Showing posts with label trade deadline. Show all posts
Showing posts with label trade deadline. Show all posts
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Deadline Dealing
Maple Leafs fans have been spoiled. That might sound funny after the team has failed to made the playoffs for eight years, but it's true.
After years of lamenting the loss of Tuukka Rask, or bemoaning the missed opportunity of dealing Tomas Kaberle for Jeff Carter and a first-round pick, the Leafs' fortunes in the trade market have improved drastically.
After years of lamenting the loss of Tuukka Rask, or bemoaning the missed opportunity of dealing Tomas Kaberle for Jeff Carter and a first-round pick, the Leafs' fortunes in the trade market have improved drastically.
Thursday, January 5, 2012
JML: Sign, Trade, or Walk?
Within the past calendar year, Tomas Kaberle
has played for four teams and six coaches. After leaving Toronto, he
was generally pretty ineffective in Boston, failing to ignite their powerplay. But he still managed to help the Bruins
win a Stanley Cup (however inconsequential his contribution may have
been). This season he continued his disappointing play in Carolina
before finding himself in Montreal. It has been as rough as any year
highlighted by a championship ring could be.
There has definitely been no seller’s regret in Toronto.
Kaberle’s replacement in Toronto, John-Michael Liles, a player who in a way was a part of the initial trade with Boston (the conditional second rounder Boston sent the Leafs was shipped to Colorado for Liles) has integrated into the Leafs lineup and filled the role vacated by Kaberle seamlessly.
Liles forms the first defensive pairing on the Leafs’ powerplay and has helped ignite a once dormant unit that was 22nd in the league last season. With Liles quarterbacking the man-advantage, Toronto sits 3rd in league, helping propel the Leafs to a top-10 offense.
Liles has 21 points on the year, which before sustaining a concussion was one more than Phaneuf, and has accumulated 10 of those on the powerplay. He was advertised as a Kaberle-lite when the Leafs acquired him, but considering the way Kaberle has played recently you wonder who the knockoff really is.
As a bonus, the Indianapolis native has provided a steady influence on the back-end, playing a pretty solid game and rarely showing the defensive deficiencies that Kaberle frequently did during his later “I don’t give a shit” years.
But these positives mean the Leafs have a dilemma.
There has definitely been no seller’s regret in Toronto.
Kaberle’s replacement in Toronto, John-Michael Liles, a player who in a way was a part of the initial trade with Boston (the conditional second rounder Boston sent the Leafs was shipped to Colorado for Liles) has integrated into the Leafs lineup and filled the role vacated by Kaberle seamlessly.
Liles forms the first defensive pairing on the Leafs’ powerplay and has helped ignite a once dormant unit that was 22nd in the league last season. With Liles quarterbacking the man-advantage, Toronto sits 3rd in league, helping propel the Leafs to a top-10 offense.
Liles has 21 points on the year, which before sustaining a concussion was one more than Phaneuf, and has accumulated 10 of those on the powerplay. He was advertised as a Kaberle-lite when the Leafs acquired him, but considering the way Kaberle has played recently you wonder who the knockoff really is.
As a bonus, the Indianapolis native has provided a steady influence on the back-end, playing a pretty solid game and rarely showing the defensive deficiencies that Kaberle frequently did during his later “I don’t give a shit” years.
But these positives mean the Leafs have a dilemma.
Friday, March 12, 2010
Do the Hawks and Flyers Really Need a Goalie?
This year’s trade deadline was especially boring despite having a record 31 trades involving 55 players. The most exciting trade was Wojtek Wolski (the next Polish Prince?) for Peter Mueller – not exactly the most riveting trade. However, the lack of intrigue was not totally surprising. The major players (such as Kovalchuk and Phaneuf) moved prior to the deadline, which left only secondary players available. Put it this way, the most sought after player at the deadline was Ray Whitney. Not exactly a sexy name. What did surprise many people was the lack of movement made by two teams considered serious contenders for the Stanley Cup, Chicago and Philadelphia.
It is clear that the weakest point of each team is their goaltending. How weak is up for debate. Both teams were rumoured to be aggressively pursuing a legitimate number one goalie at the deadline and both were unable to land said prize. Is this a bad thing? Does either team truly need a goalie to make a serious run at the Stanley Cup? Let’s look at each team individually.
It is clear that the weakest point of each team is their goaltending. How weak is up for debate. Both teams were rumoured to be aggressively pursuing a legitimate number one goalie at the deadline and both were unable to land said prize. Is this a bad thing? Does either team truly need a goalie to make a serious run at the Stanley Cup? Let’s look at each team individually.
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J.
The NHL trade deadline is a month away, but there have already been three significant trades. The latest, consummated hours ago, involves the heavily rumoured Ilya Kovalchuk. It was not surprising in the least that Kovalchuk is no longer a member of the Atlanta Thrashers, but what is surprising is the team that acquired him, the New Jersey Devils.
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Things Done Changed: The Value of a First Round Pick
I was going to wait to post this until closer to the trade deadline, but since Burkie and Sutter have gone crazy I thought it was appropriate to post it sooner.
GMs of terrible teams look fondly upon the 2007 trade deadline with the same wistful eyes that cocaine dealers get when remembering the 1980s.
This is the trade deadline that made rebuilding even more difficult than it already is. That’s because the 2007 trade deadline is better characterized as the year of overspending or the year of ignorance. Since it was only the second year after the lockout teams didn’t quite realize the tremendous value of draft picks in a cap system, especially first round picks. When you commit a large sum of your cap space to a small group of core players you continually need to replenish your remaining roster spots with young, cheap talent. Having young players make meaningful contributions, while still on their rookie contracts, is essential. GMs who believed they were on the cusp of a Stanley Cup run, or worse, on the cusp of only the playoffs, traded their picks faster than a crack addict selling their sex.
GMs of terrible teams look fondly upon the 2007 trade deadline with the same wistful eyes that cocaine dealers get when remembering the 1980s.
This is the trade deadline that made rebuilding even more difficult than it already is. That’s because the 2007 trade deadline is better characterized as the year of overspending or the year of ignorance. Since it was only the second year after the lockout teams didn’t quite realize the tremendous value of draft picks in a cap system, especially first round picks. When you commit a large sum of your cap space to a small group of core players you continually need to replenish your remaining roster spots with young, cheap talent. Having young players make meaningful contributions, while still on their rookie contracts, is essential. GMs who believed they were on the cusp of a Stanley Cup run, or worse, on the cusp of only the playoffs, traded their picks faster than a crack addict selling their sex.
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Deadline Day Comes Early
Last night the Leafs lost after striking an early 3 goal lead against one of the best goalies in the league. My dad pondered aloud how they would blow this one. As the eternal optimist, I suggested Kessel had another 5 goals in him, so the night was over. Did I believe it? Well, certainly not the 5 goals and I was even skeptical about the win at that point. When Raycroft came in I outwardly proclaimed domination (inwardly, I was very scared for Razor’s wrath). The Leafs ended up losing 5-3 and I hardly cared, just another day in Leafs Nation. At this point I accepted the ex-Leafs pick will be in the top-5 and in all likelihood the Leafs will win the draft lottery when they no longer own the pick. I’ve soured on pretty much everyone on the team. I was apathetic. Then I woke up this morning to the sounds of trades. My dad was listening to the radio, I was scouring the internet for information, Rick called me jubilantly, and texts from friends flew rapidly. Just when I thought I was out… they pull me back in.
Thursday, January 28, 2010
The Kovalchuk Conundrum
Ilya Kovalchuk is the best pure goal scorer in the NHL. That’s a ballsy statement considering the goal-scoring prowess of Alexander Ovechkin. But notice that I used the word pure. Ovechkin isn’t a pure goal scorer because he does a lot more for the Washington Capitals than just score goals. He basically plays like a 3rd line energy player, but just happens to have the talents of an elite goal-scorer.
There are many rumours that suggest the Leafs would love to add Kovalchuk if he makes it to free agency this off-season. Kovalchuk’s goal-scoring abilities are sorely lacking from the Leafs line-up and his addition would instantly make the Leafs a playoff team, but I’m not content with just a playoff team. I want Leafs management to build a team capable of contending for the Stanley Cup. I don’t mind waiting, but I want to see it done right. I don’t think signing Kovalchuk to a ridiculous long-term contract is the answer to the Leafs problems.
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