2008/2009 Hockey Thread v2.0

[Reddaye]

Last night was a yet another point we shouldn't have gotten. Our third period play was absolutely terrible. I know we only had four d-men rotating, but it's still unacceptable. Toskala deserved more support than he got considering how good of a game he played.

On the bright side we're sitting in position for a top five pick currently. All things considered it would be nice to draft in the top five two years in a row.

As far as Cammy goes, I don't think it's outside of the realm of possibility. Not knowing Calgary's current cap status I'm not sure how much room there is to fit him in. There's also the high chance of the cap dropping like a rock in the next two seasons which could leave a lot of teams hurting. Cammalleri may not be asking for huge money, but I suspect more than a few GMs are looking ahead to a possible -50 mill cap in the near future. Toronto, on the other hand, has lot's of space if Burke could get into talks with him.

I'm not saying it WILL happen. I'm just hoping it does. Much more appealing to me, as a fan, than the Sedins.

[Lowerdeck]

Sean Avery is indeed coming back, and Dallas for now put him in Hartford... which is the Rangers' affiliate team.

[Reddaye]

Jeremy Willaims has just been waived.

Also, word is that the Blue Jackets are very interested in getting Antropov. The best part is Jakub Voracek being the name mentioned as a likely return. That would be very nice, although I doubt the rumor is true.

Edited February 11, 2009 by Drifter_2000

[Toe]

If that were true, the Leafs would probably take that trade in an instant. Voracek is a guy who is projected to be an offensive force and that trade would be, in essence, Antropov for a very high 1st round pick.

[Reddaye]

If that were true, the Leafs would probably take that trade in an instant. Voracek is a guy who is projected to be an offensive force and that trade would be, in essence, Antropov for a very high 1st round pick.

Yeah, I know. I don't expect it's true either, but figured I'd post it to spur a little discussion. I could see Nikky heading to somewhere like Pittsburgh though.

Burke has supposedly sent around his "trade list" to other GMs. Two untouchables (maybe the only two) are Schenn and Grabovski, or at least those are the only two names that have been circulated through the internet streams. Honestly if we could get a good return I wouldn't mind seeing Grabovski go over someone like Ian White.

Probably nothing will happen at the deadline at all. That should give people something new to bitch about.

[Toe]

If I was the GM, the only two guys I would refuse to trade that are on the roster right now are Luke Schenn and Ian White. We all know why Schenn is untouchable, but White has made huge strides since his rookie season of turnovers and mistakes. He is now a solid two way defender and he has the ability to get the puck on net. Even when there is a crowd, he seems to find the hole and put the puck on goal. Plus, he is eating up tons of minutes now with Kaberle out.

[Guest Mr. Potato Head]

Nobody should be untouchable. Some GM might be dumb enough to hilariously overpay for the Schenner.

[Enter Blue Guy]

Burke's price is 10 first round draft picks for Schenn. At least that's what he's told the public.

[Clawson]

Only 10? Let's not rip ourselves off now.

[TGWL]

Only 10? Let's not rip ourselves off now.

[Toe]

I know they won, but it doesn't matter.

The Senators have done very poorly this season and played like this for most of last season as well. Is it time for the Senators to make changes and sell, or do they stay the course and hope that they can add one or two pieces in the summer to return to competitiveness?

EDIT - Oh my god, Mike Green is having a hell of a season. If he continues at this pace, he will score more then 30 goals. Also, on the fantasy front...me holding on to Gonchar all year may pay off as he is cleared to play and may start playing as soon as Saturday!

Edited February 12, 2009 by Toe

[Plubby]

*gives up, pending trade deadline*

[Reddaye]

Regarding Mark Bell (remember him?):

The Leafs have told his agent, Larry Kelly, they would be "co-operative" if another NHL team expressed interest in him, and it appears at least three NHL teams have.

"It's something we're hoping happens sooner rather than later," said Kelly.

Moving the forward to another team would first require Bell to be put on the waiver wire. That would allow any team to put a claim on the veteran – the way the Capitals claimed defenceman Staffan Kronwall – leaving the Leafs on the hook for only half his remaining salary.

Bell is hoping for that call, but not counting on it.

"I'll just keep trying to do my thing," said Bell, earning $2.5 million (U.S.) this season and on course to become an unrestricted free agent. "I am hoping for it, to be honest. I've worked hard this season down here, I've worked on all aspects of my game."

Bell has focused on his game and has matured into a leadership role with the younger players. He has eight goals in his past 16 games.

I'm hoping he can get another chance somewhere...assuming he's got his problems worked out, which he reportedly does.

[Toe]

Regarding Mark Bell (remember him?):

The Leafs have told his agent, Larry Kelly, they would be "co-operative" if another NHL team expressed interest in him, and it appears at least three NHL teams have.

"It's something we're hoping happens sooner rather than later," said Kelly.

Moving the forward to another team would first require Bell to be put on the waiver wire. That would allow any team to put a claim on the veteran – the way the Capitals claimed defenceman Staffan Kronwall – leaving the Leafs on the hook for only half his remaining salary.

Bell is hoping for that call, but not counting on it.

"I'll just keep trying to do my thing," said Bell, earning $2.5 million (U.S.) this season and on course to become an unrestricted free agent. "I am hoping for it, to be honest. I've worked hard this season down here, I've worked on all aspects of my game."

Bell has focused on his game and has matured into a leadership role with the younger players. He has eight goals in his past 16 games.

I'm hoping he can get another chance somewhere...assuming he's got his problems worked out, which he reportedly does.

The problem is that leaving Bell down in the minors puts none of his salary against the cap. If we put him through re-entry waivers and someone claims him, suddenly half of his salary counts against our cap until the end of his contract. It might be around $1,000,000 but do you really want to do that when you can leave him in the AHL and not have it count against the cap?

[Reddaye]

The problem is that leaving Bell down in the minors puts none of his salary against the cap. If we put him through re-entry waivers and someone claims him, suddenly half of his salary counts against our cap until the end of his contract. It might be around $1,000,000 but do you really want to do that when you can leave him in the AHL and not have it count against the cap?

Well here's how I see it, and this is just me. This is the last year of his deal, our current cap hit is something like 46 million or something, isn't it? So wouldn't we just be taking that one million hit until the end of this season? I don't really see that as being a disastrous proposition. We'd still have plenty of free space to use however Bruke see's hit.

We were willing to let Steffan Kronwall go, knowing pretty well for certain that he'd be picked up on waivers. Doing Bell a favour like this makes the Leafs a team that appears to be player friendly. We're willing to throw players a bone and give them a chance to play in the NHL even if we don't have a place for them.

With Burke currently courting at least one high profile NCAA hockey player, trying to get him to sign on with us, this sort of reputation could only be good, couldn't it?

And on that note both Boyd Devereaux and Bates Battaglia have been waived as well.

[Toe]

The problem is that leaving Bell down in the minors puts none of his salary against the cap. If we put him through re-entry waivers and someone claims him, suddenly half of his salary counts against our cap until the end of his contract. It might be around $1,000,000 but do you really want to do that when you can leave him in the AHL and not have it count against the cap?

Well here's how I see it, and this is just me. This is the last year of his deal, our current cap hit is something like 46 million or something, isn't it? So wouldn't we just be taking that one million hit until the end of this season? I don't really see that as being a disastrous proposition. We'd still have plenty of free space to use however Bruke see's hit.

We were willing to let Steffan Kronwall go, knowing pretty well for certain that he'd be picked up on waivers. Doing Bell a favour like this makes the Leafs a team that appears to be player friendly. We're willing to throw players a bone and give them a chance to play in the NHL even if we don't have a place for them.

With Burke currently courting at least one high profile NCAA hockey player, trying to get him to sign on with us, this sort of reputation could only be good, couldn't it?

And on that note both Boyd Devereaux and Bates Battaglia have been waived as well.

I thought Bell had one more year. If this is the last year of his deal, then let him go.

[Reddaye]

I thought Bell had one more year. If this is the last year of his deal, then let him go.

I'm fairly certain this is his last year.

In other news: the Habs have to be the dirtiest team playing the game right now. Watching the highlights during their game against the Oil I saw yet another slew foot. Plekanec slews Grebeshkov awkwardly into the boards. Grebby is lucky as hell he didn't get hurt.

Have some balls Habs. Play fair, you losers.

[Clawson]

Speaking of the Habs, where has Basha gone?

[Plubby]

They've been getting creamed. Of course he's not around. "Jesus" Price is taking a shortcut through shittytown en route to leading them to the promised land.

BIG GEORGE~! must be disgusted with his teammates. Here's a clean, honest fighter on a team with two Kostitsyns (or is it just one of them that hits dirty?) and Plekanec dragging his reputation through the mud by association.

[Toe]

What an awful first period. The Leafs actually tried to battle back, but it was not to be. Hagman is playing well, though.