Posts
The Good: The Leafs acquire a player who has the potential of being top-five at his position; Vesa Toskala is no longer a Maple Leaf; Jason Blake is no longer a Maple Leaf; Jamal Mayers got his wish and is no longer a Maple Leaf; The Ducks solidify their goaltending situation. Hiller is a solid #1 and Toskala once upon a time was a servicable backup; The Ducks still have both their own and Philly's first round pick; The Flames can rebuild their second line around Stajan and Hagman and can build their second defensive pairing around Ian White.
The Bad: The Leafs lose approx. 38 per cent of their offence and now don't have a true second line. Hagman, Stajan, Blake and White combined for 55 of the team's 149 goals and none of that offence has been replaced. And they still don't have a first round pick; J.S. Giguere has been genuinely bad this year as a backup in Anaheim. There's no guarantee that he regains the level of play that made him a Conn Smythe Trophy winner; The Ducks have to deal with Jason Blake's $4-million contract for the next two years. More specifically, Saku likely has to deal with him.
The Ugly: The Flames have given up on a 24 year old who still has Norris Trophy potential. Not only that, they needed to get more than Stajan, Hagman and White for Dion. The players that they acquired are all solid contributors (except Mayers) but none of them are first line players; Regardless of what Brian Burke said today, there is no chance that Tomas Kaberle will end this season with the Maple Leafs. He will be traded for at the very least secondary scoring and a first round pick or a first line forward.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Mediocre players on bad teams will put up good numbers and shouldn't be confuse this with being good players. I'm refering specifically to Matt Stajan. On paper he seems like a good player. In reality he is nothing more than a replaceable plug with little to no potential. He is too soft and hates being hit.
ReplyDeleteIan White is a great player, but mostly because of his salary. If he signed at 3 mil in the off season, Leaf fans would be booing him for underperforming.
I like Hagman, he plays hard but is very streaky.
Mayars is not a NHL player.
I'll be sure to keep a close eye on boh teams to see how the new players adapt to their new teams.
I don't think that the leafs have lost too much in terms of offense. Their other plugs should be more than capable of filling the void.
We all know Burke builds his team from the goalie out, is he done with adding goalies and defensemen for now? Is he still working on getting another top line forward? If so who do you think could be on their way to Toronto? I hear Phoenix is ready to make a serious push for the players and could use the help of a Kaberle, although I don't see why Kaberle would want to go to a team that is potentially on the move...Thoughts?