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Lamoriello On Board For Leafs Rebuild; Komarov Fined In Finland

August 22, 2015, 1:44 PM ET [157 Comments]
Mike Augello
Toronto Maple Leafs Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
Lou Lamoriello has been on the job as Toronto Maple Leafs GM for nearly a month and is taking the methodical approach of learning more about his new team before deciding how to improve the club.

“I don’t know enough about it to make that type of comment.” Lamoriello said when asked about what he liked about the Leafs roster in an interview on TSN 1050 Radio. “I’ll know more about that at the end of September and October.”

Lamoriello had been replaced in his hockey operations role when Ray Shero took over as New Jersey GM , which led to Leafs Team President Brendan Shanahan to approach the man who drafted him 28 years ago about coming to Toronto.

The 72-year-old will have a great deal of influence on the decisions being made, but it is unlikely that he would have been brought in to be part of the management team that includes Assistant GM Kyle Dubas, Director of Player Personnel Mark Hunter and head coach Mike Babcock had he not signed on to the rebuilding plan that Shanahan presented to the MLSE board.

“Right now, we do have a plan to grow a little slower and not get teased by any immediate success here or there.” Lamoriello said. “I believe that the fans, from all the people I’ve talked to, want this build so that we can make those long runs that you’ve seen certain organizations make. I bought into that, I feel very comfortable with it, and as I’ve said I’m excited about it.”

The Leafs will be in flux over the 12 to 24 months as the club makes evaluations on their roster makeup and give time for their prospects to develop, but it is likely that the earliest you will see Lamoriello make any kind of moves will be in November prior to American Thanksgiving, when NHL teams reach the one-quarter mark of the schedule

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Leafs winger Leo Komarov is a little lighter in the wallet but avoided potential jail time after agreeing to pay a $51,000 fine stemming from speeding and fraud charges in Finland. According to TSN , the 28-year-old winger was caught twice for travelling 25-30 km/h over the speed limit and indicated that he had no income last summer while he was between contracts with the KHL and the Maple Leafs.


Komarov with legendary Russian defensemen Slava Fetisov and Alexei Kasatonov.

A Finnish court ruled that Komarov needed to report his earnings over a longer period to include earnings with Dynamo Moscow and the four-year, $11.8 Million deal signed with the Leafs last July, since fines for traffic offenses are based on income.

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