Bolland.

C'mon, we all knew Bozak was a third liner.

We replaced him with Bolland.

Get Clarkson.

Lupul - Kadri - kessel
Jvr - Grabbo - Ckarkson
Kulemin - Bolland - McClement

The wings will make up for the weak centres.

It's doable. Yeah, Malkin and Crosby are better.

But take a look at my lines again.

Does adding Bozak make them any better?
- Atomic Wedgie

again i dont think people understand what i'm saying. i'm not saying we need bozak, i just want someone who is as good defensively and on faceoffs to replace him

Check game vs Tampa matched up vs stamkos... also check games 6 and 7 of the playoffs....
- jribout

so yea lets give him the #1 spot cause of 3 games?

so you are saying bozak isn't defensively responsible?
- matt1337

He's not very good.

again i dont think people understand what i'm saying. i'm not saying we need bozak, i just want someone who is as good defensively and on faceoffs to replace him
- matt1337

Bozak wins faceoffs. The end.

How many full seasons did Bozak get before he was our number one?
- orienbrady22

he was thrown in there cause we had no one else, thats an unfair comparison

He's not very good.
- burn

then why does everyone say hes the perfect #3 if he isn't good defensively and thats generally a defensive centers spot?

he was thrown in there cause we had no one else, thats an unfair comparison
- matt1337

When bozak goes, then what?
Same situation only this time we have a better guy than Bozak to step in.

then why does everyone say hes the perfect #3 if he isn't good defensively and thats generally a defensive centers spot?
- matt1337

People say he's a perfect 3rd liner?

Clarkson hitting FA for sure now.

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=426757

so yea lets give him the #1 spot cause of 3 games?
- matt1337

No lets try him at the number1 spot based on his only two games played with Kessel... where he had 3 points and was a plus 4..... they happened to be games 6 and 7 of the playoffs the 2 biggest games of the year...

then why does everyone say hes the perfect #3 if he isn't good defensively and thats generally a defensive centers spot?
- matt1337

I Think it's a figure of speech. As in he's not even good enough to be a number 2 center.
So what comes after two? Three!

I Think it's a figure of speech. As in he's not even good enough to be a number 2 center.
So what comes after two? Three!
- UsernameUnknown

Oh, Bozak's a number two alright...

Oh, Bozak's a number two alright...
- Atomic Wedgie

that's a pretty soft number two.
He'd barely be afloat as number two..

so using that logic, kessel should be paired with grabo

2011-13

With Grabo

GF per 20: 1.704
GA per 20: 0.852

Without Grabo

GF per 20: 0.983
GA per 20: 1.014

would you honestly rather have kessel with grabo or bozak? cause if hes playing with grabo, kessel isn't getting the puck lol
- matt1337

these stats are killer and easily the most logical thing i've seen here in awhile..

but people talking about grabovski like he has the plague is driving me insane.

08/09 - 78GP, 20G 28A
09/10 - 59GP, 10G 25A
10/11 - 81GP, 29G 29A
11/12 - 74GP, 23G 28A
12/13 - 48GP, 9G 7A

grabovski has literally had a poor 48 games in the last 5 years. that's it. 48 games.. and people are saying they'd rather take bozak over him? factor in the idea that during the lockout he was good for 12 goals and 12 assists in 29 KHL games, and it's clear that he was misused. shouldn't be tough to understand considering he was used as a third line center for 2/3 of the season.

to write him off as dead is of the same half witted logic that has the never ending list of players floating around the nhl who have had successful careers for other teams and were let go of by the leafs for nothing. grabovski may be the closest thing the leafs have to a legitimate top 6 center, and just might have the most heart on the team, and people want him dusted over 48 games with a new coach, in a partial season he was misused? man..

grabovski is not a useless player because of 48 games. he's a player with a not so good contract. if the contract is deemed to be that big of an issue, the leafs have the option of saving a compliance buyout for next summer to safeguard themselves. there's absolutely no logic in talking about him like he's rick dipietro right now.

these stats are killer and easily the most logical thing i've seen here in awhile..

but people talking about grabovski like he has the plague is driving me insane.

08/09 - 78GP, 20G 28A
09/10 - 59GP, 10G 25A
10/11 - 81GP, 29G 29A
11/12 - 74GP, 23G 28A
12/13 - 48GP, 9G 7A

grabovski has literally had a poor 48 games in the last 5 years. that's it. 48 games.. and people are saying they'd rather take bozak over him? factor in the idea that during the lockout he was good for 12 goals and 12 assists in 29 KHL games, and it's clear that he was misused. shouldn't be tough to understand considering he was used as a third line center for 2/3 of the season.

to write him off as dead is of the same half witted logic that has the never ending list of players floating around the nhl who have had successful careers for other teams and were let go of by the leafs for nothing. grabovski may be the closest thing the leafs have to a legitimate top 6 center, and just might have the most heart on the team, and people want him dusted over 48 games with a new coach, in a partial season he was misused? man..

grabovski is not a useless player because of 48 games. he's a player with a not so good contract. if the contract is deemed to be that big of an issue, the leafs have the option of saving a compliance buyout for next summer to safeguard themselves. there's absolutely no logic in talking about him like he's rick dipietro right now.
- joel878

I love you.

I Think it's a figure of speech. As in he's not even good enough to be a number 2 center.
So what comes after two? Three!
- UsernameUnknown

all i'm saying is this is how i want the line up to look next year

JVR- ??? - Kessel
Lupul- Kadri- ???
Kulemin- Bolland- McClement

4th line don't care, just don't waste colborne centering 2 goons, waste of his time

i like grabo, i just think he isnt needed anymore, same with bozak, but we need a two way center to replace bozak, not just a purely offensive minded one. i think if detroit can't land weiss, they might be interested in grabo. grabo does train with datsyuk in the offseason, so we wouldn't have to buy out grabo per say

We lost to Boston, because we weren't strong enough, up the middle. If we had won another 5% of the faceoffs, we probably win the series. Grabovski, to my recollection, had never been in the Stanley Cup playoffs before. He doesn't fit the Randy Carlyle model of a team. We can't have Grabovski on this roster, if we ever want to get to the next level. We have to win the bidding war for Lecavelier. Then either trade or buy out Grabovski. Kadri is not a number one center and needs to be protected from the checking, on the second line. We need to start thinking about winning and not the past. Players come and players go, but an opportunity to get to the next level tells me that we should be upgrading our weakest position on the team. That would be center.

these stats are killer and easily the most logical thing i've seen here in awhile..

but people talking about grabovski like he has the plague is driving me insane.

08/09 - 78GP, 20G 28A
09/10 - 59GP, 10G 25A
10/11 - 81GP, 29G 29A
11/12 - 74GP, 23G 28A
12/13 - 48GP, 9G 7A

grabovski has literally had a poor 48 games in the last 5 years. that's it. 48 games.. and people are saying they'd rather take bozak over him? factor in the idea that during the lockout he was good for 12 goals and 12 assists in 29 KHL games, and it's clear that he was misused. shouldn't be tough to understand considering he was used as a third line center for 2/3 of the season.

to write him off as dead is of the same half witted logic that has the never ending list of players floating around the nhl who have had successful careers for other teams and were let go of by the leafs for nothing. grabovski may be the closest thing the leafs have to a legitimate top 6 center, and just might have the most heart on the team, and people want him dusted over 48 games with a new coach, in a partial season he was misused? man..

grabovski is not a useless player because of 48 games. he's a player with a not so good contract. if the contract is deemed to be that big of an issue, the leafs have the option of saving a compliance buyout for next summer to safeguard themselves. there's absolutely no logic in talking about him like he's rick dipietro right now.
- joel878

what line does grabo play then? 1st? 2nd? kadri needs a more prominent role, but 1st may be too much. 2nd seems like the perfect fit for kadri. bolland was brought in to be a 2/3C, so i'm guessing we are again going with an offensive top 9 like how we started the season, and the bolland line and kadri line will get similar minutes (one will get more depending on which line is having the more effective game). do we slot grabo in at #1? sure he's being paid like a #1 at 5.5 mil, but can we truly expect him to be able to excel in that role?

all i'm saying is this is how i want the line up to look next year

Lupul - Kadri - Kessel
JVR- Grabo- Clarkson
Kulemin- Bolland- McClement

4th line don't care, just don't waste colborne centering 2 goons, waste of his time

i like grabo, i just think he isnt needed anymore, same with bozak, but we need a two way center to replace bozak, not just a purely offensive minded one. i think if detroit can't land weiss, they might be interested in grabo. grabo does train with datsyuk in the offseason, so we wouldn't have to buy out grabo per say
- matt1337

I don't see the point in not keeping Grabo if we still have him. He's useful. And talented. And he can play 2nd line C no problem. One bad year does not make him useless. Especially if he played with two big guys like JVR and Clarkson.

We lost to Boston, because we weren't strong enough, up the middle. If we had won another 5% of the faceoffs, we probably win the series. Grabovski, to my recollection, had never been in the Stanley Cup playoffs before. He doesn't fit the Randy Carlyle model of a team. We can't have Grabovski on this roster, if we ever want to get to the next level. We have to win the bidding war for Lecavelier. Then either trade or buy out Grabovski. Kadri is not a number one center and needs to be protected from the checking, on the second line. We need to start thinking about winning and not the past. Players come and players go, but an opportunity to get to the next level tells me that we should be upgrading our weakest position on the team. That would be center.
- PrinceLH

agreed. i love grabo's passion, and how hard he works (man he deserved a better fate in the boston series, he was playing amazing, he just couldn't cash in on his chances). he gets hit consistently but gets back up every time. i would only want to keep him to show the other leafs to play with that much heart, but not to show them to hog the puck every time he's out there lol

I'm Happy with what Nonis looks to be doing so far.


Rickard Wallin

Jonas Frogren

There will be no forwards or D like these on this years team.

what line does grabo play then? 1st? 2nd? kadri needs a more prominent role, but 1st may be too much. 2nd seems like the perfect fit for kadri. bolland was brought in to be a 2/3C, so i'm guessing we are again going with an offensive top 9 like how we started the season, and the bolland line and kadri line will get similar minutes (one will get more depending on which line is having the more effective game). do we slot grabo in at #1? sure he's being paid like a #1 at 5.5 mil, but can we truly expect him to be able to excel in that role?
- matt1337

The answer is no. He's not great on faceoffs, is a smallish type center and should never have been paid more then 4 million a year, for 3 years, instead of 5. He's now a millstone around the neck of this team and the quicker we move him, the quicker we get to the next level in the playoffs.

I don't see the point in not keeping Grabo if we still have him. He's useful. And talented. And he can play 2nd line C no problem. One bad year does not make him useless. Especially if he played with two big guys like JVR and Clarkson.
- UsernameUnknown

kadri doesn't answer our need for a big #1 center though. we need a guy like vinny to come (wish he was better defensively, carlyle could help with that) cause he's basically the #1C we need.

I'm Happy with what Nonis looks to be doing so far.


Rickard Wallin

Jonas Frogren

There will be no forwards or D like these on this years team.


- Byfuglien Ate Me

but there might be a Korbinian Holzer

agreed. i love grabo's passion, and how hard he works (man he deserved a better fate in the boston series, he was playing amazing, he just couldn't cash in on his chances). he gets hit consistently but gets back up every time. i would only want to keep him to show the other leafs to play with that much heart, but not to show them to hog the puck every time he's out there lol
- matt1337

The problem is, he gets hit and goes down and gets up again. We need him to knock other players down and force them to get up and get into the play. He is more suited on a team like Ron Wilson had employed, but not a Randy Carlyle type team. You can see by the most recent acquisitions that we are headed into more of a hard forechecking type of team, then a team that plays on the flow. Grabovski just does not have a role on this team. It appears that Nonis is looking for players with rings to start changing the culture of losing, in this dressing room. We lost against Boston, due to the inexperience factor and the thought of the unknown, by our players.