He's never played center outside of 14 games in 2005 in the NHL and never will.
- AdamFrench

Of course any time a team is deep at a position they are not going to play a player there.

Trust me when I say this he would be a top line center on the leafs.

Look at Cammelari he's playing center for the flames now.

Henrique was playing so well how can you not use him.

Parise just came off knee surgery they eased him in center takes a lot more skating.

He could have easily played center ice but coming off injury and having a call up fill in well why risk injuring the knee again.
- duckyjets

Dude.... come on'... doesn't matter what position you are in it's just as much risk of injury. They would ease him in minutes, not position.

Stahlberg they should have kept bad move.

Dude.... come on'... doesn't matter what position you are in it's just as much risk of injury. They would ease him in minutes, not position.
- Boosinicka

How can you ease a guy in as your #1 center lol......

They play and skate the most mins out of any forward. Plus like I said Henrique has been great why move him into that position.

Parise is lucky to be playing at all he had a major meniscus injury. Those do not heal well its career threatening

We don't have to much of a mess problem is our prospects are all playing right now.

To be in this position right now I can honestly say no one would have dreamed it.

Chevy is going to build thru the draft so im not worried
- duckyjets

Yah Chevy did a great job passing on Couourier to draft Schiefele. Let's be honest, your prospect depth is nowhere near as good as ours and you'll be drafting one spot after us or ahead of us depending on which one of us finishes in 9th as opposed to 10th

Nah, this was a one off year for the sens.
They'll regress.
- Fakepartofme

Idk about that they have goaltending 2 to 3 drafted guys playing for spots next year only question mark I see might be there defense and with poop loads of cap space coming up this off season I'm sure Murray can fix that

Of course any time a team is deep at a position they are not going to play a player there.

Trust me when I say this he would be a top line center on the leafs.

Look at Cammelari he's playing center for the flames now.
- duckyjets

I would trust you if you weren't making poop up like "Parise is a natural center." NJD's are one of the weakest down the middle in the league, and they couldn't win a face-off to save their lives, if Parise could play there he would, he can't.

I would have drafted Eberle. There were knocks on his size (not a "Burke player") but the guy just plain wins hockey games.
- B-Leaf

what the hell is a 'burke player'...lombardi? connolly?
everyone has this misconception that a 'burke player' is big and tough....where the hell are these players in the leaf line-up?
no 'truculence' whatsoever.
softest team in the nhl.

Yah Chevy did a great job passing on Couourier to draft Schiefele. Let's be honest, your prospect depth is nowhere near as good as ours and you'll be drafting one spot after us or ahead of us depending on which one of us finishes in 9th as opposed to 10th
- coolehmon41

Our prospect pool is the poops because they are all up playing with the jets.

Coutourier has played decent for the flyers but in pre-season scheifle had the most points in the league.

I'm not worried too much about that!

Stahlberg they should have kept bad move.
- duckyjets

The guy has what 15 goals playing on the top line with Toews? He has all the tools but doesn't have the brains. Reminds me of Chad Kilger with more skill and less tenacity. He will never be a big time player

If that's the case he should have got more picks at trade deadline and made a few moves.

Burke believes he can win with this group that the scary part!
- duckyjets

that right there is yet another statement which supports the fact he is worse than the fans at overvaluing his team.
he does this repeatedly, whether it's the kessel deal or using two unproven tenders, he doesn't seem to have a grasp on reality anymore.

I would trust you if you weren't making poop up like "Parise is a natural center." NJD's are one of the weakest down the middle in the league, and they couldn't win a face-off to save their lives, if Parise could play there he would, he can't.
- AdamFrench

We will see if Burke does out bid and get him in the offseason I bet you right now he's playing pivot.

Thanks...I knew I forgot a bunch!
- noename09

Just for fun I made a line up of the players he has traded away/let go (obviously not all the positions work, but this was just for fun):

Forwards:
Poni/Antropov/Versteeg
Blake/Stajan/Stempniak
Steen/Tlusty/Stalberg
Mayers/Moore/Hagman


Beauchemin/Kubina
Aulie/White
Kaberle/Stralman

Lebda
Caputi

Giguere
Toskala

interesting lineup....

The guy has what 15 goals playing on the top line with Toews? He has all the tools but doesn't have the brains. Reminds me of Chad Kilger with more skill and less tenacity. He will never be a big time player
- coolehmon41

He can skate like the wind he's big the leafs could have used him.

We will see if Burke does out bid and get him in the offseason I bet you right now he's playing pivot.
- duckyjets

I'll give you this, if Grabo is gone a retarded squirrel monkey could take over the top center on the team.

Our prospect pool is the poops because they are all up playing with the jets.

Coutourier has played decent for the flyers but in pre-season scheifle had the most points in the league.

I'm not worried too much about that!
- duckyjets

Who is. Prospect on the Jets roster? Burmistrov?

We will see if Burke does out bid and get him in the offseason I bet you right now he's playing pivot.
- duckyjets

How much? and regardless of how much. Deal.

Fine...Ill do it.

Hes brought in
Gardiner
Schenn - Fletcher
Liles
Komisarek
Franson
Brown
Phaneuf
Orr
Steckel
Grabovski - Fletcher
MacArthur
Kessel
Bozak
Colborne
Connolly
Lupul
Gustavsson
Ashton
Kadri
(plus several prospects)

Hes gotten rid of:
Beauchemin
Lebda
Kaberle
Aulie
Blake
Versteeg
Toskola
Steen
Stajan
White
Hagman
Moore
Mayers


(did I miss anyone?)


Call me crazy....but hes done quite well. The IN list vs the OUT list is quite impressive.
- noename09

Just for fun I made a line up of the players he has traded away/let go (obviously not all the positions work, but this was just for fun):

Forwards:
Poni/Antropov/Versteeg
Blake/Stajan/Stempniak
Steen/Tlusty/Stalberg
Mayers/Moore/Hagman


Beauchemin/Kubina
Aulie/White
Kaberle/Stralman

Lebda
Caputi

Giguere
Toskala

interesting lineup....
- vermie22

Thers a good amount of those players he brought in.
Giggy, Lebda Aulie, Beauchemin, Caputi, Versteeg. lol...steen he didn't get rid of that was fletcher

Come on now, that's almost racist dude Kulemin? Franzen? Galchenyuk plays a NA game anyway, hence the 86 points in the OHL last year.
- Boosinicka

First, "European" is not a race. It's not even a nationality.

Secondly, I think what passes for a "power forward" in the European style of game is inferior to what we'd call a power forward in the NHL. I fail to see how pointing out that most of the top power forawrds are North American is "racist".

The notion that Europeans are less motivated to play here is backed by some evidence. And a power forward needs to be very motivated all the time.

I won't even address Kulemin. Using Kulemin as an example only proves my point more.

Nothing wrong with Franzen, but I'd take his North American counterpart anyday. The vast majority of effective power forwards are Canadian (with some Americans now emerging).

Lucic, Hartnell, Brown, Neal, Perry, Getzlaf, Nash, Backes, Iginla, to scrape the surface.

He can skate like the wind he's big the leafs could have used him.
- duckyjets

Our whole team can skate like the wind. And yes I already stated he has l ther tools but he has no idea how to use his size. He would not have helped this team. Like I said the guy has 15 goals playing on the top line and 8 of those goals he scored on Colombus.

Just for fun I made a line up of the players he has traded away/let go (obviously not all the positions work, but this was just for fun):

Forwards:
Poni/Antropov/Versteeg
Blake/Stajan/Stempniak
Steen/Tlusty/Stalberg
Mayers/Moore/Hagman


Beauchemin/Kubina
Aulie/White
Kaberle/Stralman

Lebda
Caputi

Giguere
Toskala

interesting lineup....
- vermie22

If by interesting you mean sucky, then yes, you're 100% correct

That's not true if the team was better they wouldn't be fighting to get into the playoffs.

There are huge holes to fill on this team.

Poor tending for one, Lack of a top line Center and suspect D-men no 4th line?
- duckyjets

Our fourth line is fine. Our 3rd line is horrible, and they were all brought in to play on the 1st or 2nd line (Connolly, Lombardi, Armstrong)

If by interesting you mean sucky, then yes, you're 100% correct
- PTVinnyMac

wasn't a comment on being good or bad... I bet that lineup would be about the same spot in the standings though (well maybe not).

also as was stated above, half of those players are guys that Burke brought in to help the rebuild and then let go...

Our fourth line is fine. Our 3rd line is horrible, and they were all brought in to play on the 1st or 2nd line (Connolly, Lombardi, Armstrong)
- B-Leaf

I don't think Armstrong or Lombardi were ever brought in to play in the top 6.

When we acquired Army, I guess he was a top sixer here at times, but only because of an incredibly shallow top 6 at the time.

When we acquired Lombardi, he wasn't even expected to play most of this year. We brought him and his salary in to "buy" Franson.

Bozak, Kessel, Lupul, Grabovski, Kulemin, Macarthur, and Connolly were all on the team before he arrived. There were no plans to have him in the top 6 at any point.