Confirmed with Link: Kontiola signs 1 year deal with Leaf @ ($1.1 mil AAV) - #Embrace the Petri !

[FerrisRox]

People are simply just too pessimistic around here ..

He had a better FO% in the 2014 Olympics then Getzlaf and Toews for Canada (http://stats.iihf.com/Hydra/388/IHM400000_85F_25_0.pdf)

No asset loss here, no draft picks traded, no harm no foul. Aren't you excited to see what he can do?

He might be the most exciting Petri in the NHL since Petri Skriko .. Embrace the Petri !!!

Skriko was the gift that kept giving for the Vancouver Canucks.

He gave them four 30-goal seasons then they traded him to the Bruins for a 2nd rounder that became Mike Peca. Then they flipped Peca for Alexander Mogilny. That's a lot of goals out of one asset.

 

[Lauro]

Strong possession player too.

 

[Tyler Biggs*]

Petri Kontiola: Cometh the KHL, cometh the man?

http://mapleleafshotstove.com/2014/07/04/petri-kontiola/

Petri Kontiola is a 29-year-old Finnish centerman who spent the last five seasons playing in the KHL, where his trajectory toward a return to the NHL began in 2009.
With his early years spent in Tappara of the Finnish SM-liiga, Kontiola was drafted in the 2004 NHL entry draft (196th overall) by the Chicago Blackhawks. After making his NHL debut in 2007-08, he simply wasn’t good enough to stick around. Regardless of his strong AHL numbers (130 points in 147 AHL games), he couldn’t gain traction in his first time in North America; after the centerman was traded to the Anaheim Ducks in 2009 with James Wisniewski for Samuel Pahlsson, Logan Stephenson and a conditional pick, he spent all of his time with the Iowa Chops, the Ducks’ AHL affiliate at the time.

It was in Russia that Kontiola found a next level and developed into the player he is today. Gaining confidence after his first semi-productive KHL year with Metallurg Magnitogorsk, Kontiola turned into one of the most important players on that team the following season. His steady climb continued with Traktor Chelyabinsk, where he moved at the start of the 2010-11 season after 108 games and 70 KHL points for Metallurg. With Kontiola on the roster, Traktor enjoyed their most successful KHL spell to date, reaching the Gagarin Cup Finals in 2012-13 before losing out to Dynamo Moscow. The Finnish-born center scored the most points (19) and ended up as the top scorer of the playoffs with 10 goals in 25 games.

 

[Kurisu]

U hockeywiz brother or something?

 

[Tyler Biggs*]

As people have said, great signing for low risk. Potential to be a decent point adder. We need some depth that's for sure.

This guy was awesome for Finland at the Olympics, good pick up for the Leafs.

 

[therealkoho]

As people have said, great signing for low risk. Potential to be a decent point adder. We need some depth that's for sure.

This guy was awesome for Finland at the Olympics, good pick up for the Leafs.

this is the correct answer

 

[ULF_55]

Leo was the top scorer for his team in the KHL as well.

Maybe we'll see competition for the 2nd. line ice time?

Komarov-Kontiola-Lupul
or
Lupul-Kontiola-Komarov

Lupul should play with these two. Lupul has been blamed for the failings of the 2nd. line, so it wouldn't be fair to put him back on the line with Kadri again.

 

[Dangles McGavin]

Leo was the top scorer for his team in the KHL as well.

Maybe we'll see competition for the 2nd. line ice time?

Komarov-Kontiola-Lupul
or
Lupul-Kontiola-Komarov

Lupul should play with these two. Lupul has been blamed for the failings of the 2nd. line, so it wouldn't be fair to put him back on the line with Kadri again.

JVR – Bozak – Kessel
Lupul – Kontiola – Komarov
Santorelli – Kadri – Frattin
Bodie – Holland – Clarkson

Second and third line are interchangeable. I actually like the look of the lineup like that. Unlikely, however, that Clarkson gets delegated to the fourth line.

 

[inthe6ix]

JVR – Bozak – Kessel
Lupul – Kontiola – Komarov
Santorelli – Kadri – Frattin
Bodie – Holland – Clarkson

Second and third line are interchangeable. I actually like the look of the lineup like that. Unlikely, however, that Clarkson gets delegated to the fourth line.

Clarkson needs another shot on the second line.

Out of principal and sanity, we just can't afford pay him that much to play on the 4th unit.

 

[SprDaVE]

Clarkson needs another shot on the second line.

Out of principal and sanity, we just can't afford pay him that much to play on the 4th unit.

He will get his shot, no doubt about it. People just put him there because they hate his guts.

It'll take quite the year for him to repeat another bad year like that to be honest.

 

[gabeliscious]

JVR – Bozak – Kessel
Lupul – Kontiola – Komarov
Santorelli – Kadri – Frattin
Bodie – Holland – Clarkson

Second and third line are interchangeable. I actually like the look of the lineup like that. Unlikely, however, that Clarkson gets delegated to the fourth line.

jvr-bozak-kessel
lupul-kontiola-clarkson
holland-kadri-komorov
frattin-santorelli-bodie

kontiola is more experienced and has better faceoff numbers then kadri. clarkson and kadri didnt mesh, maybe kontiola,lupul and clarkson will be a decent line?

holland, kadri, and komorov can be a solid pest line and kadri will probably do well against lesser quality players on the 3rd line. holland has offensive upside as well so its not like kadri wont have someone to play with. all 3 can take a faceoff (well technically, kadri needs work)

if frattin and santorelli are together they can pass to each other and hopefully generate some offense from the 4th line. bodie for essentially a thug can skate and isnt completely useless compared to orr/mclaren. that line might be able to put up 10-15 points a piece which for a 4th line would be gravy.

 

[Deebo]

People are simply just too pessimistic around here ..

I know, isn't it frustrating??

 

[Joey Hoser]

Lupul has been blamed for the failings of the 2nd. line, so it wouldn't be fair to put him back on the line with Kadri again.

These boards are the only place with a Lupul hate-fest going on. Haven't seen it anywhere else. I wouldn't worry about it.

 

[EastVan]

Kontiola is the one acquisition who could help put us over the top or totally flop!

I think he is going to shine.

JVR- Bozak- Kessel
Lupul- Kontiola- Holland
Komarov- Kadri- Frattin
Bodie- Santorelli- Clarkson

 

[29Potvins]

I hope he will be making some incredible saucer passes all season long, which I will call "Petri dishes".

 

[GLG12xx12]

I hope he will be making some incredible saucer passes all season long, which I will call "Petri dishes".

It was only a matter of time before someone made that reference

 

[nuck]

Appears to have good faceoff skills as do Santorelli and Koma. Will be nice for the shot count if they can win some faceoffs in their own end for a change. Club was bottom 6 in the league on the dot.

 

[Cor]

I hope he will be making some incredible saucer passes all season long, which I will call "Petri dishes".

I award you 10 points

 

[EdBelfour20]

can't wait till we see petri dish

 

[Community]

Seeing as we're supposedly trying to roll 4 lines this year, why can't we roll with:

JVR - Bozak - Kessel (~18 mins)
Lupul - Kadri - Kontiola/Santorelli (~15 mins)
Komarov - Kon/San - Clarkson (~15 mins)
Ashton - Holland - Frattin (~12 mins)

1st line is obviously our primary scoring line and it would be ideal to get them away from top shut-down units.
2nd line is secondary scoring and plays similar minutes to our 3rd line, except they will get more offensive zone starts than the 3rd line.
3rd line is the best we can put out as a "shut-down" line. Too weak defensively to be a good shut-down line, but hopefully they limit chances and create some of their own.
4th line is the energy line that can do a bit of "crash and bang" (Ashton + Frattin) and a bit of scoring prowess as well as a hopefully hard forecheck.

 

[Cor]

Seeing as we're supposedly trying to roll 4 lines this year, why can't we roll with:

JVR - Bozak - Kessel (~18 mins)
Lupul - Kadri - Kontiola/Santorelli (~15 mins)
Komarov - Kon/San - Clarkson (~15 mins)
Ashton - Holland - Frattin (~12 mins)

1st line is obviously our primary scoring line and it would be ideal to get them away from top shut-down units.
2nd line is secondary scoring and plays similar minutes to our 3rd line, except they will get more offensive zone starts than the 3rd line.
3rd line is the best we can put out as a "shut-down" line. Too weak defensively to be a good shut-down line, but hopefully they limit chances and create some of their own.
4th line is the energy line that can do a bit of "crash and bang" (Ashton + Frattin) and a bit of scoring prowess as well as a hopefully hard forecheck.

If Ashton isn't waiver eligible, I see him starting with the Marlies and Bodie on that 4th line.

But yeah, I see a 20-15-13-12 minute spread.

 

[The_Chosen_One]

I can't see Santa playing on the top 9. He'll be centring the fourth line seeing that we're moving towards possession-based hockey rather than grinder-fast. For that reason, you'd have him with Bodie and a third player playing a similar role.

I'm thinking..

JVR - Bozak - Kessel

Lupul - Kontiola - Clarkson

Frattin - Kadri - Holland

Komarov - Santa - Bodie

Komarov could go up depending on how Clarkson, Holland and Frattin play. I have a feeling that Clarkson would be give another chance on the top six. Holland should be given a more offensive role while Frattin will be re-trialed with Kadri to see if creativity is still there.

 

[MMANumminen]

Are you Petrified?

 

[Mess]

Are you Petrified?

At first I was afraid I was Petrified
Kept thinking I could never live without you by my side
But then I spent so many nights
Thinking how you did me wrong
And I grew strong
And I learned how to get along.

I will survive. !!!

 

[ULF_55]

Seeing as we're supposedly trying to roll 4 lines this year, why can't we roll with:

JVR - Bozak - Kessel (~18 mins)
Lupul - Kadri - Kontiola/Santorelli (~15 mins)
Komarov - Kon/San - Clarkson (~15 mins)
Ashton - Holland - Frattin (~12 mins)

1st line is obviously our primary scoring line and it would be ideal to get them away from top shut-down units.
2nd line is secondary scoring and plays similar minutes to our 3rd line, except they will get more offensive zone starts than the 3rd line.
3rd line is the best we can put out as a "shut-down" line. Too weak defensively to be a good shut-down line, but hopefully they limit chances and create some of their own.
4th line is the energy line that can do a bit of "crash and bang" (Ashton + Frattin) and a bit of scoring prowess as well as a hopefully hard forecheck.

Lupul and Kadri don't work well together.

Kadri plays much better without Lupul taking him down and limiting his productivity.

JVR - Bozak - Kessel (~18 mins)
Komarov - Kadri - Clarkson (~15 mins)
Lupul - Kontiola - Santorelli (~15 mins)
Ashton - Holland - Frattin (~12 mins)

Kontiola is a 29 year old center, actually be 30 before the season starts why move him to wing?

Lupul and Clarkson make the same coin.

Kadri should be able to help Clarkson get back on track.

Devils centers when Clarkson scored 30: Elias, Henrique, Zubrus, Carter (Elias took 340 more face-offs than Henrique)
Clarkson was 6th. for ice time amongst forward at ES. Center Adam Henrique was 5th. If Henrique can do it Kadri can.

Looking forward to seeing new blood in the line-up and the new coaching.