Get use to this look behind the bench…the next 20 could be very difficult for Wilson and his staff.
The unofficial (pre Olympic break) and official trade deadlines have come and gone. While I would have expected Burke to have moved pending UFA’s like Primeau and Exelby…net, net, he did a pretty good job clearing the deck…In fact, moving non UFA’s like Blake and Hagman was an unexpected bonus. I won’t comment further on the moves – TSM will be posting a deadline summary. One thought did occur to me….did anyone else notice that the two defencemen that we picked up both played NCAA hockey? I wonder if what I previously viewed as a creative strategy is really an obsession. We may not have a ton of on ice talent right now but we certainly have the most educated one.
Anway…the question we pose tonight is; with the following line-up, how many wins do you think will get over the remaining 20?
| Left Wing | Centre | Right Wing |
| Caputi, Luca | Bozak, Tyler | Kessel, Phil |
| Sjostrom, Fredrick | Wallin, Rickard | Kulemin, Nikolai |
| Stalberg, Viktor | Primeau, Wayne | Mitchell, John |
| Hanson, Christian | Lundmark, Jamie | Orr, Colton |
| Grabovski, Mikhail (ir) | ||
| Left Defence | Right Defence | |
| Kaberle, Tomas | Gunnarsson, Carl | |
| Phaneuf, Dion | Beauchemin, Francois | |
| Schenn, Luke | Exelby, Garnett | |
| Finger, Jeff (scratch) | ||
| Komisarek, Mike (ir) | ||
| Van Ryn, Mike (ir) | ||
| Goal | ||
| Giguere, JS | ||
| Gustavsson, Jonas |
Other than Kessel and maybe Phaneuf or Schenn, is there anyone else on this roster you would expect to see in a Leaf uniform in 2 to 3 years?
This HAS to be rock bottom.
Who’s the dimwit that said 11 to 15?
@Capn2patch….in 2-3 years? Possible candidates:
Kulemin, Nikolai
Bozak, Tyler
Gunnarsson, Carl
Komisarek, Mike
Beauchemin, Francois
Gustavsson, Jonas
reply to Lt67
The point I’m making is who on this roster would you build a team around.
From the names you mention, sure some stragglers will stick around, but where is the talent and where will it come from? Second, third or fourth round picks?
Burke is proving that he’s a pretty good horse-trader, but honestly how many Phaneufs is he going to pull out of a hat.
IMO, it’ll be a while still before there’s an honest to goodness competitive club in Toronto.
@Capn2patch
To your point, I agree. The only other guy that has a chance to be a meaningful piece is Nazem Kadri…but of course he’s not on the current roster and it’s definitely too soon to tell.
So BB has done a good job cleaning house and others will fall by the way side at the end of the season. That does give Burke money to play with. But unfortunately, there are slimp pickings on the UFA front….So I’m afraid you are right and it shouldn’t surprise us – it’s going to take some time before we are truly competitive.
I think we’ll play a little better over this last stretch since the deadline is gone and these guys can start getting used to each other.
7 – 10 – 3 over the last 20 games.
Sad that that’s ‘better’. Oh well, there’s always next year.