I believe we already have those pieces
- thomas81

And at 5.5 milly, they'll have no problems keeping him.
- weirdoh

say what you want, the centre FA market dictated that contract value.

5.5million is on the top end for a second line centre.. and if you look at the available FA centres it pretty easy to see why Burke gave him that.. if he didnt.. someone else sure of hell would have

Have you seen the kind of contracts that have been given out to defenseman similar to Komisarek?

Orpik, Gleason, Gorges, Tyutin... the list goes on and on.

Point is, those defenseman are valuable.

But you wouldn't admit that since you're still in pain over him leaving your precious little organization.
- thomas81

Wow you, sir, are delusional.

according to those numbers, halak is the better goalie
- Jhockley

Was gonna say...

Hey guys closed door meeting. They're unbeatable now 15 whole minutes!!!!!!
- mr.peanut

Mock my comment all you want. If players come out flat after they have these kind of meetings, it's unacceptable.

In sports, all you need sometimes is a harsh dose of reality.

Ok. Let me get this straight with you. It'll be the last time I explain this to you...

He's OUR NUMBER ONE GOALTENDER. The fact that he's elite or not is irrelevant. He probably never will be.

He needs to be consistant. We saw last year that he could. Giving up on a goalie based on a bad year is wrong.
- thomas81

Sad to hear that.

Thoughts and prayers.

say what you want, the centre FA market dictated that contract value.

5.5million is on the top end for a second line centre.. and if you look at the available FA centres it pretty easy to see why Burke gave him that.. if he didnt.. someone else sure of hell would have
- Dozzer

All I heard after the signing was how he overpaid to re-sign him. They then would follow up with he'd get as much or more in the FA market.

Ok. Let me get this straight with you. It'll be the last time I explain this to you...

He's OUR NUMBER ONE GOALTENDER. The fact that he's elite or not is irrelevant. He probably never will be.

He needs to be consistant. We saw last year that he could. Giving up on a goalie based on a bad year is wrong.
- thomas81

who cares where he is raniked on the leafs?

there are teams in the NHL reimer wouldnt even make as a backup.

you are twisting your argument to validate it.

You're basing the outcome of the season on two games.
- bcoop

no i just used the last 2 games, If you want I'll go back when the losing streak started back in February and figure out how bad they have been out scored. Monday and Tuesday isn't the first time they have given up 5 or more goals since 1 Feb.

Mock my comment all you want. If players come out flat after they have these kind of meetings, it's unacceptable.

In sports, all you need sometimes is a harsh dose of reality.
- thomas81

Showing them the standings in January and follow it with showing them today's standings should be enough.

We do have good pieces, just in the wrong places.

Bozak keeps getting better, I used to think #3 center but he has flashes where you think he could be #2 easily.

Kulemin is a tough one, but he is useful because he wins a lot of battles out there. Just can't finish. He would be great on a line with 2 great scorers and his main job is to just get them the puck. Otherwise, he is easily acceptable as a third liner.

MacArthur is gritty enough to be a third liner and his offense would be welcomed there.

You can make an argument for most of the guys. Problem is Burke wants to push them up to a spot beyond their capabilities. Might be fine for a short stretch, but long term and in the playoffs forget about it.
- leafs93

Bozak has been great, unfortunately had Burke not signed Connolly, Bozak would be the goat and Burke ridiculed more so.

Kulemin has finish, he's just not getting the set ups any more from MacArthur, Mac is playing completely different and it's affected that line greatly. He proved me wrong however when I said he road their coattails the whole time, but they need a playmaker on that wing, not another shooter. I hope they can trade him and Kadri smartens the (frank) up. Had Kulemin not got injured I would have loved to see the Kulemin-Bozak-Kessel line back together again.

And at 5.5 milly, they'll have no problems keeping him.
- weirdoh

I can see it now the conversation with Burkie and Gary Greenstin over Grabo's contract.

Greenstin: Hi Burkie, we know you've been having some problems with the team over the years and we want to be part of the solution here. Grabo willing to sign for 5 years at 4.5 million per.

Burke: What the hell are you talking about? There's no problems with our team. Grabo can play here for 5.5 million per year and not a penny less. We don't need your charity Greenstin. If you're not okay with that deal then Grabo's getting shipped out and Steckel will be our new #2 center.

Greenstin: Okilly Dokilly. We have a deal.

4 wins and 16 losses in their last 20 games

this brutal collapse could very easily make an argument that this is indeed one of the worst teams ever

good pieces sure.. not core pieces tho.. closest thing we have to it might be a complementary sniper in kessel, and an inconsistant d-man in phaneuf.

i'd even go so far as to say that grabovski is the only real core piece worth keeping right now.
- Dozzer

Jesus, are you serious?

Kessel is a complementary sniper? He's going to score 40 (frank)ing goals. But he's only complementary? He's a franchise forward. Look at the NHL stats.

Phaneuf has been inconsistant in the past two months, I agree. I'm ready to throw him out of the door because of it. He had been great since he first got to TO.

Phaneuf is a #2 D-man at best. He needs another player as good as him, at least, to play with.
He will never be a #1.

Google Lars Eller - Phaneuf, or watch any of his shifts. He is not a good defender. Without Gunarsson he is downright awful.

Burke builds his teams from the Net out. Well he filled the net with ??? and his D-core looks good on paper, not on ice.
- leafs_wingp

Very good 2nd line center.
- Pecafan Fan

yup, and a very good top line centre will get 7million plus anymore

so 5.5million is bang on imo

Mock my comment all you want. If players come out flat after they have these kind of meetings, it's unacceptable.

In sports, all you need sometimes is a harsh dose of reality.
- thomas81

Guess what the Leafs have come out flat before after a closed door meeting. It happened last year and it happened this year. I remember because we were mocking that the closed door meeting didn't work.

Warning:

Thomas81 must be a troll masquerading as a Leafs fan trying to goad real Leaf fans to say stupid things (like agree with him) to use our quotes as fodder in whatever other team he truly supports threads. Smells like Hab to me.

I can see it now the conversation with Burkie and Gary Greenstin over Grabo's contract.

Greenstin: Hi Burkie, we know you've been having some problems with the team over the years and we want to be part of the solution here. Grabo willing to sign for 5 years at 4.5 million per.

Burke: What the hell are you talking about? There's no problems with our team. Grabo can play here for 5.5 million per year and not a penny less. We don't need your charity Greenstin. If you're not okay with that deal then Grabo's getting shipped out and Steckel will be our new #2 center.

Greenstin: Okilly Dokilly. We have a deal.
- leafs93

Warning:

Thomas81 must be a troll masquerading as a Leafs fan trying to goad real Leaf fans to say stupid things (like agree with him) to use our quotes as fodder in whatever other team he truly supports threads. Smells like Hab to me.
- 1979AD

You may be onto something.

Does anyone here really think Burke will keep this years 1st rounder? (unless its top 3 maybe) The media is calling for his head already. He's going to have to make drastic moves to improve the team now. Not saying I agree with this but it's just the way it is.

Nobody wants to see their team lose, but if you're not going to make the playoffs then you might as well get the best pick possible rather than finishing 9th and picking a 3rd line player...
- HABSFAN78

Could have fooled me. Habs fans have been cheering for their team to lose since December.

That, my friend, is making a complete fool out of yourself. Why even cheer at all?

Jesus, are you serious?

Kessel is a complementary sniper? He's going to score 40 (frank)ing goals. But he's only complementary? He's a franchise forward. Look at the NHL stats.

Phaneuf has been inconsistant in the past two months, I agree. I'm ready to throw him out of the door because of it. He had been great since he first got to TO.
- thomas81

he doesnt make the guys around him better.. save for the small sample at the top of bozak's career.. even when wilson removed lupul from the line lupul kept going

he's complimentary.. he doesnt elevate a line on his own.. a core guy can and will do that.

i agree he is a top tier sniper.. but that doesnt mean he is a core piece.

the only hope for next year is for the leafs to, by some miracle, find it in them to:

- sign parise (ufa)
- trade for nash (this year's 1st + anything else)
- trade for dustin brown
- sign justin schultz out of wisconsin
- sign nabakov (ufa)

burke, this is your to do list. at least we'd come back next year stronger up the middle and stronger on the wings with defensive hope for the future.

keep kessel, gardiner - everyone else (in the big and small club) is available.
- wielerj

the only thing on that list he should do

Warning:

Thomas81 must be a troll masquerading as a Leafs fan trying to goad real Leaf fans to say stupid things (like agree with him) to use our quotes as fodder in whatever other team he truly supports threads. Smells like Hab to me.
- 1979AD

How could anyone do that?

Jesus, are you serious?

Kessel is a complementary sniper? He's going to score 40 (frank)ing goals. But he's only complementary? He's a franchise forward. Look at the NHL stats.

Phaneuf has been inconsistant in the past two months, I agree. I'm ready to throw him out of the door because of it. He had been great since he first got to TO.
- thomas81

This just in: there's a lot more to being an effective hockey player, let alone a cornerstone building block for a championship team than scoring goals.