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Leafs Draft Day Had Central Theme

July 1, 2013, 2:47 PM ET [1085 Comments]
Mike Augello
Toronto Maple Leafs Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
The Toronto Maple Leafs focused primarily on shoring up the club up the middle for the present and future with the acquisition of two-time Stanley Cup winner David Bolland from the Chicago Black Hawks and the selection of centers with their two top draft picks at the NHL Draft in Newark on Sunday.

With their first round pick(21st overall), Toronto selected Frederik Gauthier of the QMJHL’s Rimouski Oceanic Leafs and in the third round they chose Carter Verhaeghe of the OHL’s Niagara Ice Dogs.

Gauthier is well regarded for his defensive and special team abilities, as well as being excellent on faceoffs, but admittedly needs to improve at the offensive side of the ice. At 6’5” 210 lbs, the Laval, QUE native has been compared to Phoenix’s Martin Hanzal and Carolina’s Jordan Staal, while Vergheghe scored 18 goals in his second OHL season and will get an opportunity at significantly bigger role with the Ice Dogs next season as Isles first rounder Ryan Strome likely moves on to the NHL next season.

The addition of Bolland cost Toronto three draft picks; their second and fourth picks in 2013 and a fourth rounder in 2014, but it gave the Leafs a player with championship pedigree, valuable NHL experience and local connections.

The 27 year old Mimico, ON native was pursued by Leafs GM Dave Nonis since before last season’s April 3rd trade deadline and he contacted Chicago GM Stan Bowman mere hours after Bolland scored the Cup winning goal against the Boston Bruins a week ago.

Nonis indicated after the trade that Leafs coach Randy Carlyle envisions a more extensive role for Bolland than being a checking center as he was behind Jonathan Toews in both Hawks championship runs, but more than likely he will take the place likely being vacated by free agent Tyler Bozak.

The Leafs publicly are acting as if they are still knee deep in the market to pursue a front line center, but with the exception of perhaps Colorado’s Paul Stastny and free agent Vincent Lecavalier, there does not appear to be one available.

Nonis stated that the acquisition of Bolland does not preclude the possibility of the Leafs re-signing Bozak or other possible moves in the next few days, but looking at their current roster, Mikhail Grabovski and restricted free agent Nazem Kadri appear to be slotted for the top two lines, with Bolland and perhaps restricted free agent Joe Colborne as the third and fourth line centers.

If Toronto were to re-sign Bozak, sign Lecavalier or trade for Statsny, then they would likely have to find a home for Grabovski’s $5.5 Million contract with four years remaining.

From all indications, the Leafs appear poised to make a major pitch to another Mimico, ON native in David Clarkson, who is set to test the free agent market on July 5. The New Jersey Devils have re-signed veterans Dainius Zubrus and are close to locking up Patrik Elias to a new two year deal, but GM Lou Lamoriello may not have the financial wherewithall to re-sign Clarkson, who could make more than $5 Million per season.

Happy Canada Day to all my readers.

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