Morgan Rielly was on the TEAM1040 Vancouver and Don Taylor asked him what he'd been up to. Rielly said he just got back from Leafs Prospect camp. Taylor replied, were you the only one there? - Scooby_Doo
Yeah, funny story.
In other news, Vancouver has won ZERO Stanley Cups.
So, let's review what we've learned ... You should shut up.
Burke should be fired. The Leafs have been in a rebuild for 11 years now and this is the best prospect group he can collect? What a joke...none of those guys are big difference makers that will make this team a big dog in the East. Burke needs to figure it out and start making some big splashes in free agency. - broadstreet11
I'd point out how dumb your comment is, but I think you did a fine job of doing that yourself.
Location: Living rent free... in your head, ON Joined: 09.20.2010
Jul 24 @ 10:41 PM ET
Oh yeah? Why's Connolly, Lombardi, or Bozak still lingering around? It's not that easy to find homes for overpaid, mediocre players. Best you can hope to do is put together a package for other players that are useful, but will likely be cap dumps themselves, so it's not that easy; nobody's taking on those guys for anything other than middling/fringe prospects or late round picks. And now you have to find room for those new prospects on your already crowded Marlies team.
You add Doan and his heavy cap hit, but are now facing a smaller cap and a limited window of usefulness. Well guess what? The Leafs aren't very good right now, so a) why would Doan even want to come here? b) what would we do with him while he's here and playing at a decent level for ~3 years?
We get a guy way past his prime, ends up being a cap burden for the king's ransom we'd have to throw at him to get him to sign with a team that's not a contender, and we're left with a Gomez on the books for the next few years, potentially jeopardizing our ability to resign guys like Gardiner, Kessel, etc. down the road. - gravyface
The fact that you brought up gomez when talking about Doan, proves you know absolutely nothing. I already said he wouldn't sign here. The leadership he would bring would be worth money. By they time the leafs need to resign kessel and gardiner, komi and connolly will be off the books...so money is not an issue. Bringing that up was just a waste of time....
Doan is better than any winger we current have from the 2nd line down...even past his prime.
The players you mentioned could be moved.....might not be for much...but who cares.
The fact that you brought up gomez when talking about Doan, proves you know absolutely nothing. I already said he wouldn't sign here. The leadership he would bring would be worth money. By they time the leafs need to resign kessel and gardiner, komi and connolly will be off the books...so money is not an issue. Bringing that up was just a waste of time....
Doan is better than any winger we current have from the 2nd line down...even past his prime.
The players you mentioned could be moved.....might not be for much...but who cares. - Fakepartofme
Lombardi's speed is useful in a utility role.
Connolly was a stop gap that will be gone after next year so it doesn't matter.
Bozak, on the other hand, continued to improve upon his past season.
Even though he was on a top line, getting top minutes, he was industrious against other team's top defenders. He has decent vision, has bulked up somewhat since joining, and doesn't miss open nets like he did a few years ago.
I'm not trying to say he's a star in the making, but he deserves credit for the chemistry he developed with the other two.
We can only speculate on how someone else down the middle would have fared, but I think Bozak has a lot of the right tools to build off last year.
I say so because I want to see Grabs man the 2nd line. I don't buy into the 'throw all your sperm into one basket' mentality, and think it's very important that there's balance on the Leaf attack. Having Grabs as the first line centre is only good if two conditions are met:
i. The top line of Kessel Grabs & Loops all see a significant increase in production.
ii. whoever centres the 2nd line is able to produce enough offense to offset the removal of Grabs from that line
Location: 925K. Talented player. (Lehtonen) Santo_44, ON Joined: 09.28.2010
Jul 24 @ 11:08 PM ET
the thing i like about what burke has done is he's really gotten us some pretty decent depth in the system. its not just the 1st liners who win games, but the 2nd and 3rd liners, who help battle and chip in during the games when the 1st line is struggling. even if they tire out the other teams top unit, it gives the 1st line a better chance. with lupul and kessel already slotted in on the 1st line, all we need is a #1C. the rest of the forwards can be filled up with prospects in years to come. if we tank again this year we have a good chance at getting a #1C in either McKinnon, Barkov or Monahan. defense is also good. plenty of two way guys which are always useful. Rielly will most likely be a #1 pairing guy and i could see a guy like percy possibly being his partner (a more reliable defensive guy, still solid passer, and very steady reliable defenseman, many compare the way he plays the game to lidstrom (not saying he will be lidstrom, just the calm game and that you dont really notice him cause hes not flashy and doesnt make mistakes) and he had rafalski (an offensive guy, who rielly will be) so they could be a good match).
I can't wait for next season. I hope biggs goes to play in the OHL so i can go watch more OHL games. now i get to watch percy all the time vs biggs and finn, even rupert/leivo
the thing i like about what burke has done is he's really gotten us some pretty decent depth in the system. its not just the 1st liners who win games, but the 2nd and 3rd liners, who help battle and chip in during the games when the 1st line is struggling. even if they tire out the other teams top unit, it gives the 1st line a better chance. with lupul and kessel already slotted in on the 1st line, all we need is a #1C. the rest of the forwards can be filled up with prospects in years to come. if we tank again this year we have a good chance at getting a #1C in either McKinnon, Barkov or Monahan. defense is also good. plenty of two way guys which are always useful. Rielly will most likely be a #1 pairing guy and i could see a guy like percy possibly being his partner (a more reliable defensive guy, still solid passer, and very steady reliable defenseman, many compare the way he plays the game to lidstrom (not saying he will be lidstrom, just the calm game and that you dont really notice him cause hes not flashy and doesnt make mistakes) and he had rafalski (an offensive guy, who rielly will be) so they could be a good match).
I can't wait for next season. I hope biggs goes to play in the OHL so i can go watch more OHL games. now i get to watch percy all the time vs biggs and finn, even rupert/leivo - matt1337
This inception-esc bracket usage is wicked awesome.
