Hope that everyone had an enjoyable Easter weekend, which was full of exciting and interesting hockey games. In the world of the Toronto Maple Leafs, the decisions on where the organization will go under new Team President Brendan Shanahan, including the future of head coach Randy Carlyle and a number of players is still unknown.
It’s time to answer some questions from fans about what the next few months will have in store for Leafs Nation.
A: Just as the return of Dave Bolland to the lineup was overemphasized in importance, so has the potential return of Leo Komarov to Toronto. The feisty forward would be a welcome addition for a team that lost it’s physical identity this past season.
Komarov would be fit in well in a third line checking role or fourth line energy role, but the benefits of his return would be limited by how much GM Dave Nonis would have to spend in salary, because the Estonian-born Finnish Olympian will never be a big time scorer in the NHL.
A fair deal for both sides would be a two to three years in length, in the $1.5 to $2 Million per season range.
A: The Leafs will not go through the public relations embarrassment of stripping the C off of Dion Phaneuf’s jersey. If they find it necessary to go to those lengths to take Phaneuf out of a leadership role with the club, then he will more likely be traded this summer.
Some of us are old enough to remember the days of Darryl Sittler in the early 1980’s and how his battles with owner Harold Ballard and GM Punch Imlach led to the end of his captaincy and eventually his departure from Toronto.
My opinion is that Phaneuf will either be captain of the Maple Leafs next year or he will be on another team.
A: That is not one I’ve heard. The Penguins might be in need of a shakeup if they lose in the opening round to Columbus, but it appears to be coach Dan Bylsma is on the hot seat. Malkin signed a long term extension that kicks in next season and is slated to make $9.5 Million per season. It would not be feasible for the Leafs to add a hefty salary like Malkin if they did not shed a big ticket contract such as Joffrey Lupul or Dion Phaneuf in the process.
Personally, I do not think we will see Malkin moved anytime soon and I don't see Reimer going to the Penguins, since it is not a place where he could become a starting goaltender, that would be a Western Conference team like Calgary or Winnipeg.
A: Paul Stastny is probably going to be either the first or second most sought after player in unrestricted free agency (along with Thomas Vanek) and that probably means that the 28-year-old center will be severely overpaid in a very thin group this summer.
For that reason, the Leafs will likely not get into the bidding and will likely rely on a trade to bring in a top center. The culture change in Toronto discussed by management last week will not occur by adding to the current core group, but to alter or tweak that group.
A: Colorado does have a bevy of centers, but their decision to move one of them would be contingent on the re-signing of Stastny before hitting the market this summer. Matt Duchene and rookie phenom Nathan MacKinnon are not going anywhere, but Ryan O’Reilly was forced to move to the wing due to the glut up the middle and is in the final year of the deal initiated by an offer sheet with Calgary in February 2013.
If the Avs don’t sign Stastny, they lose him for nothing as a UFA. If they sign Stastny and trade O’Reilly instead, they will get a significant return including some help on the blueline, where Colorado appears to be weakest. If O’Reilly is on the market, he is a game changer and someone that Toronto would be stupid not to have interest in acquiring.
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