Confirmed with Link: Leafs trade Cracknell for Oleksy

[A1LeafNation]

like what?

AHL goalie move.

 

[stickty111]

Why are we trading for another defenseman? Marlies have so much Defenders

When Sandin and Lilly go
The D corps is
Rosen
Borgman
Subban
Corrado
Loverde
Jardine

Thats not all that great especially since Subban and Borgman are terrible

This is why

 

[Eternal Leaf]

Why are we trading for another defenseman? Marlies have so much Defenders

Liljegren is injured right now and both him and Sandin will be going to the WJC.

 

[saltming]

Maybe were going to try the same thing with Sandin?
What the **** is LoVerde doing then since he's a vet RD? Shouldn't that be his job

Last year LoVerde was ok but he hasn't seemed to be able to get anything going this year, but the team has also been inconsistent.
I'm thinking Oleksy maybe paired with lily

 

[LaPlante94]

Riellys new D partner?

 

[Kiwi]

Last year LoVerde was ok but he hasn't seemed to be able to get anything going this year, but the team has also been inconsistent.
I'm thinking Oleksy maybe paired with lily

I thought Oleksy was a Right shot? Isn't that Liljegren's side?

 

[Al14]

Riellys new D partner?

Not sure Oleksy was acquired for our Leafs. With the WJC upcoming, the Marlies will be short handed on D with Liljegren and Sandin going for a month. Liljegren is also currently injured too.

If he was acquired for our Leafs, he may be partnered with Dermott. Dermott had nothing but praise for him when they were partnered on the Marlies last season.

 

[stickty111]

Last year LoVerde was ok but he hasn't seemed to be able to get anything going this year, but the team has also been inconsistent.
I'm thinking Oleksy maybe paired with lily

Lilly will be with Rosen. I dont know Keefe would break up a good pair.

 

[deletethis]

I'm betting he barely plays. I think he'll be more of playing coach type like Greening and Clune. Maybe Cracknell was unhappy not get dressed for every game after signing a 1-way with the team.

 

[Ricky Bobby]

Solid move!

Brings in a tough vet to mentor our top two prospects as well as adding some character and toughness to a soft Marlies team well filling the hole at RD the Marlies.

Dealing Cracknell also opens up offensive minutes for prospects who needed those types of minutes to develop.

 

[SeaOfBlue]

Not much different than I was expecting for weeks. First I thought it would be Holl, but then after the Leivo trade I thought it would be Jooris for a top 4 veteran AHL RD (aka Oleksy). I think it would have made more sense for the Marlies to ship Jooris the other way, since it would be a swap of struggling AHLers rather than giving up a guy, who while being injured for the past few weeks, was a strong center with size and skill for the Marlies. Oh well, this just gives Greening and Jooris more time to figure out their putrid PK performance. If they can't figure things out, there are still plenty of guys who can easily replace them (including Timashov, who has been stapled to the pressbox since Carcone has arrived).

Now just fulfill the other half of my wishlist and the Marlies may actually become good again: Subban + McAdam for a goalie. Someone suggested Chad Johnson in STL. I originally suggested Binnington from STL because they have too many AHL goalies and not enough good RD, so it would be a great fit. Maybe the Marlies can do Subban + McAdam for Johnson + a pick to make up for the extra salary we'd have to take on.

 

[SeaOfBlue]

Not sure Oleksy was acquired for our Leafs. With the WJC upcoming, the Marlies will be short handed on D with Liljegren and Sandin going for a month. Liljegren is also currently injured too.

If he was acquired for our Leafs, he may be partnered with Dermott. Dermott had nothing but praise for him when they were partnered on the Marlies last season.

I think it was a joke. Oleksy is essentially the exact same as LoVerde. He is a top 4 RD veteran who has been a great AHL presence for young guys in the past, but has struggled this year. I think the Marlies are just hoping he is someone who can enter the room, re-gain composure to become what he was in the past, and become a good veteran presence for Sandin. That is what I thought the Marlies would do, and Oleksy is already familiar with the team, the coach and the system, so it was a good fit. There is a good chance he becomes what the Marlies wanted out of LoVerde, and then they are hoping to take some pressure off of LoVerde and hope he can regain his composure himself.

As much as the goaltending steals the spotlight in the midst of the Marlies' woes, the largest problem has actually been Borgman, LoVerde, Greening and Jooris being an absolute mess, especially on the PK. They broke it down into 5 games segments last game and the Marlies won almost every game when their PK was respectable or better (aka like 80% or above) and lost every game when their PK was playing like normally did (66% or so). All of these moves the Leafs have been making for the Marlies have been to solve their largest issues:

Carcone -> Ignite the PP and pressure Timashov.
Klimchuk -> Ignite the PK and pressure the atrocious Greening/Jooris PK combination.
Oleksy -> Ignite the PK, pressure the atrocious Borgman/LoVerde PK combination, hopefully improve the top 4 RD for the Marlies and get a more consistent veteran presence for Sandin.

Now they just need to figure out their last issue: Goaltending. They cleared out Glass. They have an extra RD to use as a trade chip as I expected. They also have McAdam who is expendable if they bring in a new goalie, since the Growlers have two amazing goalies themselves (so McAdam does not have an ECHL job to go back to, and the Marlies will have depth in case of an emergency).

 

[SeaOfBlue]

I thought Oleksy was a Right shot? Isn't that Liljegren's side?

I think he has played LD before, but this is 100% a move to get a better guy for Sandin and improve our top 4 RD, and to allow the Marlies to use Subban as a trade chip for a goalie.

 

[indigobuffalo]

Not much different than I was expecting for weeks. First I thought it would be Holl, but then after the Leivo trade I thought it would be Jooris for a top 4 veteran AHL RD (aka Oleksy). I think it would have made more sense for the Marlies to ship Jooris the other way, since it would be a swap of struggling AHLers rather than giving up a guy, who while being injured for the past few weeks, was a strong center with size and skill for the Marlies. Oh well, this just gives Greening and Jooris more time to figure out their putrid PK performance. If they can't figure things out, there are still plenty of guys who can easily replace them (including Timashov, who has been stapled to the pressbox since Carcone has arrived).

Now just fulfill the other half of my wishlist and the Marlies may actually become good again: Subban + McAdam for a goalie. Someone suggested Chad Johnson in STL. I originally suggested Binnington from STL because they have too many AHL goalies and not enough good RD, so it would be a great fit. Maybe the Marlies can do Subban + McAdam for Johnson + a pick to make up for the extra salary we'd have to take on.

Johnson would have to clear waivers.

 

[Marshy]

Delete

 

[SeaOfBlue]

Johnson would have to clear waivers.

I am counting on that happening... 1.75 mill for a goalie who has sucked this year is not something I expect many teams to be lining up to claim. Especially when he sucked last year too, and is 32 years old.

 

[saltming]

I thought Oleksy was a Right shot? Isn't that Liljegren's side?

Ya but why not play him on the left? He's a vet so he should be able to keep up on his offside I would hope

Edit
@stickty111 reminded me, lily is with Rosen so hes in good hands

 

[saltming]

Lilly will be with Rosen. I dont know Keefe would break up a good pair.

Ahh good point!!

 

[indigobuffalo]

I am counting on that happening... 1.75 mill for a goalie who has sucked this year is not something I expect many teams to be lining up to claim. Especially when he sucked last year too, and is 32 years old.

Who risks losing him for nothing though? If STL puts him on waivers and another team grabs him... what benefit is that to them?

Then if they trade him to Toronto and the Leafs try and put him on waivers and he gets snagged... heck even STL could take him...

 

[SeaOfBlue]

Ya but why not play him on the left? He's a vet so he should be able to keep up on his offside I would hope

The Marlies have Rosen, Sandin and Borgman on the left side. They do not need anymore left side defenders, hence why they traded Nielsen. They need right side defenders because LoVerde is struggling and Corrado and Subban should not be anything more than 3/4 RD themselves. So we had 3 3/4 RD's, and only one true top 4 RD, who is also injured. Now Oleksy has also not looked like a true top 4 RD this year himself, but I am sure the Marlies are counting on him turning it around with his old team, just like they hoped LoVerde would have done over the course of this year. Two chances is better than one I suppose?

The vet group has easily been the largest disappointment this year, and the largest reason why the Marlies are losing so many games. I am talking about a larger reason than goaltending. This move is a way to improve the top 4, and hopefully shake up that veteran room so that the rookies benefit while hopefully the other veterans (Jooris, Greening and LoVerde) start picking up their slacking play in the meantime.

 

[SeaOfBlue]

Who risks losing him for nothing though? If STL puts him on waivers and another team grabs him... what benefit is that to them?

Then if they trade him to Toronto and the Leafs try and put him on waivers and he gets snagged... heck even STL could take him...

They get out of a goalie who is blocking better options in the AHL, is making way too much money, and is essentially just a waste of space. That is a huge benefit for STL.

If Johnson clears waivers, the Leafs do not need to put him on waivers again. They can send him straight to the Marlies without waivers. He'd need to be on the NHL roster for like 30 days or play a certain number of games (I do not know the rules off of the top of my head for goalies, but for skaters it's 30 days or 10 NHL games) before requiring waivers again. So if he clears, the Leafs and Blues can set up a trade where we ship them a couple of AHLers we do not need, like Subban and McAdam, to bring in Johnson for our team. They get out of the contract they should want off of their books, the Leafs get a guy who shores up depth and improves a shallow area for no real cost. Win-win, and the Leafs may even get a mid-late round pick out of it too.

 

[Kiwi]

I think he has played LD before, but this is 100% a move to get a better guy for Sandin and improve our top 4 RD, and to allow the Marlies to use Subban as a trade chip for a goalie.

I wouldn't mind somebody like that babysitting Sandin, if it helped Dermott I'm keen on continuing it with the kids developing in the system

Subban hasn't been good, Borgman hasn't exactly covered himself in glory either if I'm being honest

Ya but why not play him on the left? He's a vet so he should be able to keep up on his offside I would hope

Edit
@stickty111 reminded me, lily is with Rosen so hes in good hands

Sandin is very similar to Dermott so if he helped him I'm keen on it happening again

 

[Mr Hockey]

Borgman, Loverde look good to me out there, dunno what you guys are watching? you guys said also Rosen was garbage and the Marlies #7/8 guy last season, I had many debates on here about it lol

 

[SeaOfBlue]

I wouldn't mind somebody like that babysitting Sandin, if it helped Dermott I'm keen on continuing it with the kids developing in the system

Subban hasn't been good, Borgman hasn't exactly covered himself in glory either if I'm being honest

They aren't going to give up on Borgman though. I do not think they give up on LoVerde either. With Oleksy now in here, a Sandin-Oleksy pairing could take pressure off of a Borgman-LoVerde pairing and maybe that is what they need to gain some confidence and ability back. Subban has been a fine enough OFD to be a trade chip for another minors move, and with Corrado as a more than capable depth RD in his own right, the Marlies should look to give him an opportunity elsewhere.

If the Marlies get a better goalie to pair with Kaskisuo, they have the pieces and talent to win another Calder Cup, and still have some excess guys (i.e. Timashov) the Leafs can use at the TDL to get some deals done at the NHL if they want. It will just be a matter of getting the vets and goalies playing up to their capabilities, because the U24 Marlies are the reason why they are winning right now.

 

[SeaOfBlue]

Borgman, Loverde look good to me out there, dunno what you guys are watching? you guys said also Rosen was garbage and the Marlies #7/8 guy last season, I had many debates on here about it lol

Rosen was not good until the playoffs last year. He never looked like a 7/8, but he definitely did not look much better than a 4/5/6 until then either. Same thing happened with Trevor Moore up front. He was a good depth winger who looked like the next guy to be thrown into a trade (and I was throwing him into a few trades), but then randomly turned it on in the playoffs and has yet to look back since. Now he looks like an option to replace Brown next year.