TSN: Leafs recall Joe Colborne

[LeafsBro]

Is colborne good defensively? And is he good at faceoffs?
Don't really watch the marlies

 

[diceman934]

he has better #'s than erat, plays a harder position and he got forsberg. i dont know Erats contract but i think we can get a 1st for him easily... people are overreacting. (not saying it will happen but grabo for one of calgarys late 1st at the draft)

Better numbers .....where?

Grabo would not have been considered in that deal had he been offered. Erat is a very underrated player who most have not seen play that much at all. He lead Nashville in points the last 2 years and his Cap hit is a million less than Grabo. His salary the next two years totals 6 million...as well this appears to be a desperate GM ....trying to keep his job with that trade.

I would take Erat over Grabo easily if offered both in a trade and I would think most GM's would.....not talking about positional need. I hated Grabo's contract when we signed him and it looks worse now.

A 1st....possibly to the right team. His contract makes the trading partners very limited...

 

[ConnorTO]

colborne ! woooo

 

[Jeffler]

Wrote this up on him today. I don't have partner so here, take this collapsed quote:

[collapse=text]

Making their first post-deadline roster move, the Toronto Maple Leafs have recalled Joe Colborne from the Toronto Marlies today, bringing the team back up to a full roster. Opinions are back and forth on this move. I’m in a weird spot where I see why it’s being done, but don’t necessarily agree with it being the best choice. Here are some things to consider..

He’s Relevant Again

A lot was made of Colborne’s struggles after a mind blowing month to begin last season, where he scored 16 points in his first 9 games with the Marlies and was named AHL player of the month. For the rest of the year, however, he sputtered, scoring just 23 more points in the next 56 games, combined with 8 in 15 in the playoffs. His struggles continued into this year, scoring just 2 goals and 8 assists in his first 28 games.

And then, something happened. Just before the post-lockout exodus of players to the NHL, something began to click. Or as Colborne described it, popped.

“Not again,” was the 6-foot-5 Marlies centre’s first thought. “It was a pretty scary moment. I was really worried.”.. “But the pop turned out to be just scar tissue breaking down. The pop turned out to be the best thing that could have happened,” (Toronto Star)

Something, of course, being his wrist. It wasn’t apparent to the masses until after the season was over, but a nagging wrist injury was suffered in November 2011 and played through the entire year. In hindsight, probably not the best idea, and he agreed:

“Looking back now it may have been a smarter idea for my career to suck it up and say I’ll miss the rest of the year and get the surgery done so I could come back 100-percent healthy,” (Kyle Cicerella)

But with mobility returning to his wrist, an integral body part when you’re a playmaking centre who uses reach and stick handling to gain an advantage, Colborne has taken off. In the past 37 games (since January 2nd), he has 12 goals and 20 assists (0.86 points per game). It’s evident how much of a difference the recovery made. His mental and positional game are similar, but simply put, his passes and shots are harder and more accurate, and his stickhandling is more fluid. It’s like he’s re-added a layer of talent.

Combining his 2010/11 stint, his October 2011, and 2013 to date stats, you have a 0.96 point per game player over 66 games, compared to the 0.41 between November 2011 and December 2012. If it was as simple as injury recovery, Colborne could very well be back to being a top prospect in the Leafs organization.

He’s Become Important

Most impressive in his run this calendar year is that he’s doing it in a way that has him effectively carrying the team on his back offensively.

In those 37 games, he has points in 21, showing that they’re coming consistently rather than in bursts (14 single, 3 double, 4 triple point efforts). While his points in losses have only gone up slightly compared to the start of the year (0.5PPG vs. 0.42 in the first 28), his points per game in wins has jumped from 0.31 to 1.21, almost a full point per game.

What this shows is that he’s both been given the opportunity to succeed, and that he’s been grasping it. With Keith Aucoin in Long Island, and Matt Frattin and Nazem Kadri finding permanent spots on the Leafs, Colborne is arguably Toronto’s most important offensive forward post-lockout, with Ryan Hamilton being the only other comparable.

Another stat to show his effect is percentage of team points. At his low point, games 11 to 20 in the Marlies Schedule, Colborne was chipping in a point on just 6.3% of Marlies goals, well below the average player. There have been 575 Marlies points on 216 goals, meaning an average of 2.66 points have been awarded per goal. Your average of 18 skaters on the ice should theoretically get a point on 14.7%.

Over those first 28 games, he was in on just 11.1%. However, he’s stepped it up since. In 2013, Colborne has been in on 29.1% of goals, including 42.9% in his first 9 games of healthy play.

Needless to say, on a team that’s scoring less than the start of the year, Colborne bringing his points per game by 239% and his point involvement up by 262% is huge.

This Could Throw Him Off

Now, as much as I’d love to keep gushing about his recent play on the Marlies, the topic at hand is his call up to the Leafs. From a pure development standpoint, I’m not so sure if it’s the best of ideas.

While he’s been producing very well, what’s the point of breaking that play up? It’s been a great half season, but it’s been a great half season after a full season of disappearance. Not to mention, where exactly do they expect to slot him? Nazem Kadri leads the team in points, is near the top of the NHL, and can’t get himself sizable minutes. With Bozak, Kadri, Grabovski, and McClement all being down the middle, where do you even play Colborne?
This Could Be A Test

That said, the call up could be a bit of a test to see what he’s capable of for next season. While surviving the deadline obviously increases the odds of Tyler Bozak still being in a Leafs uniform next year, he and the organization are still a ways apart in contract negotiations. If Bozak were to leave, Colborne is the likely option in the role that Bozak should probably be playing once the Leafs are competitive - a skilled third liner who can bounce up into a top six role.

Otherwise, maybe the Leafs are looking at shopping Mikhail Grabovski at the end of the season instead, and want to see if Colborne’s two way game has improved to make him an option there. A few games up with the team while their playoff position seems somewhat safe to evaluate a player couldn’t hurt.
This Could Be Meaningless

Or maybe, just maybe, it could be one of those typical Toronto “thank you” reward call ups, where they expect Colborne to not play at all but take in NHL salary for a few days. I don’t see this as entirely likely, with the Marlies set to fly out to St. Johns today for games on Friday and Saturday, but with those being the only two they play until next weekend, you never know.

On a similar train of thought, they could possibly not play him, but get him in practices, as a hybrid of the meaningless point and the testing point. Maybe a game situation isn’t their way of seeing how he’s come along, but getting him to mess around with some NHL talent to get a vibe of where he’s at is entirely possible.

No matter what the case, one hopes that his strong play will continue, at either level he may play for the rest of the year. What we’re seeing in 2013 is the Joe Colborne that we all thought the team acquired to begin with. If he stays this way, he’ll be an important player on the Maple Leafs before we know it.

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[Grant]

Wrote this up on him today. I don't have partner so here's a really long quote, haha

[collapse=text][ /collapse] people need to learn to use it One second, I'm about to start reading that monster, then I can actually comment on what you said

 

[Jeffler]

[collapse=text][ /collapse] people need to learn to use it One second, I'm about to start reading that monster, then I can actually comment on what you said

Oooh, nifty. Done

 

[Grant]

Oooh, nifty. Done

Yeah, it saves a ton of space for those long posts.

Solid read, explains pretty much every angle as to why he was called up, makes the argument why he should(n't).

 

[Tak7]

Regardless of how good is he/whether or not he will be an impact player for this team moving forward, one thing cannot be argued is that this organization is trying to reward solid play down at the AHL level.

Colborne now joins Hamilton, Frattin, and Holzer as players who have done well at the AHL level, and have earned a call-up as a result. That can only send the right sort of message to all the players in the system.

 

[Johny Drama]

Regardless of how good is he/whether or not he will be an impact player for this team moving forward, one thing cannot be argued is that this organization is trying to reward solid play down at the AHL level.

Colborne now joins Hamilton, Frattin, and Holzer as players who have done well at the AHL level, and have earned a call-up as a result. That can only send the right sort of message to all the players in the system.

It finally seems like we are starting to be smart about how we stock the roster and are looking to promote from whithin. Not every player in our AHL farm team will be worthy of an NHL roster spot, but we have to at least give some a chance.

 

[LeafsMonster]

Yess! Excited to see him, he's been doing great on the marlies . Hopefully he comes out with a bang.

 

[The Winter Soldier]

It's logical to audition Colborne with Frattin and Hamilton tonight to see what we have, RC is known for doing the risky thing to some, he may try it tonight. I wouldn't mind., this line knows each other, think they could dominate Flyers 3rd line of Sean Couturier who is having a rough year.

Grabo, Mcclement, and Orr on the 3rd or 4th line depending on the way you look at it.

 

[thewave]

It's logical to audition Colborne with Frattin and Hamilton tonight to see what we have, RC is known for doing the risky thing to some, he may try it tonight. I wouldn't mind., this line knows each other, think they could dominate Flyers 3rd line of Sean Couturier who is having a rough year.

Grabo, Mcclement, and Orr on the 3rd or 4th line depending on the way you look at it.

No you play to win not to experiment, you have got to be kidding me here. There are no experiments until we are in period.

 

[The Winter Soldier]

No you play to win not to experiment, you have got to be kidding me here. There are no experiments until we are in period.

You upgrade if the 3rd line is dormat to make you better, Frattin has been ice cold since playing with Grabo, but if you don't want to experiment why are you so gung ho on experimenting with the Kessel line by infusing Grabo on that line? That's an experiment that every coach we have had in 5 years knows would be disasterous, thus it has been tried only sparingly.

 

[TootooTrain]

Doubt he plays a game but if he does, wouldn't be surprised to see him on a 4th line role. Carlyle did the same with Getzlaf and Perry.

Also makes me wonder if Mac is headed to the IR.

 

[Leaf Rocket]

Doubt he plays a game but if he does, wouldn't be surprised to see him on a 4th line role. Carlyle did the same with Getzlaf and Perry.

Also makes me wonder if Mac is headed to the IR.

He said he was fine but it's a bit odd for sure. It's possible he had a set back.

I'd expect him to be in the third line or fourth line if he does play, more third line anything since Carlyle likes to make sure his players are suited for the role.

 

[zeke]

I'd guess Colborne and McClement flip between 4th line C / 3rd line W depending on the game situation tonight.

 

[The Winter Soldier]

There are some interesting decisions to be made, Komarov and Mac are close if not ready to come back. Hamilton has been good, I don't think he has played himself out of the line up but there is a plethora of choices for players now for the coach to choose from.

That's a major difference from years past, competition at jobs.

To me Frattin is going to be a key for us if we want to do some damage in the playoffs, the 3rd line often can be the deciding factor in a series, the sooner he gets back to where he was earlier this year. The better are team will be, having a 3rd line chipping in would take a lot of pressure off of Bozak and Kadri's line.

 

[The Blue Devil]

I never liked the Ribeiro/Kadri comparison. Never understood this, Kadri's upside as a 2 way player is much better, plus he has the insides Ribeiro would love to have.

I was the first poster here to make the Gilmour comparison, and I see Naz more like him than the poor man's Ribeiro version.

They are the same. Both have skill, both are under-rated defensively, both have unbelievable vision, both are very cocky/confident.

And no, you were not the 1st poster to make the Kadri/Gilmour comparison. I've seen other posters state it well before you did. The first that comes to mind was, I believe Zeke 3 years ago.

 

[smitty10]

I'd guess Colborne and McClement flip between 4th line C / 3rd line W depending on the game situation tonight.

I'm excited to see the team run 4 lines that can be productive. I love watching the fights, but with both Orr and Mclaren on the ice there are times where they get hemmed into their zones pretty badly.

 

[Razz]

I'm excited to see the team run 4 lines that can be productive. I love watching the fights, but with both Orr and Mclaren on the ice there are times where they get hemmed into their zones pretty badly.

I'm not so sure Orr and McLaren will be on the Playoff roster anyway. I think at the end of the day we're more likely to see Hamilton and Colborne on the 4th line than Orr and McLaren when the season is on the line.

 

[BudMaster17]

Yess! Excited to see him, he's been doing great on the marlies . Hopefully he comes out with a bang.

That's what I've been saying for a few weeks now. The should have sold Bozak and or Mac at the deadline and let the kid play the rest of the year an the playoffs and seen what he's got.

 

[The Saurus]

He was sent back down according to Dreger. McLaren is good to go.

A lot of discussion about him this afternoon and he won't see a second of ice time with the Leafs.

 

[Pi]

It's still a good sign. Colborne is the first call up if anyone gets injured.

 

[sangreale]

He was sent back down according to Dreger. McLaren is good to go.

A lot of discussion about him this afternoon and he won't see a second of ice time with the Leafs.

lol ... at myself.

I was just about to ask if anybody had heard whether he was playing tonight.

 

[TheOtherSide]

It was clear he was not ready to compete in the NHL from the moment he was called up. He was exposed in his short stay with the leafs this season. He clearly needs a few more years in the AHL