well, he got a lot of tough guys, Wilson just doesn't play them

however, most of his draft picks aren't playing yet. Ross and Biggs will help in that regard, in about 3 years
- Big_Lightnin

meatheads who can't skate....I'm talking about power forwards in the top 6. Guys who can hit AND play hockey.
Orr couldn't hit cause he was too slow on the forecheck...Rosehill is a farce....Komisarek proved against Lucic that he has no business fighting....

If Brown is available, I want him.

Right now dudes, the only guys I hope Burke doesn't move are:

F: Kessel/Bozak/Lupul/Kulimen/Frattin/Kadri/McKegg/Grabo if he extends for under 5/Biggs/D'Amigo
D: Phaneuf/Schenn/Gardiner/Franson/Liles/Blacker
G: Reimer/Owuya

Everyone else and everything else can be moved (I expect to lose one of the 2012 and 2013 1sts if we do a deal for Carter).

The only piece worth adding before the deadline is Jeff Carter
Focus on the goalie in the offseason. I highly doubt for example Josh Harding will extend in Minnesota to play second fiddle to Backstrom, plus they have Hackett, so there's a good chance he'd fa unless some other team trades for him now.

That means I'd move: Komisarek (yes there is a market for him now), Connolly, MacArthur, Gunnarson, Percy, Armstrong, Lombardi, Gustavson, Scrivens, Mueller, Colborne, Steckel, Crabb, Brown and any other piece in the organization. And like I said Grabo if he wants more than 5M.

I'm willing to bet this team will actually thrive once the log jam is cleared and Wilson is forced to play players he normally wouldn't want to play.
- mykokes

you just removed all the assets worth anything

wont get much with all the overpaid spare parts.. hell.. lucky to get anything

and moving gunnar is a mistake.. the guy is our most dependable d-man period.. most blocked shots etc.

how is Carter a good fit guys? He can't play with Kessel, they are both shoot-first kind of players!

Last year Kessel & Carter where 3rd & 4th in SOG for all of NHL!
The year before, they where 3rd & 7th in SOG for all of NHL and probably would have ended up 1st & 2nd if they didnt miss 10-12 games each.

You cant have two guys who each shoot 300+ SOG per year skating together, so that means one of them has to play the 2nd line. Carter as our #2 center does nothing for us, since we have several capable #2's in the mix. Kessel on the 2nd line means we would have to move Lupul down also? or reshuffle every line?

Not to mention that 10-year monster contract that we have to eat....I see no reason to deal assets for Carter since it would require us to blow up half our team to accommodate him fitting in and then have to pray for the next 8-10 years that he doesnt get injured and become a DiPietro of the Leafs.

No thanks...
- Ruski

Perry/Ryan/Getzlaf enjoyed their best seasons when all three players were among the league leaders in shots. If anything it would only reduce the number of poor shots kessel chooses to take imo. And Kessel is underated for his playmaking ability. Lafontaine and Mogilny on paper shouldn't have been a match made in heaven because both players took a lot of shots, but guess what, they were.

As tiny as he is, he plays about 12 inches bigger than Jeff "Soft as Liquid Crap" Carter.
- AdamFrench

just ask cun7, Carter fixes our size issue, and creates space for his teammates!

how is Carter a good fit guys? He can't play with Kessel, they are both shoot-first kind of players!

Last year Kessel & Carter where 3rd & 4th in SOG for all of NHL!
The year before, they where 3rd & 7th in SOG for all of NHL and probably would have ended up 1st & 2nd if they didnt miss 10-12 games each.

You cant have two guys who each shoot 300+ SOG per year skating together, so that means one of them has to play the 2nd line. Carter as our #2 center does nothing for us, since we have several capable #2's in the mix. Kessel on the 2nd line means we would have to move Lupul down also? or reshuffle every line?

Not to mention that 10-year monster contract that we have to eat....I see no reason to deal assets for Carter since it would require us to blow up half our team to accommodate him fitting in and then have to pray for the next 8-10 years that he doesnt get injured and become a DiPietro of the Leafs.

No thanks...
- Ruski

young....low cap hit...number one centre....can't imagine what the Leafs would need him for.

Toronto is foolish if they don't make a move for Carter. Sorry, but Connolly and Bozak will never be it.

I'd trade Coulbourne, Connolly, Prospect and 1st for him in a heartbeat. #1 centres don't grow on trees. Burke needs to eat his words and get him, he might be the difference of making it or not.

Also, you need as goalie bad. Bernier would be huge.

Reimer, Grabo, Prospect 2nd rounder and 5th rounder to LA.

you just removed all the assets worth anything

wont get much with all the overpaid spare parts.. hell.. lucky to get anything

and moving gunnar is a mistake.. the guy is our most dependable d-man period.. most blocked shots etc.
- Dozzer

That's from the Richard Cloutier guidebook to the trade deadline. Keep a list of 20 untouchables, then trade your spare parts for 1st round picks/top prospects.

1 good period doesnt make a good game

firewagon hockey doesnt work.. see this years leafs for example

the leafs need to shore up defense and goaltending somehow.. they score planty of goals.
- Dozzer

I believe a different system would cure the defensive woes.......... unfortuantely I don't think it would help in the goaltending dept. It will reduce the amount of chances the other team gets, BUT a soft goal is a soft goal regardless of the system

you just removed all the assets worth anything

wont get much with all the overpaid spare parts.. hell.. lucky to get anything

and moving gunnar is a mistake.. the guy is our most dependable d-man period.. most blocked shots etc.
- Dozzer

Did I? So you're telling me Gunnarson, a 1st in 2012 or 2013, Colborne couldn't go a long way to acquiring Carter? Moreover, you're discounting the stuff we'd get back for all the aforementioned....Could MacArthur not land at least a 2nd and 3rd, or based on the Versteeg example or the Moore example, could he not land more? And why can't those assets be turned around and then moved in a bigger deal for Carter? I mean it cost Tampa Downie to get Quincey who they then moved for a 1st (albeit a late one).

Perry/Ryan/Getzlaf enjoyed their best seasons when all three players were among the league leaders in shots. If anything it would only reduce the number of poor shots kessel chooses to take imo. And Kessel is underated for his playmaking ability. Lafontaine and Mogilny on paper shouldn't have been a match made in heaven because both players took a lot of shots, but guess what, they were.
- mykokes

Usually it doesn't matter in the end if somebody is a shooter or passer, it's all about chemistry and skill, skilled guys usually make other skilled guys better and chemistry makes for huge seasons (IE Vrbata-Whitney or last years Mac in the USSR).

meatheads who can't skate....I'm talking about power forwards in the top 6. Guys who can hit AND play hockey.
Orr couldn't hit cause he was too slow on the forecheck...Rosehill is a farce....Komisarek proved against Lucic that he has no business fighting....

If Brown is available, I want him.
- Barx

I'd be stunned if he is, but if he is, Burkie would be first in line.

exactly....remember the one about building a team with truculence and pugnacity?
uhhh...yeah.
- Barx

yup...the exact element we are currently requiring...
sigh...

That's from the Richard Cloutier guidebook to the trade deadline. Keep a list of 20 untouchables, then trade your spare parts for 1st round picks/top prospects.
- p_zub

you have to give to get.. thats all i am saying

love this tweet from mirtle:

If Leafs don't make the playoffs, they're only three points from drafting in top 10 and seven from top five.

Right now dudes, the only guys I hope Burke doesn't move are:

F: Kessel/Bozak/Lupul/Kulimen/Frattin/Kadri/McKegg/Grabo if he extends for under 5/Biggs/D'Amigo
D: Phaneuf/Schenn/Gardiner/Franson/Liles/Blacker
G: Reimer/Owuya

Everyone else and everything else can be moved (I expect to lose one of the 2012 and 2013 1sts if we do a deal for Carter).

The only piece worth adding before the deadline is Jeff Carter
Focus on the goalie in the offseason. I highly doubt for example Josh Harding will extend in Minnesota to play second fiddle to Backstrom, plus they have Hackett, so there's a good chance he'd fa unless some other team trades for him now.

That means I'd move: Komisarek (yes there is a market for him now), Connolly, MacArthur, Gunnarson, Percy, Armstrong, Lombardi, Gustavson, Scrivens, Mueller, Colborne, Steckel, Crabb, Brown and any other piece in the organization. And like I said Grabo if he wants more than 5M.

I'm willing to bet this team will actually thrive once the log jam is cleared and Wilson is forced to play players he normally wouldn't want to play.
- mykokes

yes please!

I believe a different system would cure the defensive woes.......... unfortuantely I don't think it would help in the goaltending dept. It will reduce the amount of chances the other team gets, BUT a soft goal is a soft goal regardless of the system
- faceto27

burke is the problem there.. he wants "entertaining hockey".. man oh man i hope he gives up on that soon

If Kaberle got a 1st and colborne .. Grabo should get a 1st and a prospect
- senstroll

Kaberle was an All star PMD, Grabo is a second line centre.

Toronto is foolish if they don't make a move for Carter. Sorry, but Connolly and Bozak will never be it.

I'd trade Coulbourne, Connolly, Prospect and 1st for him in a heartbeat. #1 centres don't grow on trees. Burke needs to eat his words and get him, he might be the difference of making it or not.

Also, you need as goalie bad. Bernier would be huge.

Reimer, Grabo, Prospect 2nd rounder and 5th rounder to LA.
- BodyCheckRadio

this for Bernier or Kopitar?

That's from the Richard Cloutier guidebook to the trade deadline. Keep a list of 20 untouchables, then trade your spare parts for 1st round picks/top prospects.
- p_zub

Is that what i said?

you have to give to get.. thats all i am saying
- Dozzer

Couldn't agree more....unless your a top 5 team, our list of untouchables shouldn't be longer than 5 or so names.

this for Bernier or Kopitar?
- Big_Lightnin

...but he was nice to us on the first deal.

That's from the Richard Cloutier guidebook to the trade deadline. Keep a list of 20 untouchables, then trade your spare parts for 1st round picks/top prospects.
- p_zub

bingo.

Is that what i said?
- mykokes

Thank you Ted, that was the joke....

love this tweet from mirtle:

If Leafs don't make the playoffs, they're only three points from drafting in top 10 and seven from top five.
- Barx

well, we need to decide what we are after this homestand....playoffs or tank nation.