Bozak, MacArthur & Blacker; the New Antropov, Coliacovo and a 1st.

[puckhog78]

After a quick look at the roster, and having listened to Poulin and Burke interviewed saying that we will improve this team via trade & also stating that there are alot of big names being thrown around; I think those three assets are the most likely and viable to be moved. There arent many peices that A] have value and B] are moveable parts in the organization.


Lupul ?? Kessel

Kulemin Grabo Van Reimsdyk

Frattin Mcclement       ??

?? Steckel Brown

Spare Forwards:
Bozak
Kadri
MacArthur
Lombardi
Connolly


Gunnarsson Phaneuf
Gardiner Franson
Liles Komisarek

Spare Defence:
Holzer
Blacker


Bozak - Good young centre, can skate & pass well. Good PKer and faceoff man. Put up 47 points last year. No room for him on the team as the Leafs need to upgrade down the middle and the other 3 spots have already been filled.

Kadri - Good young Forward, can skate & pass well. Has top end skills, but does not play a complete game yet. Picks his spots when it comes to the physical game, and gets knocked around when in the corners. Potential top line player, but likelyhood of reaching full potential minimal. Wild card.


MacArthur - Career year two years ago. Plays a two way game, and doesnt shy away from they physical game for a smaller player. Can play a top 6 role, but his spot has been taken by JVR.

Lombardi - Speedy FW capable of playing special teams. Was one of the NHL's underrated players with CGY & PHX. Yet to regain that form in Toronto, and is currently overpaid at 3m per year for a 3rd-4th line role.

Connolly - Soft player, with loads of skill. Average skater with accurate shot & pass. At this point, a PP specialist who is vastly overpaid

Holzer - Bottom pairing, stay at home D man. Still young but little Offensive skill and upside. Minimal trade value.

Blacker - 2nd round prospect capable of top 4 duty in the NHL and a future PP specialist. Still very young and raw, but potential and skill are evident.




So looking at this team, Id say Bozak, MacArthur & Blacker are the most likely to be moved for anything substantial. Kadri is an unknown. Its unknown whether teams value him highly and its unknown whether Toronto will give up on him so early into a promising career. Anyone else on my list is just unrealisitic of landing any player capable of making a difference. He might be in the same boat as Gardiner, although not nearly as untouchable. 

I know thats not nearly enough to land a player like Rick Nash, but it might be enough to land a player like Getzlaf who has one year left on his deal on a rebuilding Ducks squad. It might take a little tweaking here and there, but those 3 for Getzlaf could be the core of a deal. 

Do you agree with my evaluations? Who do you think those pieces can land? Did I pick the wrong pieces entirely?

 

[Jolly good show chaps]

I don't know as much about hockey as you old chap but could we not include Gunnarson or Franson in a trade and then introduce Holzer and Blackman?  Presume we'd get more for those guys and then develop the young 'uns.

 

[Bender]

I don't know as much about hockey as you old chap but could we not include Gunnarson or Franson in a trade and then introduce Holzer and Blackman?  Presume we'd get more for those guys and then develop the young 'uns.

You sound like a dandy. Awesome )

 

[puckhog78]

I don't know as much about hockey as you old chap but could we not include Gunnarson or Franson in a trade and then introduce Holzer and Blackman?  Presume we'd get more for those guys and then develop the young 'uns.

Well the problem with that scenario is that Franson's value is low right now. He was a healthy scratch numerous times last year after having  great season with NSH the year before. Blacker isnt ready to step into the NHL either, he's at least a year away and needs top 4 time in the AHL. Gunnarsson eats up minutes and doesnt make too many mistakes. I think the Leafs value him and utilize him more than other teams would. so they value him more than the marketplace would.

This thread is not what I would do as GM, if it were I'd have put it in the armchair GM thread, But rather by a process of elimination trying to determine which pieces are in play in any potential deals that Burke and company make. For example: Komisarek is not in my top 6, but he is definately in Carlyle's as he needs someone to clear the front of the net. im just trying to deduce which pieces are in play.

 

[Kin]

I know thats not nearly enough to land a player like Rick Nash, but it might be enough to land a player like Getzlaf who has one year left on his deal on a rebuilding Ducks squad. It might take a little tweaking here and there, but those 3 for Getzlaf could be the core of a deal. 

I highly, highly doubt it. I think in order to land a player of any appreciable quality the Leafs will have to give up at least one very high level asset. A first rounder or one of their top prospects will be the starting point.

 

[Rebel_1812]

I don't know as much about hockey as you old chap but could we not include Gunnarson or Franson in a trade and then introduce Holzer and Blackman?  Presume we'd get more for those guys and then develop the young 'uns.

You sound like a dandy. Awesome )

a yankee doodle dandy.

 

[Madferret]

You really expect to get anything of value for the types of players that are available as free agents right now en masse? Getzlaf? Wow

 

[Redleaf]

You really expect to get anything of value for the types of players that are available as free agents right now en masse? Getzlaf? Wow

You're turning into a real annoying wet blanket, opposing-team, angry little thread killer of late. So why bother posting here?

 

[sneakyray]

players probably available - lombardi, connelly, macarthur, kulemin, franson, bozak.

players possibly available in the right trade - kadri, colborne, blacker, gunnarson.

theres some pretty decent names on that list...and we have draft picks to sweeten the pot in the right trade.

 

[puckhog78]

players probably available - lombardi, connelly, macarthur, kulemin, franson, bozak.

players possibly available in the right trade - kadri, colborne, blacker, gunnarson.

theres some pretty decent names on that list...and we have draft picks to sweeten the pot in the right trade.

Yeah I agree for the most part. I do think that the need that Gunnarsson serves makes him more valuable to the leafs than he would be to a team trying to obtain him. Lombardi and Connolly have minimal value right now. they would not land anything substantial.

I dont know what UFA's Madferret is looking at but Bozak put up more points than Roy last year, and is also younger and bigger. So if there are these types of players around "en masse" why would DAL give up a good, desireable player [Ott] to acquire one when he couldve signed one for nothing? I think someone is over-estimating the value in the free agent market. I'll side with former Leaf, Sens Killer and Professional GM Joe Nieuwendyk on that one.

Jesse Blacker is also 21 with good skill & potential. 21 year old UFA's arent around "en masse" either.

MacArthur has the skill to play a top 6 role and the grit to play a top 9 role. He is the least desireable of the three, but still has value an is a solid NHL player.

 

[Kin]

I dont know what UFA's Madferret is looking at but Bozak put up more points than Roy last year, and is also younger and bigger.

Come on. Do you think any trade is made for Derek Roy where the only thing they're looking at is last year?

 

[Jolly good show chaps]

I don't know as much about hockey as you old chap but could we not include Gunnarson or Franson in a trade and then introduce Holzer and Blackman?  Presume we'd get more for those guys and then develop the young 'uns.

You sound like a dandy. Awesome )

a yankee doodle dandy.

Fortunately I am English rather than American, hence my hockey knowledge not being as spiffing as you chaps.

 

[puckhog78]

I dont know what UFA's Madferret is looking at but Bozak put up more points than Roy last year, and is also younger and bigger.

Come on. Do you think any trade is made for Derek Roy where the only thing they're looking at is last year?

Of course not. Overall Roy is the best player, but he's not a clear level above, they are comparable. I'm just countering the argument that Madferret made when he stated that these type of players [Bozak, MacA & Blacker] are numerous and widely available for free in the UFA market.

 

[Kin]

Of course not. Overall Roy is the best player, but he's not a clear level above, they are comparable.

They're really not. Roy has averaged 66 points per 82 games in the NHL. That's legit #1 centre stuff. Bozak is at 45 per 82.

 

[puckhog78]

Of course not. Overall Roy is the best player, but he's not a clear level above, they are comparable.

They're really not. Roy has averaged 66 points per 82 games in the NHL. That's legit #1 centre stuff. Bozak is at 45 per 82.

As you know, usually a player's best years are 26-30, specifically 27-29, where his physical skills are still intact and not deteriorating, yet he's learnt enough about the game to play smarter and more efficient. Bozak is 26 and Roy is 29, Bozak has yet to reach his peak and Roy is just about on the downside of his career. DAL isnt paying for what Roy HAS done, but what he WILL do as a Star. Therefore the argument can be made that Bozak will provide more to a team than Roy will in seasons to come.

Either way, I dont see where a Bozak type player is readily available in FA, let alone 3-4 of them, as "en Masse" would seem to indicate.

 

[Kin]

As you know, usually a player's best years are 26-30, specifically 27-29, where his physical skills are still intact and not deteriorating, yet he's learnt enough about the game to play smarter and more efficient. Bozak is 26 and Roy is 29, Bozak has yet to reach his peak and Roy is just about on the downside of his career. DAL isnt paying for what Roy HAS done, but what he WILL do as a Star. Therefore the argument can be made that Bozak will provide more to a team than Roy will in seasons to come.

I know the 27-32 age range is typically the peak in Baseball but I've never seen anything conclusive that says the same about hockey players. The few times I've looked at it casually I've typically found that it doesn't really hold true for hockey players. that their peaks tend to come earlier. Also, if the idea is that a player reaches that peak with a combination of knowledge accumulated in the league and athletic ability then Bozak's relative lack of experience would argue that he's still got a ways to go.

Anyway, that's not really the issue. The issue is still the difference between a 29 year old who's shown that he can produce at a very high level(as high as 18th in the league in scoring) and another who's shown nothing of the sort. Bozak's best season so far is 47 points while being sandwiched by two point a game wingers. Roy's is almost twice that. Those aren't comparable acquisitions by any stretch of the imagination(to put it another way, I'm pretty confident that if Bozak's worth was anything near Roy's then Burke would have made that deal with Dallas)

If we look at what Bozak is as opposed to what he might be then I think there's a pretty good case that 40+ point centres aren't exactly the rarest things in the world.

 

[princedpw]

I'm not sure what the peak age for centers is generally.

I did see an interesting chart once that looked at the age when each of the top 100 scorers in NHL history scored the most goals.  It was surprisingly young on average -- between 23 and 24, I believe.

Of course, peak goal-scoring and peak all-around play are not the same.  I believe that those top players typically increased their assist rate while their goal-scoring rate decreased.  Also, it was obviously a relatively unique set of players characterized by Gretzky, Lemieux, Yzerman types, not Derek Roy, Tyler Bozak types.

 

[Britleaf]

Personally I would be disapointed to see Bozak go, I like his style to be honest and he is still kind of young I would like to see him maybe have another couple of seasons to see how he develops.. or am I just biased , but i guess that could bring problems of its own.
Jim

 

[BlueWhiteBlood]

Personally I would be disapointed to see Bozak go, I like his style to be honest and he is still kind of young I would like to see him maybe have another couple of seasons to see how he develops.. or am I just biased , but i guess that could bring problems of its own.
Jim

I don't think so Jim, I like Bozak also. I had said last year around this time that I thought Bozak would bounce back and have a good season and he didn't disappoint me, so I'm saying it again, only this time, I think he'll improve his numbers even better.

Now that's not to say that if Burke gets an offer for a bonafide top line guy that Burke wouldn't put him on a plane, but I think if the trade isn't there, you give him a chance to improve more.

 

[Tigger]

The dialogue floating around about the centre position is interesting right now. They're looking to upgrade through trade and looking to try out JVR and McClement in roles that would supplant Bozak and Connolly if successful/lateral.

Way too many centres there.

Ultimately I don't like JVR playing centre ( maybe it could work but I wouldn't bet on it ) and McClement really should be a 4C pk specialist/extra duty. If they trade for another centre to try with Lupul/Kessel one will have to go at least and that would leave one of Connolly/Bozak as the 3C to me with Colborne on the outside.

This still kinda feels like armchair managing...