1 week.
- Leafland

+ he has to go through all the concussion testing thinge crap...

Top 3 lines look set

Lupul - Bozak - Kessel
Kuli - Grabo - Mac
JVR - Kadri - Komarov

Frattin hasn't pushed any of them out of the lineup.

Fourth line looks most likely

? - McClement - Brown

As good as Frattin is, I can't see wasting him on a line with McClement and Brown. Look for either Steckel to shift to the wing, or Orr gets a spot

Why do we need Steckel?

We have McClemment.
- Atomic Wedgie

i agree.. personally i would rather keep frattin

James Mirtle ‏@mirtle
Hearing Rielly and Frattin will be the Leafs cuts today to get to 23-man roster. Practice starts at 11:30 so we'll know for sure then.

rielly makes sense.. send him back to junior to dominate.

frattin upsets me a bit.. then again.. he'll get more ice time with the marlies.. and if he's slumping.. ice time is what he needs.. not 4th line duties.
- Dozzer

I was really hoping to waive orr and stekle stick kamorov(sp?) on the 4th with brown and mcclement. have jvr kadri and frattin on third..

Frattin seems to be the darling of Leaf fans. In due time maybe.. Didn't light things on fire last eyar. Seemed to have a bad camp (albeit 4 days).. Glad to see Reilly go back to juniors..

I honestly think its a pretty good D.

The problem I found was the it was Wilsons style and game plan that was run and gun, which the Dmen paid the price for. I could be wrong, but I find it almost pathetic how that D can be called horrible by supposedly knowledgeable hockey media.

Thats just my two cents though.
- Gunslinger

Leafs d is hoorible in the defensive zone. Everyone looks at how much offesne they can produce, and says they are good. They are supposed to be "DEFENSE"men.
As a 6 man unit they are abyssmal defensively, no matter which guys you throw together. The makeup is all wrong.

Drop Orr giving you 13 forwards, 2 goalies and carry 8 d.

Send Reilley back, unless Gardiner can't play tomorrow.

Make a decision on Kostka, Holzer and Fraser. There is absolutely zero point in keeping all 3 on the leafs. Ignore the waiver issue. If you lose one, then so be it. None of these gusy are allstars. I wish this was a bigger issue than is being made out, in terms of talent.
- B-Wforever

They are fairly valuable to the Marlies.

James Mirtle ‏@mirtle
Hearing Rielly and Frattin will be the Leafs cuts today to get to 23-man roster. Practice starts at 11:30 so we'll know for sure then.

rielly makes sense.. send him back to junior to dominate.

frattin upsets me a bit.. then again.. he'll get more ice time with the marlies.. and if he's slumping.. ice time is what he needs.. not 4th line duties.
- Dozzer

Exactly, what I've been saying. I'd rather him play well and get top line minutes, than try too hard to impress on 4th line minutes.

I think Nonis just wants to keep Orr up so he doesn't have to call a news conference to apologize to Orr and complain about the state of the game for being forced to send him down.

Frattin seems to be the darling of Leaf fans. In due time maybe.. Didn't light things on fire last eyar. Seemed to have a bad camp (albeit 4 days).. Glad to see Reilly go back to juniors..
- Popcorn Kid

I kind of wanted to see what he could do, but with what had to happen to keep him here, its better he go back and rip it up..

James Mirtle ‏@mirtle
Hearing Rielly and Frattin will be the Leafs cuts today to get to 23-man roster. Practice starts at 11:30 so we'll know for sure then.

rielly makes sense.. send him back to junior to dominate.

frattin upsets me a bit.. then again.. he'll get more ice time with the marlies.. and if he's slumping.. ice time is what he needs.. not 4th line duties.
- Dozzer

The unfortunate thing is, with the roster the way it is, he would have to displace one or two of JVR/MacArthur/Grabovsky/Kulemin/Kadri to get anything other than 3rd/4th line duties. [/img]

With the roster spots available there is no reason to loose any one. frattin down, orr down, holtzer down keep the rest. Gardiner on IR. do that for a week, someone will get hurt traded etc.

point is there is no rush.

I was really hoping to waive orr and stekle stick kamorov(sp?) on the 4th with brown and mcclement. have jvr kadri and frattin on third..
- IrishRage

Top 3 lines look set

Lupul - Bozak - Kessel
Kuli - Grabo - Mac
JVR - Kadri - Komarov

Frattin hasn't pushed any of them out of the lineup.

Fourth line looks most likely

? - McClement - Brown

As good as Frattin is, I can't see wasting him on a line with McClement and Brown. Look for either Steckel to shift to the wing, or Orr gets a spot
- ILoveLamp

Kuli has played well with Koma, he should be on the 3rd.....JVR should be up with Grabo.

Anyone here think Benn is worth risking a 1st round pick for...as in offer sheet?
- p_zub

NO

Anyone here think Benn is worth risking a 1st round pick for...as in offer sheet?
- p_zub

worth more

James Mirtle ‏@mirtle
Hearing Rielly and Frattin will be the Leafs cuts today to get to 23-man roster. Practice starts at 11:30 so we'll know for sure then.

rielly makes sense.. send him back to junior to dominate.

frattin upsets me a bit.. then again.. he'll get more ice time with the marlies.. and if he's slumping.. ice time is what he needs.. not 4th line duties.
- Dozzer

This should mean that Gardiner is almost ready then, no?

They are fairly valuable to the Marlies.
- Leafland

Don't forget you have Stewart Percy, Morgan Reilley and Matt Finn to backfill the marlies after the CHL ends. OHL regular seasons ends Mar 17.

Leafs d is hoorible in the defensive zone. Everyone looks at how much offesne they can produce, and says they are good. They are supposed to be "DEFENSE"men.
As a 6 man unit they are abyssmal defensively, no matter which guys you throw together. The makeup is all wrong.
- B-Wforever

I really am not sure on that. I think it was the coach and his system that made everything look worse than it really was.

If the coach is asking them to pinch, they pinch. If the coach tells them to stay back, they stay back. If they arent doing what the coach asks, and yet the coach does nothing about it, then again...its the coaches fault.

frattin needs to earn his spot, obviously he didn't.
I would rather see him crashing and banging on the 4th with McClement and Brown, but it looks like Steckel is getting that spot.
Orr is fine in the press box for the season, it's better than wasting frattin up there.

As good as Frattin is, I can't see wasting him on a line with McClement and Brown. Look for either Steckel to shift to the wing, or Orr gets a spot

I agree, give Frattin more ice time/responsibilities with the Marlies, once injuries start piling up, he comes back up. Also, Orr is in the press box unless playing teams like Boston, then Steckle is in the box.

Don't forget you have Stewart Percy, Morgan Reilley and Matt Finn to backfill the marlies after the CHL ends. OHL regular seasons ends Mar 17.
- B-Wforever

Marlies already had too many guys and were rotating players in and out of the line up wont be an issue

Anyone here think Benn is worth risking a 1st round pick for...as in offer sheet?
- p_zub

Offer sheets are a waste of time.

I could unload Franson for a 3rd to Detroit as long as Detroit picks the 3rd round player for us.....because they excel at finding those later round gems but really....for a 3rd....nahhh might as well hold on to him if that's the deal.

This should mean that Gardiner is almost ready then, no?
- lumlums

Not really, Kostka will probably be holding on to Gardiner's spot since Reilly is more than likely being sent back. I have to say, having Kostka there wouldn't be too bad imo if he keeps his play up. He has a good frame too, can thrown his weight around a bit.

Kuli has played well with Koma, he should be on the 3rd.....JVR should be up with Grabo.
- Fakepartofme

I completely agree, but it's not how Carlyle runs his systems.

Carlyle always plays
Scoring line 1 (Kessel's line)
Checking/D line to play against opponents top unit (Grabos line)
Scoring line 2 (Kadris line)
Energy line (McClements line)

keeping JVR on Kadris line may make more sense at the moment as they will be relied on for offense, while Grabos line will be playing a shutdown role while providing offense. Kuli is better suited for that shutdown role