Speculation: The Leafs Plan

[nonikhanna]

This leafs team right now is a transition team. Most of the players signed are cheap and will probably be moved at trade deadline so the young ones can come and play some minutes in the NHL. Next season is the key one. plus moving the players gets us probably good draft picks in a VERY deep draft.

This looks like to be the plan for this year, only thing is that this team does look good enough to be 3rd in our division fighting it out with Montreal. first two being Boston and Tampa. I guess the plan is to see how it turns out with all these new guys. evaluate them and flip over replaceable guys in our system for picks.

Now which one of these are actually replaceable?
Holland-Gauthier?
kadri-Nylander?
gardiner-percy?
Franson-Finn?
santorelli/booth/kontiola-frattin, lievo, ashton, brown, verhaeghe

that isn't to say, some of those prospects might be moved too.

Click to read more...

 

[pooleboy]

I've said this for a long time but "we will need those players for our playoff run"

Coulda had more picks with kuly, grabo, mcarthur, raymond, mcclement but na we shouldn't give opportunities we should lose assets for nothing to prove how easy it is to collapse?

 

[Prominence]

That would be an ideal plan, but I doubt it happens. Besides, those players (Kontiala, Santorelli, booth, robidas) will not fetch a late first.

 

[nonikhanna]

That would be an ideal plan, but I doubt it happens. Besides, those players (Kontiala, Santorelli, booth, robidas) will not fetch a late first.

But 2nd round picks? 3rd rounds? Prospects? Other serviceable players? If they do perform really well, we could ship them off for a late first.

 

[613Leafer]

That would be an ideal plan, but I doubt it happens. Besides, those players (Kontiala, Santorelli, booth, robidas) will not fetch a late first.

Later picks matter too. Every contending team in the league has drafted good NHLers outside of the 1st round, most of them have drafted on of their core players outside of the 1st, and the easiest way to do that is by adding extra picks.

Nonis trades 2nd rounders like theyre candy. It wont pay off right away, but accumulating extra picks instead of tossing them away will deepen your farm system and should pay dividends within 4-5 years, and increases the odds of getting a later round stud.

 

[nonikhanna]

I've said this for a long time but "we will need those players for our playoff run"

Coulda had more picks with kuly, grabo, mcarthur, raymond, mcclement but na we shouldn't give opportunities we should lose assets for nothing to prove how easy it is to collapse?

Problem with this was that we didn't have nhl level players ready to replace them. This time we do. You could blame the horrible scouting from 2003-2008 for that.

 

[Kubus]

I think the Leaf plan is to let the kids play this year. I looks like Gardiner, Rielly, Kadri will be getting bigger roles. I don't expect we make any major trades during the year using our kids. I think if we are way out of a playoff spot that guys like Lupul, Clarkson, Pollak will be on the trade market.

 

[Holymakinaw]

Problem with this was that we didn't have nhl level players ready to replace them. This time we do. You could blame the horrible scouting from 2003-2008 for that.

It's true. From 2003-2008, we have......Frattin, Reimer, Komarov, and JVR to show for it(by trading the disappointing Luke Schenn). And people wonder why we sign "stop-gap" players - LOL. It's because our young guys from 2009-2014 are not all that ready yet!!

Kadri & Rielly are but they're both high end talents. The vast majority of the rest need time to develop into men, and play in this league. I bet we really start to see them coming into the lineup starting this season. Granberg, Leivo, Percy are all close....maybe even McKegg too.

Many Leaf fans can't seem to wait any time at all for the effects of these kids stepping into the lineup. They point at missing the playoffs a bunch of years during a rebuild as an utter "failure" but that's laughable. We started re-assembling everything for REAL in 2009, and now we're on the verge of reaping the benefits, with the young guys we already have in the lineup who have grown, and the steady influx of homegrown, DECENT talent.



Draft Num. Round Player Pos Drafted From GP G A Pts PIM
2008 Entry 5 1 Luke Schenn D Kelowna Rockets [WHL] 436 21 77 98 309
2008 Entry 60 2 Jimmy Hayes R Lincoln Stars [USHL] 96 17 14 31 34
2008 Entry 98 4 Mikhail Stefanovich C Quebec Remparts [QMJHL]
2008 Entry 128 5 Greg Pateryn D Ohio Junior Blue Jackets [USHL] 3 0 0 0 0
2008 Entry 129 5 Joel Champagne C Chicoutimi Sagueneens [QMJHL]
2008 Entry 130 5 Jerome Flaake R Cologne Sharks [DEL]
2008 Entry 158 6 Grant Rollheiser G Trail Smoke Eaters [BCHL]
2008 Entry 188 7 Andrew MacWilliam D Camrose Kodiaks [AJHL]

2007 Entry
Draft Num. Round Player Pos Drafted From GP G A Pts PIM
2007 Entry 74 3 Dale Mitchell R Oshawa Generals [OHL]
2007 Entry 99 4 Matt Frattin R Fort Saskatchewan Traders [AJHL] 126 17 18 35 40
2007 Entry 104 4 Ben Winnett L Salmon Arm Silverbacks [BCHL]
2007 Entry 134 5 Juraj Mikus D Trencin (Slovakia)
2007 Entry 164 6 Christopher DiDomenico C Saint John Sea Dogs [QMJHL]
2007 Entry 194 7 Carl Gunnarsson D Linkopings HC [SEL] 304 15 71 86 92

2006 Entry
Draft Num. Round Player Pos Drafted From GP G A Pts PIM
2006 Entry 13 1 Jiri Tlusty C Kladno [Czech] 344 73 69 142 100
2006 Entry 44 2 Nikolai Kulemin W Magnitogorsk Metallurg [Russia] 421 84 111 195 112
2006 Entry 99 4 James Reimer G Red Deer Rebels [WHL] 140 0 2 2 4
2006 Entry 111 4 Korbinian Holzer D Bad Toelz EC [2.GBun] 24 2 1 3 30
2006 Entry 161 6 Viktor Stalberg L Frolunda Jrs (Sweden) 313 60 62 122 164
2006 Entry 166 6 Tyler Ruegsegger C Shattuck St. Mary's (Minn)
2006 Entry 180 6 Leo Komarov C Assat Pori [SM-liiga] 42 4 5 9 18

2005 Entry
Draft Num. Round Player Pos Drafted From GP G A Pts PIM
2005 Entry 21 1 Tuukka Rask G Ilves Tampere [SM-liiga] 196 0 6 6 8
2005 Entry 82 3 Phil Oreskovic D Brampton Battalion [OHL] 10 1 1 2 21
2005 Entry 153 5 Alex Berry R Boston Jr. Bruins (EJHL)
2005 Entry 173 6 Johan Dahlberg L MoDo Jr. (Sweden)
2005 Entry 216 7 Anton Stralman D Skovde IK [Swe-1] 394 18 94 112 159
2005 Entry 228 7 Chad Rau C Des Moines Buccaneers [USHL] 9 2 0 2 0

2004 Entry
Draft Num. Round Player Pos Drafted From GP G A Pts PIM
2004 Entry 90 3 Justin Pogge G Prince George Cougars [WHL] 7 0 0 0 0
2004 Entry 113 4 Roman Kukumberg F Trencin Dukla [Slovak]
2004 Entry 157 5 Dmitry Vorobiev D Tolyatti Lada [Russia]
2004 Entry 187 6 Robbie Earl L U. of Wisconsin [WCHA] 47 6 1 7 6
2004 Entry 220 7 Maxim Semenov D Tolyatti Lada [Russia]
2004 Entry 252 8 Jan Steber C Halifax Mooseheads [QMJHL]
2004 Entry 285 9 Pierce Norton R Thayer Academy (Mass.)

2003 Entry
Draft Num. Round Player Pos Drafted From GP G A Pts PIM
2003 Entry 57 2 John Doherty D Phillips-Andover (Mass.)
2003 Entry 91 3 Martin Sagat L Trencin Jr. (Slovakia)
2003 Entry 125 4 Konstantin Volkov R Dynamo Jrs. (Russia)
2003 Entry 158 5 John Mitchell C Plymouth Whalers [OHL] 344 46 77 123 138
2003 Entry 220 7 Jeremy Williams R Swift Current Broncos [WHL] 32 9 2 11 6
2003 Entry 237 8 Shaun Landolt C Calgary Hitmen [WHL]

 

[Atomos2]

I think the Leaf plan is to let the kids play this year. I looks like Gardiner, Rielly, Kadri will be getting bigger roles. I don't expect we make any major trades during the year using our kids. I think if we are way out of a playoff spot that guys like Lupul, Clarkson, Pollak will be on the trade market.

This wont be happening. No one would want Clarkson even if he's on pace for 30 goals at the trade deadline.

 

[nonikhanna]

What we did this summer, we should have done years ago starting from 2008. signing cheap free agents. Montreal did that and they went to conference finals. But Toronto as the center of hockey universe must look smart, and make a big splash. and it always backfires.

Free agency is where you get players in the primes of their careers about to decline or already declining. and they are looking for a long contract from whoever gives it. and the winner ends up paying a lot for an already declining player. example Bolland, Clarkson, Brad Richards(a few years ago). Toronto won the free agency in a big way this year. I hope we do this every year when needed.

 

[egd27]

If the Leafs are in a playoff race at the deadline, I hope Nonis goes down to the room and asks them if they plan on collapsing again. If they do, he can move a few guys at the deadline.

 

[daveleaf]

I believe the Leafs plan going forward it to draft and develop much better. Shrewd trades but nothing over the top. The occasional veteran UFA to provide a certain element.

Shanahan will do things the right way, may take three to four years to get there but we already have some really nice pieces. This may not take all that long.

 

[nonikhanna]

Lightning fan coming in boredom.

Robidas, Komarov, Kontiola ... yes you should do this every year! Two players that don't address your needs signed to medium length contracts and not on the cheap at $3 Million cap hit each - lol. Kontiola is a depth signing from the KHL ... sucks not to have a NHL ready prospect and you have to waste an NHL roster spot with a fringe NHL player.

Leafs plan: suck and get a chance at McDavid AND try to sign Stamkos next year. You'll fail on both accounts.

Kontiola could be a hidden gem. scored 5 points in 6 olympic games, winning a bronze along the way. Komarov yeah was too expensive but cap is going up, and as of this season 3 million is the average salary you should have on the roster so it only gets better. (69 million divided by 23 roster players) and the same goes for robidas.
the oldest defenseman we have other than robidas was phaneuf. we got a lot of young defensemen coming up the ranks. its expensive, but gotta do it. I think it was the sharks, dan boyle and vlasic?
yeah we might be expecting a lot out of robidas and most likely will backfire on us, but our prospects aren't ready. this is a stop gap player.

 

[crump]

This leafs team right now is a transition team. Most of the players signed are cheap and will probably be moved at trade deadline so the young ones can come and play some minutes in the NHL. Next season is the key one. plus moving the players gets us probably good draft picks in a VERY deep draft.

This looks like to be the plan for this year, only thing is that this team does look good enough to be 3rd in our division fighting it out with Montreal. first two being Boston and Tampa. I guess the plan is to see how it turns out with all these new guys. evaluate them and flip over replaceable guys in our system for picks.

Now which one of these are actually replaceable?
Holland-Gauthier?
kadri-Nylander?
gardiner-percy?
Franson-Finn?
santorelli/booth/kontiola-frattin, lievo, ashton, brown, verhaeghe

that isn't to say, some of those prospects might be moved too.

My world includes both Percy and Gardiner on the blue line and both Kadri and Nylander on forward.
Could Kadri be used in a package to spirit away an elite centre? Or a top 2 d man That is the only way I give up on him.

Other than that..you have a mix of people fighting for middle six positions up front. Depth is never a bad thing, competition is good, but you hope the young guys get enough of a chance to get their feet wet at the NHL level. I think at some point you have to look at someone's potential and give them a chance like they did for Rielly. Does a prospect need to make the next step in development. Kadri pretty much needed a block of games at the NHL level to get a foothold. He did his time in the AHL and needed to be given a chance in a top 6 role.

Unfortunately, if the Leafs are in playoff position at the trade deadline, I doubt you are going to see a mass trading of impending UFA's. Hopefully at some point you had injury fill ins from the Marlies to gauge if a kid to do the same job as the recent UFA signings.

 

[Leaf Lander]

They are never gonna sell kontiola, robidas jerseys

I can only pray they are out to get a marketers dream player and tank to get McDavid so they can actually have a power house team instead of the crap team we have had since Pat Quinn left over 10 yrs ago.

If we can get McDavid next year we are just one piece away from a championship contending team. That piece is a #1 dman


Nylander McDavid Brown
JVR Bozak Kessel
Leivo Mckegg Kadri
Komorov Gauthier Broll

Phaneuf Rielly
Finn Gardiner
Holzer Percy

Bernier
Bibeau

 

[Menzinger]

This leafs team right now is a transition team. Most of the players signed are cheap and will probably be moved at trade deadline so the young ones can come and play some minutes in the NHL. Next season is the key one. plus moving the players gets us probably good draft picks in a VERY deep draft.

This looks like to be the plan for this year, only thing is that this team does look good enough to be 3rd in our division fighting it out with Montreal. first two being Boston and Tampa. I guess the plan is to see how it turns out with all these new guys. evaluate them and flip over replaceable guys in our system for picks.

Now which one of these are actually replaceable?
Holland-Gauthier?
kadri-Nylander?
gardiner-percy?
Franson-Finn?
santorelli/booth/kontiola-frattin, lievo, ashton, brown, verhaeghe

that isn't to say, some of those prospects might be moved too.

I don't management is looking to replace younger guys like Holland/Kadri/Gardiner already. More like the older group of Lupul, Bozak, ect.

Overall, this year is definitely a "let's wait and see what we've got" period. I just wish we had our own 2nd round pick at next year's draft.

 

[Ricky Bobby]

Leafs had a good off-season.

They didn't fool themselves into thinking they are a lot closer then they really are and burn assets attempting to put us into contender status when we weren't there.

Personally, I like this off-season even if we didn't make any major headlines. The only move I really dislike is the Gleason buy out because that will be dead cap space long after he's gone when I feel like we should have just suffered through his deal for a shorter period of time.

I'm really glad we didn't pull another valuable picks for 1 year of a player like Bolland or badly overpaid and overterm for a "character guy" like Clarkson. Management fooling themselves into thinking we were these levels of players away has only now further set us back.

 

[Diatomic]

If this core collapses again the leafs plan should be to trade anyone 26 and above - kessel, phaneuf bozak are the 3 I'm looking at specifically.

 

[Werewolf]

Kontiola could be a hidden gem. scored 5 points in 6 olympic games, winning a bronze along the way. Komarov yeah was too expensive but cap is going up, and as of this season 3 million is the average salary you should have on the roster so it only gets better. (69 million divided by 23 roster players) and the same goes for robidas.
the oldest defenseman we have other than robidas was phaneuf. we got a lot of young defensemen coming up the ranks. its expensive, but gotta do it. I think it was the sharks, dan boyle and vlasic?
yeah we might be expecting a lot out of robidas and most likely will backfire on us, but our prospects aren't ready. this is a stop gap player.

Kontiola...grasping at straws my man. I won't make you guys re-live the days after FA - it all has been talked about/ Taking off the rose colored glasses, you weren't able to attract ANY GOOD FA's that make the Leafs a playoff team next year.

 

[Menzinger]

Lightning fan coming in boredom.

Robidas, Komarov, Kontiola ... yes you should do this every year! Two players that don't address your needs signed to medium length contracts and not on the cheap at $3 Million cap hit each - lol. Kontiola is a depth signing from the KHL ... sucks not to have a NHL ready prospect and you have to waste an NHL roster spot with a fringe NHL player.

Leafs plan: suck and get a chance at McDavid AND try to sign Stamkos in two years. You'll fail on both accounts.

Feeling a little defensive, are we?

 

[ACC1224]

Kontiola...grasping at straws my man. I won't make you guys re-live the days after FA - it all has been talked about/ Taking off the rose colored glasses, you weren't able to attract ANY GOOD FA's that make the Leafs a playoff team next year.

Which good FA's did they try to attract and weren't able to?

What colour glasses are you wearing?

 

[nonikhanna]

Which good FA's did they try to attract and weren't able to?

What colour glasses are you wearing?

I think he means Niskanen, or dan boyle. or bolland. we tried to but we would rather keep our cap space than overpaying. It was a successful offseason by leafs standards.

 

[Ricky Bobby]

Lightning fan coming in boredom.

Robidas, Komarov, Kontiola ... yes you should do this every year! Two players that don't address your needs signed to medium length contracts and not on the cheap at $3 Million cap hit each - lol. Kontiola is a depth signing from the KHL ... sucks not to have a NHL ready prospect and you have to waste an NHL roster spot with a fringe NHL player.

Leafs plan: suck and get a chance at McDavid AND try to sign Stamkos in two years. You'll fail on both accounts.

How do Robidas, Komarov and Kontiola not fit our needs?

Robidas is a veteran right D which we clearly needed. 3 million on a 3 year term buys a depth Dman.

Komarov is a center and an excellent PKer that is a heart and soul type which we clearly needed. 4 years term at 2.95 for a 27 year old isn't bad.

Kontiola, Booth and Santorelli were all signed cheap on 1 year deals. They aren't the big headlines deal but they only have upside.

Tampa might have made some headlines deals but Callahan could easily be Ryan Malone contract 2.0 in just a season or two as he breaks down.

Stralman is now getting 4.5 million for 5 years. That's a heck of a lot to be paying a guy who has been a # 4 Dman at his peak and has had the benefit of playing in front of King Henry in recent seasons. That contract has very little upside.

 

[SeaOfBlue]

This leafs team right now is a transition team. Most of the players signed are cheap and will probably be moved at trade deadline so the young ones can come and play some minutes in the NHL. Next season is the key one. plus moving the players gets us probably good draft picks in a VERY deep draft.

This looks like to be the plan for this year, only thing is that this team does look good enough to be 3rd in our division fighting it out with Montreal. first two being Boston and Tampa. I guess the plan is to see how it turns out with all these new guys. evaluate them and flip over replaceable guys in our system for picks.

Now which one of these are actually replaceable?
Holland-Gauthier?
kadri-Nylander?
gardiner-percy?
Franson-Finn?
santorelli/booth/kontiola-frattin, lievo, ashton, brown, verhaeghe

that isn't to say, some of those prospects might be moved too.

To be totally honest, you're looking further ahead than next year, because none of those guys will be good enough minus Ashton, Frattin and maybe Nylander,Percy and Leivo. Granberg, McKegg and Carrick could also be added to the list. Ashton and Frattin are already likely to make the team. Carrick is likely to replace Santorelli. Holland won't be replaced any time soon most likely. Bodie will be replaced by Devane next year.

If you look at next year:

JVR-Bozak-Kessel
Kadri-Holland-Clarkson
Komarov-McKegg-Frattin
Devane-Carrick-Ashton

Phaneuf-Polak
Gardiner-Robidas
Rielly-Granberg
MacWilliam

Bernier-FA, etc.

Nylander will have a shot too, but he will be pushed along slowly because unlike Rielly he can go to the AHL. Lupul will be sent out before Kadri.

 

[paulster2626]

Lightning fan coming in boredom.

Robidas, Komarov, Kontiola ... yes you should do this every year! Two players that don't address your needs signed to medium length contracts and not on the cheap at $3 Million cap hit each - lol. Kontiola is a depth signing from the KHL ... sucks not to have a NHL ready prospect and you have to waste an NHL roster spot with a fringe NHL player.

Leafs plan: suck and get a chance at McDavid AND try to sign Stamkos in two years. You'll fail on both accounts.

Don't you think Stammer's gonna look great in a Leafs jersey in 2016?

HAHHAAHHAHA all your stamkos is belong to us!