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Rookie Tournament Returns To London; Jumbo Joe To Toronto?

June 3, 2013, 4:13 PM ET [455 Comments]
Mike Augello
Toronto Maple Leafs Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
The Maple Leafs announced on Monday that the 2013 Rookie Tournament will return to London, Ontario, with Toronto rookies playing three games from September 5 to September 8 against rookie squads from the Ottawa Senators, Pittsburgh Penguins and Chicago Blackhawks.

The tournament was previously in London in 2010 and moved to Oshawa, ON in 2011, but did not take place last year due to the impending NHL lockout.

From the Leafs website:

“The Maple Leafs are thrilled to return to a great hockey city like London for the annual Rookie Tournament,” said Leafs Senior Vice-President and General Manager David Nonis. “It’s a great opportunity for us to evaluate the players in our system against their peers from other NHL clubs.”

Tickets will go on sale Saturday, June 8 at 10 a.m and can be purchased at the Budweiser Gardens Box Office, by phone at (866) 455-2849 or online at www.budweisergardens.com.
Ticket prices for the evening games are Adults - $19.25 and Students/Seniors/Kids - $14.25. Prices for the afternoon games are Adults - $16.75 and Students/Seniors/Kids - $11.75. Additionally this year, Full Day Passes will also be offered at $26.00 for Adults and $21.00 for Students/Seniors/Kids.


DATE TIME EVENT LOCATION
Thur. Sept. 5 2:00 PM Pitt vs. Ott Budweiser Gardens
7:00 PM Chi vs. Tor Budweiser Gardens

Fri. Sept. 6 T.B.A. Practice Budweiser Gardens

Sat. Sept. 7 2:00 PM Ott vs. Chi Budweiser Gardens
7:00 PM Tor vs. Pitt Budweiser Gardens

Sun. Sept. 8 2:00 PM Chi vs. Pitt Budweiser Gardens
7:00 PM Tor vs. Ott Budweiser Gardens

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Is veteran center Joe Thornton someone who could be on the Leafs radar?? The Boston Globe’s Kevin Paul Dupont seems to think is a slight chance.

The 1997 first overall pick turns 34 in July and played very well for San Jose during the playoffs, but GM Doug Wilson may finally have to shake the roster after another early exit. The Sharks began to transition away from the older leadership group of Thornton, Patrick Marleau and Dan Boyle and towards younger veterans like Joe Pavelski and Logan Couture.

Thornton, Marleau, Boyle and Pavelski are all scheduled to be unrestricted free agents and Couture will be a restricted free agent next summer, making the possibility of trading one or more of the players a distinct possibility.

Dupont speculates that Thornton would be a good fit in Toronto, where he could fill the role up the middle vacated by the potential departure of Tyler Bozak, provide the playmaking ability to make Phil Kessel a 50 goal scorer and tutor younger centers Nazem Kadri and Joe Colborne.

While it is plausible, Thornton is known to love Northern California and has a full no movement/no trade clause. There will be a lot of suitors for the big playmaker next summer if the Sharks decide to spend his $7 Million salary elsewhere, so it is unlikely that he would go to a new situation(especially a pressure filled market like Toronto) for one season instead of playing his contract out in San Jose.

There is not such an impediment with Avs center Paul Stastny, who is making $6.6 Million in the final year of his contract, but does not have any movement restrictions in his deal.

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Here is Leafs Director of Amateur Scouting Dave Morrison, discussing last week's NHL combine and the prospects for the upcoming NHL Draft.



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