Sportsnet: Wilson: Leafs need 1-to-2 big-time defencemen

[pucci2001]

Not really. He said we need one or two MORE big defensemen.

As in, addition to Dion/

Well then thats perfect, we can spend one third of our cap on 3 defensemen if Dion stays here lol.

 

[Durrr]

I do disagree with Wilson however.

Phaneuf, Lupul and Kessel are the anti-leaders.

I honestly don't even put Lupul's name into the equation anymore. I see more modelling photographs of him these days then I do of him actually playing hockey. This man does not play hockey for love of the game... he plays it to fuel his personal life.

- Makes a spectacle out of losing his phone in a taxi
- Makes a spectacle out of being asked if he has a girlfriend
- Gets professional photographs done for halloween
- Attends many fashion events
- Changes an old man's tire... puts it on social media


Lupul loves the celebrity part of the game, not the actually hockey part.

So, your saying Lupul doesn't love hockey because he has a life outside of hockey? Brilliant.

 

[Durrr]

Well then thats perfect, we can spend one third of our cap on 3 defensemen if Dion stays here lol.

Only reason you don't see this more right now in the NHL is because of the old CBA. Do you think The Hawks could afford there defense core if Kieth and Seabrook weren't on a huge cap circumventing contract?

In today's CBA (where Dion was signed) both of those players together would likley be looking at around 15-16 mil. (9-Kieth, 6-7 Seabrook)

 

[Leafidelity]

I wonder if these quotes will pick up as much steam as the last Kessel ones. I wonder if Feschuk is going to sprint across the city to get quotes from Dion and Phil about needing help.

Nah.

 

[The Magic Man]

Personally I think he took the interviews to defend Carlyle, experiencing what he went through, knowing he took the brunt of the blame for an awful team with one great player. Kessel was worse for Wilson then Carlyle, but this team now has deeply rooted bad habits. I really think it's too late to right any ship, this dinghy is flooding big time.

I believe his assessment of the D, we do need better players. Marc Staal could go a long way to help that, and the money we may have to spend on Franson could be allocated for him, or another smarter D.

About the forwards, I don't think it's a matter of more help for Kessel, as it is a better example setting leader to show the forward core what it takes to win. That may be the harder problem to solve. I still think Kessel is on par with Kane in skill and ability, but Kane has a full group of hardworking forwards that don't follow his style. They all play the right way.

I think we need to target forwards similar to the group in St Louis, that play a full 2 way style with grit. I get the impression our group is enamored with the statistical potential of being on Kessel's team and play his style. They don't have the skill he has to always take those chances. We need guys that know it's more important to win then score and let Kessel be the game breaker while they play the right way.

 

[hockeyfanz*]

Never ever ever liked Ron Wilson. Ever. Doesn't mean he is wrong with what he is saying.

I'd rather just forget about Wilson and his college buddy Burkie. The dynamic duds.

 

[Pilky01]

You realize ron wilson made phaneuf captain right...

Brian Burke made Phanuef captain.

The idiot who looked at a roster led by Vesa Toskala, Matt Stajan and Jason Blake and said "now is the perfect time to trade away my first round picks" is the same moron who anointed Phanuef captain.

 

[ProjectBluePuck]

I'm not in agreement with Wilson at all. The Leafs in the nineties went from a horrible defensive team in 91-92 with 294 GA to a great hard working defensive team with 241 GA in 92-93 and went all the way to the semi-finals with practically the same defence. What changed was a coach with clout that convinces the same group of under achievers to play a defensive system.

The only real player, I could say that made a difference was replacing Michelle Petit with Sylvain Lefebvre. While Lefebvre was a real solid D-defens he by no means was a superstar. They had great goaltending both years.

If this core group of D plus forwards can't play within the system then they just have to replace a few key players with those that will.

Ex.. Jake Gardiner move him, we don't need three or four offensive defensemen prone to making mistakes. Bring in more middle rung capable defensemen that will buy into the program.
Kessel is a problem but he is manageable if used properly as a supplementary scorer a la Gaborik on the Kings. We need to get him a responsible centre that has both clout and a Stanley Cup ring. Mike Richards comes to mind. I know he's not the player he was, and his contract bla bla bla, but he is exactly what this team needs. A guy who knows what it takes to win.

Its a chemistry problem more than anything else.

 

[silentbob37*]

I'm not in agreement with Wilson at all. The Leafs in the nineties went from a horrible defensive team in 91-92 with 294 GA to a great hard working defensive team with 241 GA in 92-93 and went all the way to the semi-finals with practically the same defence. What changed was a coach with clout that convinces the same group of under achievers to play a defensive system.

The only real player, I could say that made a difference was replacing Michelle Petit with Sylvain Lefebvre. While Lefebvre was a real solid D-defens he by no means was a superstar. They had great goaltending both years.

If this core group of D plus forwards can't play within the system then they just have to replace a few key players with those that will.

Ex.. Jake Gardiner move him, we don't need three or four offensive defensemen prone to making mistakes. Bring in more middle rung capable defensemen that will buy into the program.
Kessel is a problem but he is manageable if used properly as a supplementary scorer a la Gaborik on the Kings. We need to get him a responsible centre that has both clout and a Stanley Cup ring. Mike Richards comes to mind. I know he's not the player he was, and his contract bla bla bla, but he is exactly what this team needs. A guy who knows what it takes to win.

Its a chemistry problem more than anything else.

Adding the Selke winning forward in 92-93 and making the change from Fuhr to Potvin MIGHT have had an effect on that teams defensive improvement.

 

[Muston Atthews]

Ahhh Rotten Ronnie is getting his 15 minutes. I look forward to seeing him on Sportsnet or TSN one of these nights

 

[ProjectBluePuck]

Gilmour was on both teams, and Potvin was great but to be fair Fuhr is a hall of fame goaltender.

 

[HarrisonFord]

I wasn't saying you did, just simply saying that the UFA crop is irrelevant.

Eh, I wouldn't call Staal irrelevant.

 

[Gary Nylund]

I'm not in agreement with Wilson at all. The Leafs in the nineties went from a horrible defensive team in 91-92 with 294 GA to a great hard working defensive team with 241 GA in 92-93 and went all the way to the semi-finals with practically the same defence. What changed was a coach with clout that convinces the same group of under achievers to play a defensive system.

The only real player, I could say that made a difference was replacing Michelle Petit with Sylvain Lefebvre. While Lefebvre was a real solid D-defens he by no means was a superstar. They had great goaltending both years.

If this core group of D plus forwards can't play within the system then they just have to replace a few key players with those that will.

Ex.. Jake Gardiner move him, we don't need three or four offensive defensemen prone to making mistakes. Bring in more middle rung capable defensemen that will buy into the program.
Kessel is a problem but he is manageable if used properly as a supplementary scorer a la Gaborik on the Kings. We need to get him a responsible centre that has both clout and a Stanley Cup ring. Mike Richards comes to mind. I know he's not the player he was, and his contract bla bla bla, but he is exactly what this team needs. A guy who knows what it takes to win.

Its a chemistry problem more than anything else.

Nice post. I've thought for a while now that the Leafs are less than the sum of their parts and a change in chemistry could change things pretty fast. I'm not saying it's easy to do by any means but it's not impossible. And what you said about Kessel is bang on IMO.

Adding the Selke winning forward in 92-93 and making the change from Fuhr to Potvin MIGHT have had an effect on that teams defensive improvement.

Gilmour was obviously HUGE. But LOL at Potvin being a huge improvement over Fuhr. More to the point is that the emergence of Potvin enabled them to trade Fuhr for Andreychuk (and Puppa).

 

[diceman934]

You realize ron wilson made phaneuf captain right...

Burke did.....he call him the face of the franchise

 

[pooleboy]

don't worry guys, just move kadri back there we will be better then

 

[Antropovsky]

So, your saying Lupul doesn't love hockey because he has a life outside of hockey? Brilliant.

....are you saying that anyone who plays hockey automatically loves their job, and wouldn't prefer to be somewhere else?

 

[pooleboy]

RW knew everyone hated him, the thing is, when he got that extension he was just so sly and evil about it put it on twitter on December 24th... when I read it I was like I cant tell if this is serious. Didn't reallylikeRW much.

 

[MrLegend28*]

Pretty sure any nhl team could use 2 big time dmen...

 

[Gary Nylund]

Pretty sure any nhl team could use 2 big time dmen...

On an intelligent board, this would have been the first response and then the thread would have been locked. No offence to anyone ...

 

[ProjectBluePuck]

Nice post. I've thought for a while now that the Leafs are less than the sum of their parts and a change in chemistry could change things pretty fast. I'm not saying it's easy to do by any means but it's not impossible. And what you said about Kessel is bang on IMO.

Thanks I appreciate it. And the perfect example is the Rudy Gay trade. One move changed the outlook of the whole franchise.

 

[Mindrust]

He's right though. Look at the improvement in Washington and Tampa once they beefed up their blueline.

Our biggest needs are on D and at C, and the need on D is far, far deeper than the need for a C.

Exactly why I've been advocating trading Kessel for a #1D. As a high-scoring team, we don't have a problem finding the back of the net - we have a problem with preventing the opposition from doing the same. Kessel is expendable, especially when you factor in all his deficiencies (and boy, are they many!)

 

[KLM-Line]

Wilson is right. No idea why people get defensive on his comments. The defense probably needs a Seidenberg type D-man and flip Dion for a true #1. Problem is you usually don't get the latter in a trade/UFA market.

Also Ronny reminded us just how infantile and fragile Phil's psyche is. The bratty attitude towards his job might not be an issue when there are enough grown-ups like in L.A. - then again it is hard to envision such a team putting up with these antics. Here in Toronto he is among like minded individuals (see "Salute Gate") and management spares him the slap on the wrist anyway.

 

[Super Mega]

Wilson is still bitter

 

[thewave]

No 1D or 1C are available. Grow your own like everyone else. Precisely why we need to ditch the dead wood, Lupul Clarkson Bozak Robidas Jake and probably Reimer. We need to take what we can get package some other prospects and picks and move up in the draft as best we can.

Panik finally getting a shot where he should be tried out tonight. Santorelli can stick around as well. Jake is not a defender he just isn't I am convinced of it.

This team should make the above a goal and then like any other team hope for a good selection at the draft. Kessel can be traded if he argues the Bozak trade, if he is that demanding in the face of that you know for a fact you don't want him here.

 

[Pyrophorus]

The lone thing I agree with what he said in 2015.