013
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Toronto
I think Year 1 of his ELC is already burned.

Is his situation not similar to Nylander's, whose ELC year was burned only when he played his 10 NHL game? Please explain why you think Kapanen's ELC year has already been burned. AHL games do not count towards ELC (burn purposes) for non-CHL players (under 20).
 
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