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A thread speculating about possible lines? Already?!

Bullfrog said:
I seriously doubt Kadri is brought up to sit in the pressbox.
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Yeah. There's no way. He's either up on the big club getting consistent ice time or he's 1st line for the Marlies.
 
well...if Nonis truly is patient then I think we'll see them run with what we have this season.  Let all the contracts expire for the deadweight resigning only lupul.

With lombardi, connelly, steckel, orr and possibly komi(providing hes bought out) all off the books they can let the kids take the reigns next year and use the cap space to go after a getzlaf if hes there and resign lupul.

but I like the idea of letting kadri, komorov, frattin, hamilton etc. be emergency fill ins for this year (unless they outplay people by a fair margin) and then have spots next year that they can fight it out for with other youngsters.

who knows...maybe luongo blows up in vancouvers face and they buy him out or maybe mike smith makes it to free agency and there will be a goalie for toronto thos summer.  Provided Reimer is not the guy.

basically I really like the patient approach to see what happens this summer with buy outs and the potential free agents as opposed to trading good pieces for Luongo right now. 
 
bustaheims said:
Bullfrog said:
I seriously doubt Kadri is brought up to sit in the pressbox.
Click to expand...

Yeah. There's no way. He's either up on the big club getting consistent ice time or he's 1st line for the Marlies.
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Carlyle just said of Kadri today that it's not a matter of if he plays in the NHL, but when.  Sounds like he likes what he's seen at least.
 
Potvin29 said:
Carlyle just said of Kadri today that it's not a matter of if he plays in the NHL, but when.  Sounds like he likes what he's seen at least.
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Yeah. I saw that. It also gives me the impression that Kadri won't join the big club until they open up a more permanent spot for him.
 
sneakyray said:
well...if Nonis truly is patient then I think we'll see them run with what we have this season.  Let all the contracts expire for the deadweight resigning only lupul.
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I like this idea. And Nonis may not have the pressure on him to make the playoffs that Burke did.
 
bustaheims said:
jonasTSN1050: Randy Carlyle suggests that Bozak-Kessel-Lupul combination more or less set in stone at this point.
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Interesting...I'm assuming that JvR/Grabs/Kulemin would make up the second line? MacArthur/Connolly/Some-other-player as a third scoring line?

Edit:

Something like the following might make sense?

Lupul-Bozak-Kessel
JvR-Grabovski-Kulemin
MacArthur-Connolly-Lombardi/Frattin
Komarov-McClement-Steckel
Brown
 
You know, personally I don't think that lineup of forwards is too bad.  It may not stack up with the top teams, but I think it is solid enough overall, and I think lines 2 - 4 are pretty good as depth.
 
Potvin29 said:
You know, personally I don't think that lineup of forwards is too bad.  It may not stack up with the top teams, but I think it is solid enough overall, and I think lines 2 - 4 are pretty good as depth.
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Imagine if you will, if you took out Bozak, and replaced him with say, Lecavalier - doesn't that seem to instantly improve the look of the rest of the lineup?
 
Potvin29 said:
You know, personally I don't think that lineup of forwards is too bad.  It may not stack up with the top teams, but I think it is solid enough overall, and I think lines 2 - 4 are pretty good as depth.
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It's certainly good enough to make the playoffs. The Leafs were 10th in the league in goals last season, 6th in the east. People aren't too optimistic about this Leafs team, but if Reimer plays like  he did pre-injury we have a real shot at grabbing 7th or 8h.
 
Joe S. said:
Potvin29 said:
You know, personally I don't think that lineup of forwards is too bad.  It may not stack up with the top teams, but I think it is solid enough overall, and I think lines 2 - 4 are pretty good as depth.
Click to expand...

Imagine if you will, if you took out Bozak, and replaced him with say, Lecavalier - doesn't that seem to instantly improve the look of the rest of the lineup?
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Yep, it's clear where the forwards are lacking.
 
Who gets the nod in a goal - Reimer who is probably quite rusty right now or Scrivens who got recently back in his top form with the Marlies and since last April has played some 50 games (Marlies play-offs run and 2012/13 AHL season so far) more than James. I would go with Ben.
 
Omallley said:
bustaheims said:
jonasTSN1050: Randy Carlyle suggests that Bozak-Kessel-Lupul combination more or less set in stone at this point.
Click to expand...

Interesting...I'm assuming that JvR/Grabs/Kulemin would make up the second line? MacArthur/Connolly/Some-other-player as a third scoring line?

Edit:

Something like the following might make sense?

Lupul-Bozak-Kessel
JvR-Grabovski-Kulemin
MacArthur-Connolly-Lombardi/Frattin
Komarov-McClement-Steckel
Brown
Click to expand...

You're right, the lineup doesn't look terrible.  But given the fact that this lineup is also probably not going to seriously challenge in the post-season, I'm with some of the other posters here who would like to see the team run with some youth.  After all, guys like Lombardi, Connoly, and MacArthur likely won't be back next year.

Also, this lineup is going to get pushed around - hard - against a LOT of teams.  Teams like Boston, Ottawa, Carolina, heck even the Canadians, are going to be able to take some serious liberties if this is the lineup.
 
Glad to hear that Kulemin was by far in the best shape in the camp. Hoping we see the ol?Kule back.
Plus other interesting notes from Day 1
http://mapleleafshotstove.com/2013/01/14/leafs-training-camp-notes-from-mondays-session/
 
Forwards that were mediocre: Kessel (again being one of the last skaters in each skating session between drills)
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Ugh.

McClement looked to be an upgrade on PK assignments and must be in excellent shape as he never seems to fatigue.
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Grin.

The ?bag skate? at the end of the practice was one of the most painful and intense looking sessions I have ever witnessed first hand. At the end Carlyle barks, ?this is it.. the last one. Anybody getting left behind ensures the entire group does it again.? Kulemin probably skated the fastest in that group. He is looking in mid-season shape. Dion skated so hard today that it looked like he was going to puke by the end of practice. Leadership by example.
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Carlyle to kill the players before April confirmed.
 
RedLeaf said:
Projectd Lines.......

http://blog.mapleleafs.com/what-the-leafs-lineup-could-look-like/
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I was going to question whether or not Ulmer has been paying attention to the training camp whatsoever, but then I noticed that those lines were actually posted before it started. The lines have been juggled quite a bit so it's a little difficult to know what things are going to look like on opening night, but I think a few things are all but guaranteed:

1) The top line is going to be Lupul-Bozak-Kessel, at least to start
2) The Leafs are going to go with 3 scoring lines, meaning McClement will be on the 4th line
3) Kadri and Frattin won't play on the 4th line. It's the top-9 or the Marlies for them
 
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