2013-2014 NHL Thread

[GhostofPotvin29]

That man is getting paid this summer.

The way he's playing... who knows, he might $6 million+ on a long-term deal.

Anything is possible but his problem has always been staying healthy, and his highest season point total to date is only 51, so although he looks great this year not sure it will sell teams that he's suddenly an elite point producer.

He's a heart and soul player though...  partly why he gets hurt so much.

He definitely won't keep the offensive numbers up that high, but I see him like a Patrice Bergeron.  Bergeron put up some bigger offensive numbers his first few seasons, but seems to have settled into a 50-60 point area where it's perfectly acceptable because he's arguably the strongest defensive C in the game too.

Not that Steen is as good defensively as Bergeron (although I have no idea, he might be), I see him being very highly sought after as a very strong two-way C in that mold.

 

[Corn Flake]

That man is getting paid this summer.

The way he's playing... who knows, he might $6 million+ on a long-term deal.

Anything is possible but his problem has always been staying healthy, and his highest season point total to date is only 51, so although he looks great this year not sure it will sell teams that he's suddenly an elite point producer.

He's a heart and soul player though...  partly why he gets hurt so much.

He definitely won't keep the offensive numbers up that high, but I see him like a Patrice Bergeron.  Bergeron put up some bigger offensive numbers his first few seasons, but seems to have settled into a 50-60 point area where it's perfectly acceptable because he's arguably the strongest defensive C in the game too.

Not that Steen is as good defensively as Bergeron (although I have no idea, he might be), I see him being very highly sought after as a very strong two-way C in that mold.

The thing is, Steen is almost 30 and Bergeron is 28 and has been established as what he is for years now.  Would be a very late arrival if  Steen is going to be that player. 

 

[GhostofPotvin29]

That man is getting paid this summer.

The way he's playing... who knows, he might $6 million+ on a long-term deal.

Anything is possible but his problem has always been staying healthy, and his highest season point total to date is only 51, so although he looks great this year not sure it will sell teams that he's suddenly an elite point producer.

He's a heart and soul player though...  partly why he gets hurt so much.

He definitely won't keep the offensive numbers up that high, but I see him like a Patrice Bergeron.  Bergeron put up some bigger offensive numbers his first few seasons, but seems to have settled into a 50-60 point area where it's perfectly acceptable because he's arguably the strongest defensive C in the game too.

Not that Steen is as good defensively as Bergeron (although I have no idea, he might be), I see him being very highly sought after as a very strong two-way C in that mold.

The thing is, Steen is almost 30 and Bergeron is 28 and has been established as what he is for years now.  Would be a very late arrival if  Steen is going to be that player.

I'm saying he already is that type of player, just not necessarily at Bergeron's level because few are.

Here's what Hitchcock said about him:

"Everybody is talking about the offensive numbers. This is just the evolution of a complete player. He's got a good conscience for the game. He sees the game properly. He understands 200 feet offensively and defensively. He gets the idea of proper positioning with pressure. He's able to absorb any role we give him.

"I think all of us are really happy for his offensive numbers, but we're more happy with the way his game has evolved. He has become the collective conscience of our hockey club. On the ice, off the ice, in the weight room, anywhere."

 

[Peter D.]

Steen probably would have been captain of the Leafs if he wasn't in that terrible, terrible trade.

Honest question -- would we have seen this type of Steen on the Leafs?  He had put up 4 in 20 at the time he was traded and he didn't look like the player we were expecting we'd be getting, especially in his first season when he played alongside Sundin.

Another case of the Leafs giving up on a young guy early, and Fletcher certainly sold low on Steen and bought high on Stempniak, but it raises the question of the Leafs development and/or impatience. 

As bad as this trade ended up, I don't think the timing of it was as bad as some of the other trades we have seen.

 

[Deebo]

I completely forgot he hit 40 points in 2 of his first 3 seasons with the Leafs. And he was a pretty reliable defensive player back then too for somebody his age. What a stupid, stupid trade.

Here's how the deal has shaken out since it was made:

Petter Granberg
Daniel Brodin
David Broll

for

Alex Steen
Carlo Colaiacovo

 

[GhostofPotvin29]

Steen probably would have been captain of the Leafs if he wasn't in that terrible, terrible trade.

Honest question -- would we have seen this type of Steen on the Leafs?  He had put up 4 in 20 at the time he was traded and he didn't look like the player we were expecting we'd be getting, especially in his first season when he played alongside Sundin.

Another case of the Leafs giving up on a young guy early, and Fletcher certainly sold low on Steen and bought high on Stempniak, but it raises the question of the Leafs development and/or impatience. 

As bad as this trade ended up, I don't think the timing of it was as bad as some of the other trades we have seen.

But he had his first 3 seasons before that of 18, 15, 15 goals - it seems very knee jerk to then look at 4 points in 20 games and say it's not the player the Leafs were expecting.  There's probably tons of reasons why his points were down - unlucky, getting less ice time/PP time (only 50 seconds/game), just struggling through a rough stretch. 

 

[Coco-puffs]

I completely forgot he hit 40 points in 2 of his first 3 seasons with the Leafs. And he was a pretty reliable defensive player back then too for somebody his age. What a stupid, stupid trade.

I think people were just so dissatisfied with those Leafs teams that he was largely overlooked/unappreciated for what he did.

Completely agree.  I hated the trade at the time, and now I think only Rask for Raycroft is a worse trade from that period.  (Toskola for picks would be up there, but who knows if the Leafs had kept that pick if they would have drafted Logan Couture anyways)

 

[Deebo]

I completely forgot he hit 40 points in 2 of his first 3 seasons with the Leafs. And he was a pretty reliable defensive player back then too for somebody his age. What a stupid, stupid trade.

I think people were just so dissatisfied with those Leafs teams that he was largely overlooked/unappreciated for what he did.

Completely agree.  I hated the trade at the time, and now I think only Rask for Raycroft is a worse trade from that period.  (Toskola for picks would be up there, but who knows if the Leafs had kept that pick if they would have drafted Logan Couture anyways)

The sharks traded up to get Couture, I think it was Lars Eller was taken with the Leafs pick.

 

[GhostofPotvin29]

I completely forgot he hit 40 points in 2 of his first 3 seasons with the Leafs. And he was a pretty reliable defensive player back then too for somebody his age. What a stupid, stupid trade.

I think people were just so dissatisfied with those Leafs teams that he was largely overlooked/unappreciated for what he did.

Completely agree.  I hated the trade at the time, and now I think only Rask for Raycroft is a worse trade from that period.  (Toskola for picks would be up there, but who knows if the Leafs had kept that pick if they would have drafted Logan Couture anyways)

I didn't mind it at the time, but I'll be the first to admit I was dead wrong about that.  Many posters here shared your view of it at the time.

 

[Coco-puffs]

I completely forgot he hit 40 points in 2 of his first 3 seasons with the Leafs. And he was a pretty reliable defensive player back then too for somebody his age. What a stupid, stupid trade.

I think people were just so dissatisfied with those Leafs teams that he was largely overlooked/unappreciated for what he did.

Completely agree.  I hated the trade at the time, and now I think only Rask for Raycroft is a worse trade from that period.  (Toskola for picks would be up there, but who knows if the Leafs had kept that pick if they would have drafted Logan Couture anyways)

The sharks traded up to get Couture, I think it was Lars Eller was taken with the Leafs pick.

Well.... they used the 1st and 2nd round picks from the Leafs to move up and land Couture... so its still Toskola/Bell for Couture/Craig Smith.

 

[Peter D.]

But he had his first 3 seasons before that of 18, 15, 15 goals - it seems very knee jerk to then look at 4 points in 20 games and say it's not the player the Leafs were expecting.  There's probably tons of reasons why his points were down - unlucky, getting less ice time/PP time (only 50 seconds/game), just struggling through a rough stretch.

Yeah, no dispute on the knee jerk.  But I remember, even before he started off offensively poor the year he was traded, questioning whether he was going to take that next step.  He fell into that trap where he and Matt Stajan almost seemed interchangeable. 

 

[Deebo]

I completely forgot he hit 40 points in 2 of his first 3 seasons with the Leafs. And he was a pretty reliable defensive player back then too for somebody his age. What a stupid, stupid trade.

I think people were just so dissatisfied with those Leafs teams that he was largely overlooked/unappreciated for what he did.

Completely agree.  I hated the trade at the time, and now I think only Rask for Raycroft is a worse trade from that period.  (Toskola for picks would be up there, but who knows if the Leafs had kept that pick if they would have drafted Logan Couture anyways)

The sharks traded up to get Couture, I think it was Lars Eller was taken with the Leafs pick.

Well.... they used the 1st and 2nd round picks from the Leafs to move up and land Couture... so its still Toskola/Bell for Couture/Craig Smith.

Yeah, all I meant was it would have taken another trade to end up with Couture.

 

[Coco-puffs]

I completely forgot he hit 40 points in 2 of his first 3 seasons with the Leafs. And he was a pretty reliable defensive player back then too for somebody his age. What a stupid, stupid trade.

I think people were just so dissatisfied with those Leafs teams that he was largely overlooked/unappreciated for what he did.

Completely agree.  I hated the trade at the time, and now I think only Rask for Raycroft is a worse trade from that period.  (Toskola for picks would be up there, but who knows if the Leafs had kept that pick if they would have drafted Logan Couture anyways)

The sharks traded up to get Couture, I think it was Lars Eller was taken with the Leafs pick.

Well.... they used the 1st and 2nd round picks from the Leafs to move up and land Couture... so its still Toskola/Bell for Couture/Craig Smith.

Yeah, all I meant was it would have taken another trade to end up with Couture.

Understood.  And that's why I still think Steen + Coliacovo for Stempniak is a worse trade

 

[Bullfrog]

I think the thing that bothered me the most at that time was that it was Steen PLUS Colaiacovo for Stempniak. I found that shocking. While Stempniak was well regarded at that time and was obviously playing well for St. Louis, I still felt like it was an overpayment. I'll admit I was a little biased because Steen was my favourite player on the team behind Sundin and Kaberle. But, I was always a staunch supporter of Steen over Stajan.

 

[Beowulf]

I think the thing that bothered me the most at that time was that it was Steen PLUS Colaiacovo for Stempniak. I found that shocking. While Stempniak was well regarded at that time and was obviously playing well for St. Louis, I still felt like it was an overpayment. I'll admit I was a little biased because Steen was my favourite player on the team behind Sundin and Kaberle. But, I was always a staunch supporter of Steen over Stajan.

Agreed. I also didn't like the trade at the time it was made. Like another poster said earlier it was a classic case of selling low and buying high from Fletcher.

Not that I ever could have envisioned Steen developing into the player that he is now, but it was the mis-management of those 2 young assets (in terms of what type of player they were dealt for) that was the most disturbing part of it all.

 

[bustaheims]

Well.... they used the 1st and 2nd round picks from the Leafs to move up and land Couture... so its still Toskola/Bell for Couture/Craig Smith.

They also used their own 3rd round pick as part of that deal. That being said, we have no way of knowing if JFJ would have made that deal or if he even could have negotiated a similar deal. So, the whole "Couture could have been a Leaf" thing is really conjecture at best. I mean, we can't even be sure the Leafs would have drafted him even if they did trade up.

 

[bustaheims]

I hated the Steen trade at the time it was made and I hate it even more now. It was ridiculous then and it's just atrocious now.

 

[Deebo]

I hated the Steen trade at the time it was made and I hate it even more now. It was ridiculous then and it's just atrocious now.

I think its easily worse than any single transaction Burke made.

 

[bustaheims]

I think its easily worse than any single transaction Burke made.

Yeah, probably, though, I had an equal level of hatred for the Tlusty/Paradis trade. That begin said, Tlusty is doing his best right now to make the progress he made over the past 2 seasons meaningless.

 

[Corn Flake]

Steen probably would have been captain of the Leafs if he wasn't in that terrible, terrible trade.

Honest question -- would we have seen this type of Steen on the Leafs?  He had put up 4 in 20 at the time he was traded and he didn't look like the player we were expecting we'd be getting, especially in his first season when he played alongside Sundin.

Another case of the Leafs giving up on a young guy early, and Fletcher certainly sold low on Steen and bought high on Stempniak, but it raises the question of the Leafs development and/or impatience. 

As bad as this trade ended up, I don't think the timing of it was as bad as some of the other trades we have seen.

But he had his first 3 seasons before that of 18, 15, 15 goals - it seems very knee jerk to then look at 4 points in 20 games and say it's not the player the Leafs were expecting.  There's probably tons of reasons why his points were down - unlucky, getting less ice time/PP time (only 50 seconds/game), just struggling through a rough stretch.

No way of really knowing if he would have bloomed in Toronto the way he did in St. Louis, but I think players who you win with are identifiable early, and Steen is just one of those guys, IMO... He hasn't been a stellar point producer but he scores big, timely goals and lays it out there every shift.