Rebel_1812
New member
BlueWhiteBlood said:
Yeah, trade or buy out Grabbo. Bozak becomes the 2nd line center and Kadri becomes the first. He should get about 3 mill a year and all of a sudden we don't have so much money tied up in mediocre centers.
Bozak's Future
- Thread starter WhatIfGodWasALeaf
- Start date
Yeah, trade or buy out Grabbo. Bozak becomes the 2nd line center and Kadri becomes the first. He should get about 3 mill a year and all of a sudden we don't have so much money tied up in mediocre centers.
BlueWhiteBlood
New member
Rebel_1812 said:
I don't necessarily want to lose Grabo for nothing though, but I'm resigned to at least paying a bit of his salary to get him traded with some form of asset coming back to us.
Crucialness Key
New member
PG said:
Yeah, but we want 50.
WhatIfGodWasALeaf
Active member
3.5 tops, no more than 2/3 years.
I'd give Bozak's minutes to Grabovski.
Look, people can whine and moan about the usefulness of advanced stats all they want, but they repeatedly reinforce the idea that Bozak has very little impact on how his line-mates perform.
For those hung up on the faceoff stats, Bozak's performance on the draw translates to 0.75 more wins per game than the average center, it's hardly game changing.
I'd give Bozak's minutes to Grabovski.
Look, people can whine and moan about the usefulness of advanced stats all they want, but they repeatedly reinforce the idea that Bozak has very little impact on how his line-mates perform.
For those hung up on the faceoff stats, Bozak's performance on the draw translates to 0.75 more wins per game than the average center, it's hardly game changing.
I'm not sure how much his health problems have affected his play nor how much the defensive role and lower PP ice time Carlyle gave him affected his production though I'm sure it's something significant. But prior to this season, if I had to go fight a hockey war in the playoffs, I'd take Grabbo over Bozak in a heartbeat.
The Leafs are in a tough spot because top 6 centers are hard to come by. It's frustrating because centers like Bozak can command a higher buck and term than I'd like to pay. But if they don't have a replacement, as is fairly likely, the Leafs would be worse off without Bozak.
Meanwhile, if they sign him, they'll probably have to overpay to do so. That produces an opportunity cost of that salary tying up cap space that can get in the way of trying to land an elite center if/when the opportunity arises - because overpaid means it's difficult to move him.
I don't envy Nonis on this decision. It's a product of Burke's sucking and blowing retooling effort where a rebuild could have got them an elite center.
The Leafs are in a tough spot because top 6 centers are hard to come by. It's frustrating because centers like Bozak can command a higher buck and term than I'd like to pay. But if they don't have a replacement, as is fairly likely, the Leafs would be worse off without Bozak.
Meanwhile, if they sign him, they'll probably have to overpay to do so. That produces an opportunity cost of that salary tying up cap space that can get in the way of trying to land an elite center if/when the opportunity arises - because overpaid means it's difficult to move him.
I don't envy Nonis on this decision. It's a product of Burke's sucking and blowing retooling effort where a rebuild could have got them an elite center.
Kessel Run
New member
So apparently Dreger said on TSN Radio today that Bozak will command more than $5M. Yeesh.
GhostofPotvin29
New member
I've commented many times on what I think of what he's being 'rumoured' to want, and can't add anything other than
L K
Active member
Potvin29 said:I've commented many times on what I think of what he's being 'rumoured' to want, and can't add anything other than
4th year in the league. 27 years old. Has never hit 50 points. Has never hit 20 goals. Is barely on pace for this despite playing with PPG Kessel and a combination of Joffrey Lupul/JVR. He's getting 3:01 in PP-TOI/g (59th for forwards) and is 77th in PP points.
Sure he kills penalties and wins faceoffs but I'm just not seeing where 5+ million comes into play there. In comparison when Grabovski got paid he was coming off a 58 point season and has had multiple 50+ point season/pace seasons.
Kessel Run
New member
L K said:
The problem is somebody would probably pay him that on the open market.
After seeing how poorly Edmonton has played this year I'm actually quite pleased with what Burke did. We will get our centre, it's only a matter of time. I think it makes sense to buy out Komisarek and just spend the $8-9 million to get someone elite through free agency.cw said:
Link to article: What Is Tyler Bozak Money?
I'm still mulling it over or absorbing the article and therefore, haven't decided how closely I align with his conclusions but on the surface, it's the best analysis I've seen so far written on this.
I'm still mulling it over or absorbing the article and therefore, haven't decided how closely I align with his conclusions but on the surface, it's the best analysis I've seen so far written on this.
I think letting him walk is the way to go.
We are Leaf fans, so as result we have extremely low standards, but just because he's doing "fine" is not reason enough to keep him, and overpay him at that.
The chemistry with Kessel is overstated when one considers Kessel has scored 30+ goals with different Centres, including that scrub Stajan. I'm fairly certain Kessel would score at the same rate with Grabovski or Kadri.
I understand Kessel and him have become best friends but if Kessel takes Bozak's departure badly, and it affects his play...he can be the next one to go as well. These men are professionals.
So now one will ask "Well then, where do the Leafs get their #1 Centre?". Well, the solution to that can be, and is, mutually exclusive from the decision to re-sign Bozak. I know the Leafs have not been able to find one (the whole waiting-for-one-to-drop-in-our-laps-on-July-1st plan never worked....gasp!), but that doesn't mean you overpay Bozak to keep masquerading as one.
Sometimes a player just doesn't fit a team. Right now he fits the team, sure. But at 4.5-5M, he sure doesn't. That's a lot of coin to pay someone just for being good at faceoffs and being best friends with your key player.
We are Leaf fans, so as result we have extremely low standards, but just because he's doing "fine" is not reason enough to keep him, and overpay him at that.
The chemistry with Kessel is overstated when one considers Kessel has scored 30+ goals with different Centres, including that scrub Stajan. I'm fairly certain Kessel would score at the same rate with Grabovski or Kadri.
I understand Kessel and him have become best friends but if Kessel takes Bozak's departure badly, and it affects his play...he can be the next one to go as well. These men are professionals.
So now one will ask "Well then, where do the Leafs get their #1 Centre?". Well, the solution to that can be, and is, mutually exclusive from the decision to re-sign Bozak. I know the Leafs have not been able to find one (the whole waiting-for-one-to-drop-in-our-laps-on-July-1st plan never worked....gasp!), but that doesn't mean you overpay Bozak to keep masquerading as one.
Sometimes a player just doesn't fit a team. Right now he fits the team, sure. But at 4.5-5M, he sure doesn't. That's a lot of coin to pay someone just for being good at faceoffs and being best friends with your key player.
Rebel_1812
New member
Kessel Run said:
So this summer it will come down to Grabbo or Bozak since they both want the same money.
PG said:
I don't have lots of faith in the media reports. For me, it simply comes down to how much and for how long. If the talk of $5 mil/yr for a long term is true, then I'm with you. If it's $3.5 mil/yr for a reasonable length like 3-4 years, I could live with that.
WhatIfGodWasALeaf
Active member
cw said:
That's pretty frightening, I've been on the 3.5 or let him go train for a while, I'll be very disappointed in Nonis if he overpays this guy.
Peter D.
Moderator
PG said:
Considering trading/signing a #1 centre is damn near impossible, I'm resigned and accepting to the fact we may just have to go with two really good centres we'd typically classify as #2's. If Bozak does indeed fetch $4.5 to $5M out there, I'd rather let him walk and spend some extra money to go out and grab a guy like Stephen Weiss for $5.5M.
Now, I think that would be overpaying for Weiss, but it's going to happen considering the slim picking. That's Grabovksi-type money, but considering he has twice hit 60 points (something Grabovski hasn't done), is really good defensively, and provides a left-handed shooter who'd be feeding Kessel on the right wing (don't know how big a factor that is), I could live with it.
A 1-2 punch of Weiss and Kadri, with potentially Grabovski as #3 if he is still around -- not too shabby as it could definitely be a lot worse.
dappleganger
Active member
Peter D. said:
I'm with you. If Bozak wants too much money, I let him walk and turn my attention to Weiss. He's a Toronto boy and he has more scoring punch than Bozak.