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News Article: Brian Burke: ‘Mikhail Grabovski is just a class act’

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BiggestLeafsFanEVER*

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Brian Burke said good things about Grabo. http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs...-burke-mikhail-grabovski-is-just-a-class-act/

As part of his background research into Mikhail Grabovski, who the Capitals signed to a one-year $3 million contract last week, General Manager George McPhee reached out to one of his mentors for an honest opinion on the 29-year-old center.
“We exchanged emails and I told him what I thought,†former Maple Leafs general manager Brian Burke said Monday at KCI, where he is attending the U.S. Olympic orientation camp as USA Hockey’s director of player personnel. “I think Mikhail Grabovski is just a class act, he’s a warrior on the ice, he’s a gym rat off the ice. His preparation is unbelievable, he’s very serious about being a good hockey player and he was a joy while I had him in Toronto. He was a joy to have on the team.â€
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JVR was also positive

Maple Leafs winger James van Riemsdyk, also taking part in the U.S. Olympic orientation camp, skated on a line with Grabovski frequently and is glad to see his former teammate have an opportunity for a fresh start.
“I loved having him in the room,†van Riemsdyk said. “On the ice I always thought he was a good player, I liked having him on my line and I had some good chemistry with him and I think he’ll fit in great here with all the great offensive players [the Capitals] have.â€
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I really wish we didn't buy him out. Carlyle should have been told to get along with him or he would be the one let go.

It's embarrassing to have Bozak as our 1C. Under no circumstances will we win with him there.
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ACC1224

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GreatestLeafsFanEVER said:
Brian Burke said good things about Grabo. http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs...-burke-mikhail-grabovski-is-just-a-class-act/



JVR was also positive



I really wish we didn't buy him out. Carlyle should have been told to get along with him or he would be the one let go.

It's embarrassing to have Bozak as our 1C. Under no circumstances will we win with him there.
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its Burke's fault he was bought out. Was a great player at 3.5 and overpaid at 5.5

with that on the books what do you resign Kadri for? Kessel? etc

you just couldn't have that precedence

Grabo should have gotten what Bozak got this year and Bozak should have been the one to go
 

BiggestLeafsFanEVER*

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It's just that he's skilled and we don't have skill down the middle really except for Kadri but we're hoping he plays like last year.

I really feel that we will regret that he was bought out it was a bad bad idea.
 
7even

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GreatestLeafsFanEVER said:
It's just that he's skilled and we don't have skill down the middle really except for Kadri but we're hoping he plays like last year.

I really feel that we will regret that he was bought out it was a bad bad idea.
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Yeah, I'm not a fan of basing moves on some 30 odd games and then hoping things work out. Grabovski would've been great to have on the roster as a contingency guy.
 
Mr Knies Guy

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No problem with his Comp buyout... the problem I have is with Komisarek's comp buyout.
 
Mimico

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Didact said:
Hard to say if buying him out to just overpay Clarkson is a good idea.
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I'd take Clarkson over Grabovski at the same cap hit any day. Grabo was slotted into a shutdown role on this team and he clearly wasn't content with that decision. We now have a guy in Dave Bolland who can benevolently replace Grabo in his role and do so more effectively. That being said, Grabovski is basically useless to this team in comparison to a hard-nosed winger like Clarkson who can produce offensively at a similar rate while being a physically dominant force on the ice.
 

likeabosski

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Nazem Kadri hasn't proved himself to be 1C quality yet and he has a disappointing run on the 2nd line against tougher competition in the last month of the regular season. So keeping him as the 2nd scoring line C makes sense at this point until he can prove himself. And based on what I've seen of Kadri and his heavy reliance on possession efficiency (on-ice sh%) instead of possession, Kadri's even-strength production is going to regress a lot because Kadri's on-ice sh% was higher than guys like Sidney Crosby and Martin St. Louis last season and I am fairly confident that Kadri is not better than those guys. Those are players who have proved over a large sample size their talent. While Kadri was lost within the last month of the season against tougher competition and was mainly productive on a 3rd line playing sheltered minutes against weaker opponents. Give him a bridge contract. If he's just hype, we can get rid of him more easily or wait a couple years. If he's talented, we can re-sign him to a better contract in 2 years.

Tyler Bozak on the other hand does not deserve the 1C. That spot should have went to Grabovski. Grabovski is a great goal scorer, he can put up assists too, he can play a two-way game, he is phenomenal at driving possession, he is tough for a small guy, doesn't get injured much for a guy his size, plays with heart, good at face-offs. Bozak doesn't score many goals because he doesn't shoot much but he doesn't get the assists necessary to make up for that either. Bozak sucks at defense. His possession game is decent (in part because he's good at face-offs) but not at Grabovski's level. He's good at breakaways and shootouts. I don't see the value in this kid. We should have let Bozak go when we had the chance since he was a UFA this summer. Bozak is a plug. Don Cherry even said so (lol).
 
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Damisoph

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likeabosski said:
Nazem Kadri hasn't proved himself to be 1C quality yet and he has a disappointing run on the 2nd line against tougher competition in the last month of the regular season. So keeping him as the 2nd scoring line C makes sense at this point.

Tyler Bozak on the other hand does not deserve the 1C. That spot should have went to Grabovski. Grabovski is a great goal scorer, he can put up assists too, he can play a two-way game, he is phenomenal at driving possession, he is tough for a small guy, doesn't get injured much for a guy his size, plays with heart, good at face-offs. Bozak doesn't score many goals because he doesn't shoot much but he doesn't get the assists necessary to make up for that either. Bozak sucks at defense. His possession game is decent (in part because he's good at face-offs) but not at Grabovski's level. He's good at breakaways and shootouts. I don't see the value in this kid. We should have let Bozak go when we had the chance since he was a UFA this summer. Bozak is a plug. Don Cherry even said so (lol).
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Boy, based on your description of Grabo...he is a fantastic player. Too bad his play these past two seasons suggest otherwise. I would have been fine with that play if he was being paid a reasonable wage.
 

likeabosski

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LordRamsay said:
Boy, based on your description of Grabo...he is a fantastic player. Too bad his play these past two seasons suggest otherwise. I would have been fine with that play if he was being paid a reasonable wage.
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He played on a 3rd checking line last season so of course is production was going to suffer. When the coach tells you to mainly play defense and take defensive zone face-offs, well of course your point production is going to suffer. Duh.

But you said past two seasons, which makes your statement even more ridiculous. Grabovski had a fantastic 2011-12. I don't know what you are talking about.
5v5 Points/60: 2.13 (Ranked 40th/125 NHL forwards with 1000+ 5v5 mins)
5v5 Individual Point Production: 74.5% (Ranked 50th/125). That means on 74.5% of the goals scored when Grabbo is on the ice, he has a point on it. And 16 of his 22 assists in 5v5 were first assists. Meaning that he was the last guy who passed the puck to the guy who scored. Or he took a shot that led to a rebound goal. So much for the Grabovski is a European puck hog/bad playmaker myth.
5v5 First Assist/60: .895 (Ranked 23rd/125)

Grabovski finished with like 51 points in 74 games, a .69 pts/game pace (a good chunk of which were picked up playing even-strength) because he got PP-2 time and not PP-1 time. And PP time is how lots of players *cough*Phaneuf*cough* pad their point totals. About 80% of the game is played 5v5. And during 5v5 play, Grabovski has been excellent. You can't just look at scoring leaders like a typical NHL fan idiot (and Leaf fans are generally the least intelligent) and make assumptions because lots of those players have padded point totals from getting lots of PP time.

Stop talking out of your ass. Carlyle is a Don Cherry type of coach (even Don Cherry hates Bozak though. lol Criticized his contract on his twitter). So I understand why he hates Grabovski and loves good ol Sasketchewan boy Bozak.
 
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mr grieves

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LordRamsay said:
Boy, based on your description of Grabo...he is a fantastic player. Too bad his play these past two seasons suggest otherwise. I would have been fine with that play if he was being paid a reasonable wage.
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In what league do 60 games comprise two seasons? Not the NHL.
 

IranCondraAffair

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My admittedly outsider perspective is that he was simply overpaid.

Sure, he was a bit on the small side but he didn't play small. He was a good team mate and he had good production (which slipped last year). In the end, his contract, not his overall play, doomed him.

If he was making 3.0 million on the Leafs next season instead of Washington no one in the league would bat an eye. Unfortunately he was making almost twice that amount. If he were making 3.0 million and his play had slipped, he wouldn't have been bought out and a team would have simply waited for him to rebound.

Maybe that's just me though.
 
mr grieves

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Dallmanator said:
I'd take Clarkson over Grabovski at the same cap hit any day. Grabo was slotted into a shutdown role on this team and he clearly wasn't content with that decision. We now have a guy in Dave Bolland who can benevolently replace Grabo in his role and do so more effectively. That being said, Grabovski is basically useless to this team in comparison to a hard-nosed winger like Clarkson who can produce offensively at a similar rate while being a physically dominant force on the ice.
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A few things:
1) We have wingers. We don't have much skill down the center. Any sort of new winger is less valuable to the team than a center.
2) "Produce offensively at a similar rate"... in what world!? Not ours. David Clarkson's a career .40P per game player. Grabo's a .60P per game player. You're losing production.
 
AD1066

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Dallmanator said:
I'd take Clarkson over Grabovski at the same cap hit any day. Grabo was slotted into a shutdown role on this team and he clearly wasn't content with that decision. We now have a guy in Dave Bolland who can benevolently replace Grabo in his role and do so more effectively. That being said, Grabovski is basically useless to this team in comparison to a hard-nosed winger like Clarkson who can produce offensively at a similar rate while being a physically dominant force on the ice.
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But they don't produce at a similar rate.
 

TOG26

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Grabo leaving Toronto is a victim of the strike and the new CBA with a lower cap for next year. If the cap was the same as last year and not dropping, he probably would of been kept.

I don't believe this coach vs player frustration. Grabo just had a bad year last year, and after he got bought out, had to do some damage control to make sure he found himself another spot
 
ACC1224

ACC1224

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IranCondraAffair said:
My admittedly outsider perspective is that he was simply overpaid.

Sure, he was a bit on the small side but he didn't play small. He was a good team mate and he had good production (which slipped last year). In the end, his contract, not his overall play, doomed him.

If he was making 3.0 million on the Leafs next season instead of Washington no one in the league would bat an eye. Unfortunately he was making almost twice that amount. If he were making 3.0 million and his play had slipped, he wouldn't have been bought out and a team would have simply waited for him to rebound.

Maybe that's just me though.
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That's pretty much it, too much for too little.

He'll be quickly forgotten and the Team is better off using that money elsewhere.
 

JackJ

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GreatestLeafsFanEVER said:
I really wish we didn't buy him out. Carlyle should have been told to get along with him or he would be the one let go.

It's embarrassing to have Bozak as our 1C. Under no circumstances will we win with him there.
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Having Grabo as our #1 is equally embarrassing. Once Kadri steps up Bozak will slot in as our #2.
 
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