Confirmed with Link: TOR sign Filip Kral & Kristians Rubins to ELC’s

[Kiwi]

Duszak is AHL Jake Gardiner except he makes me pull my hair out less.

And I still say Kivihalme is not worth it. He can surprise me, but I just compare him to where Rosen and Holl were at 24, and he is far behind them. Considering we will already have a defense which looks as though it will have at least 5 defensemen who are 23 or under and at least 4 or 5 guys who look like they will be puck movers who could challenge for PP time next year. I would rather invest the contract in a higher quality NHL/AHL tweener who can play PK, may be another good insurance option in the NHL, and can be a good mentor/facilitator for the many young defensemen on the Marlies next year... Especially when guys like Duszak and Hollowell (one of which will likely be Kivihalme's or the vet's partner) need a ton of work on their defensive game. Kivihalme is far from an ideal fit for that kind of role, and does not have the upside necessary to make an exception to keep him.

But I know I am in the minority when it comes to Kivihalme.

Less? Duszak makes Gardiner look like a Norris candidate, I enjoy the entertainment but he's a rollercoaster

It's a fair enough option, I think he's got some talent and I liked his game as the season progressed so I'd persevere for another season before I'd cut bait but if we dump him i wouldn't lose my mind over it

I still see enough upside/tools to keep me interested

 

[Kiwi]

Can't disagree with that. Whatever the roster is, Moore needs to make it work. You know how much this organization values AHL playoff hockey for prospects, so they probably weren't happy with what they say after Moore came in.

I didn't like the meltdown from Moore as the season started spiralling, you need to be bloody careful when you start attacking your players in public and I thought he pushed the boundaries of that

They must of liked what they saw before Moore was hired but they need to have a sit down with him because we don't need a repeat of that imo

 

[stickty111]

I didn't like the meltdown from Moore as the season started spiralling, you need to be bloody careful when you start attacking your players in public and I thought he pushed the boundaries of that

They must of liked what they saw before Moore was hired but they need to have a sit down with him because we don't need a repeat of that imo

Sounded like something Torts would do before. That was awful. There is a difference between criticizing your team to the media, and pretty much insulting them.
Moore likely only gets half the season if things don't turn around.

 

[SeaOfBlue]

Less? Duszak makes Gardiner look like a Norris candidate, I enjoy the entertainment but he's a rollercoaster

It's a fair enough option, I think he's got some talent and I liked his game as the season progressed so I'd persevere for another season before I'd cut bait but if we dump him i wouldn't lose my mind over it

I still see enough upside/tools to keep me interested

Well I watched Gardiner a lot more than Duszak so it could just be representation bias. I mean Moore made that team more or less unbearable to watch. I just started watching individual players and noticing who stood out (in both a good or bad way vs. the rest of the team). Maybe Duszak did not look as bad because the entire team looked terrible.

 

[Kiwi]

Sounded like something Torts would do before. That was awful. There is a difference between criticizing your team to the media, and pretty much insulting them.
Moore likely only gets half the season if things don't turn around.

It got excessive, I can understand trying to wake the guys up but incessantly attacking your players to the media gets very old very quickly, there are other ways to motivate players besides that

Well I watched Gardiner a lot more than Duszak so it could just be representation bias. I mean Moore made that team more or less unbearable to watch. I just started watching individual players and noticing who stood out (in both a good or bad way vs. the rest of the team). Maybe Duszak did not look as bad because the entire team looked terrible.

The things Duszak does well are very noticeable, so was the stuff I wasn't so keen on , his defensive game is rugged

Gardiner was flighty but was also underappreciated for the things that helped defensively he did do well

 

[Canada4Gold]

Little surprised on Rubins, but I'm really glad we signed Kral after the report he was going to the Czech League. Hopefully that was just leverage and he's going to play with the Marlies and not a loan over there. We need some LD depth on the Marlies which was a big reason I was really hoping they would sign him in addition to thinking he has NHL upside.

 

[Duke16]

I imagine they sign two, and then non-tender/trade Kivihalme.

Rosen/Marincin-Lindgren
UFA-Duszak
Rubins-Hollowell
Kral-UFA

On top of bringing in another Kapla (or re-signing him) and potentially looking at some of the other younger AHL contract options out there. I would also still look at Josh Maniscalco and see if we can convince him to come in. I would make room on the Marlies just to fit him in, even if it means trading one of those prospects. I can actually see the Leafs trading a guy like Lindgren as a prospect addition in one of their offseason trades since he likely won't have a spot by the time he is ready.

I saw today Kawaguchi is returning too. That pretty much closes the NCAA market from an ELC standpoint for me.

 

[Stephen]

Kral weaves through traffic like an Original Six era player. The combination of smoothness, twisting action, not particularly explosive, one handed stickhandling and heads up play is really usual and retro.

Anyway, good housekeeping moves to keep the development system running. Solid.

 

[stickty111]

Kral weaves through traffic like an Original Six era player. The combination of smoothness, twisting action, not particularly explosive, one handed stickhandling and heads up play is really usual and retro.

Anyway, good housekeeping moves to keep the development system running. Solid.

Thats an interesting description

 

[Magic Man]

Kral and Rubins both are well deserved. Glad to have them around.

 

[The Nic]

I imagine they sign two, and then non-tender/trade Kivihalme.

Rosen/Marincin-Lindgren
UFA-Duszak
Rubins-Hollowell
Kral-UFA

On top of bringing in another Kapla (or re-signing him) and potentially looking at some of the other younger AHL contract options out there. I would also still look at Josh Maniscalco and see if we can convince him to come in. I would make room on the Marlies just to fit him in, even if it means trading one of those prospects. I can actually see the Leafs trading a guy like Lindgren as a prospect addition in one of their offseason trades since he likely won't have a spot by the time he is ready.

Man... you are relentless...

 

[Al14]

Man... you are relentless...

He must be related to the coronavirus!

 

[Gabriel426]

Rubins is a big guy. Can he play though? Have not really watch the Marlies.

 

[GettingYourMoms]

Boston fan and Czech native coming in peace. Seeing Král in Leafs jersey in future would make me so happy. I hope he will become your next Kaberle!

 

[SeaOfBlue]

Man... you are relentless...

Or I just don't have a strange obsession over a mediocre at best defenseman who is trending towards being a career minor leaguer.

 

[Its not your fault]

Liked Rubans in preseason can see him becoming useful.

 

[deletethis]

Rubins is going to be a modest player but I could see a more cerebral, less panicked version of Marty Marincin. That wouldn't be too bad.

Kral doesn't quite have that effortless escapability Tomas Kaberle had at 20 but he's got 3 years to develop his pro legs to create some space to flourish for that unflappability we saw in those highlight videos.

 

[The Iceman]

As Babs would say about Rubins "He is 1.93 metres everyday"
or maybe he would say 6'4" and 221 lbs everyday

 

[SprDaVE]

This is good. I think Rubins has some potential to be a solid depth NHL defenseman and Kral should be at least an interesting AHL player.

This probably means Stotts won't be signed though, which is not a big deal.