Looking at next season with a sole focus on the Tampa Bay Lightning isn’t such a smart idea. NHL wins and losses add up not only because of a team’s composition, but also because of its competition. It’s easier to do well in a lightweight division than it is to do in a heavyweight division, for example. For that reason, Bolts fans should take note of what the other teams around the Atlantic Division have done this summer.
Like any great feat of engineering, this blog series will start from the bottom up. I’ve already covered the Buffalo Sabres, so today’s blog will be on the Toronto Maple Leafs. Let’s take a look at some of their key moves.
Re-Signing Nazem Kadri --- A People like to rag on Kadri, but he’s a 40-50 point centerman playing on a terrible team at 24-years-old. What am I saying? I’m saying he’s good.
The Leafs inked him to a one-year contract extension worth $4.1MM, which undoubtedly means that his new deal is a ‘prove it’ contract. Toronto didn’t want to give him big money or big term, and they avoided that with this signing. It’s a solid move, given that it seems like Mike Babcock is going to rely heavily on the London-born player. If Kadri produces, he’ll cash in on his next deal. If he doesn’t, the Leafs aren’t on the hook for anything else. It’s just smart management all around.
Drafting Mitch Marner --- A+ After that McDavid/Eichel tier, there was significant debate about who should have been given the ‘best of the next’ tag. Dylan Strome ultimately went third overall to the Arizona Coyotes, but Marner is a huge pickup for the Leafs. Like William Nylander, who the Leafs added in last year’s draft, Marner is offensively gifted and shifty. He’s not a big body, but he doesn’t need to be. Tampa Bay fans know that size isn’t the most important quality in the NHL.
Consider that Marner scored 126 points in 63 games this year for London in the OHL; that’s a 2.00 points/game pace. He’s an elite producer, one that will make life tough for fellow Atlantic teams for a long time.
Value Signings --- A+ The Leafs are rebuilding from the bottom up. There’s no debating that. Brendan Shanahan & Co. didn’t go into this offseason looking to turn their team into a contender tomorrow; instead, they went into the summer with a long-term vision in mind. That much was made clear by the value signings they made.
The names I’m speaking of in particular are P.A. Parenteau, Mark Arcobello, Shawn Matthias, and Matt Hunwick. All four bring positive qualities to the table, and all four are on moveable, short-term contracts. That means that the Leafs will likely be adding to their already impressive stock of draft picks when the trade deadline rolls around. This sort of move make rebuilding so much easier.
Trading Phil Kessel --- C Some people will say that the Leafs had to trade Kessel, but did they really have to trade him while retaining salary and without landing the acquiring team’s best prospect? The deal wasn’t a good one, if you ask me. I don’t buy into the ‘addition by subtraction’ narrative, simply because Kessel was the Leafs’ best player by a country mile. He is one of the league’s best scorers, and was one of the few good pieces on that Toronto team for a lot of years.
Sure, Toronto picks up some cap space, but I’m really not sure you can look at the deal and say that the Leafs got full value for an NHL star. It has to be disappointing for your average Leafs fan. The team just has to hope that Kasperi Kapanen turns out to be everything scouts think he can be. That might salvage the deal.
If anything, this trade just speaks and gives credence to the speculation that Toronto wanted Kessel gone and gone yesterday. That’s a real shame, because Kessel is a better player than many in the center of the hockey universe gave him credit for --- let’s see what he does with a real centerman beside him!
The Verdict: This pretty much sums it up:
I like everything Toronto has done in the past couple weeks other than the most important thing Toronto has done in the past couple weeks.
— Kurt (@Kurt_BSH) July 6, 2015--
Thanks to Artyukhin76 for the blog idea. This series will continue until every team has been covered.
As always, thanks for reading.
Michael Stuart has been the Tampa Bay Lightning writer for HockeyBuzz since 2012. Visit his archive to read more or follow him on Twitter.