Dave Bolland

[bustaheims]

Don't think any of us ever expected him to be this valuable to the team. They haven't been the same since he left.

As I said in the last game day thread, if losing their 3rd line centre had this much impact on the team, then they're in much worse shape than most of us believed. The team's play didn't go downhill when he was hurt - it was well on the way before the Vancouver game. The timing of his injury was more coincidence than correlation.

 

[Kin]

I get where you're going, but my point wasn't that this is a bad team that couldn't overcome the loss of Dave Bolland. It was that injuries shouldn't be an excuse for their struggles.

No but a very mediocre team that's winning on a thin margin won't, or shouldn't, be able to overcome the loss of players from the position it's already weakest at.

 

[Bender]

Yeah there's no way Bolland was going to keep shooting 22.2%. He would have helped, but fact is he was the teams 3rd line centre and good teams should be able to overcome a loss like that.

Yeah, but we also lost our first line centre, and Bolland had the ability of moving up and down the lineup. Now what we have is a guy who is fourth or fifth on the depth chart playing as a second line centre.

The team's record is deplorable and there shouldn't be any excuses, but I think you're being a little blase about the contribution that Bolland brings. I think he's one of our most complete forwards.

 

[Jalili]

Don't think any of us ever expected him to be this valuable to the team. They haven't been the same since he left.

As I said in the last game day thread, if losing their 3rd line centre had this much impact on the team, then they're in much worse shape than most of us believed. The team's play didn't go downhill when he was hurt - it was well on the way before the Vancouver game. The timing of his injury was more coincidence than correlation.

I think it was a perfect storm in some sense, where a lot of things went wrong in a short period of time.

To give some credit to the team though, before the Vancouver game two of their most recent wins had been against Pittsburgh and Anaheim, both high end teams that they played really well against.

 

[lamajama]

OMG. Ray Ferraro said he thinks Bolland will get 6 Years $30 million.

https://twitter.com/Hope_Smoke/status/413048947767115776

Well it worked out pretty well signing Liles when he was hurt..

That's insane money. I can see $4m on the top side but
the $$ and term would be crazy if this actually happened.

 

[2badknees]

With the cap going up, there'll be more than a couple teams that will pay it. He's probably the most complete player on the team - a guy that you want out late in the third with a one goal lead. A difference maker, imo.

Only downside is i'd be a bit concerned about durability, current injury notwithstanding.

 

[bustaheims]

OMG. Ray Ferraro said he thinks Bolland will get 6 Years $30 million.

https://twitter.com/Hope_Smoke/status/413048947767115776

Well it worked out pretty well signing Liles when he was hurt..

That's insane money. I can see $4m on the top side but
the $$ and term would be crazy if this actually happened.

Ray Ferraro says a lot of crazy things when it comes to contracts. I doubt Bolland gets near that kind of money or term. 4 years at around $4M per is where he likely winds up.

 

[GhostofPotvin29]

Whatever you do, and I'm warning you all, do not question Ray Ferraro on Twitter.

 

[CarltonTheBear]

Whatever you do, and I'm warning you all, do not question Ray Ferraro on Twitter.

It's funny I always thought he was a pretty good play-by-play guy, but yeah on social media and radio interviews he sounds like an idiot.

 

[Britishbulldog]

Whatever you do, and I'm warning you all, do not question Ray Ferraro on Twitter.

It's funny I always thought he was a pretty good play-by-play guy, but yeah on social media and radio interviews he sounds like an idiot.

I thought you folks were joking about the social media stuff because I always found him a pretty good play-by-play guy as well.  That is almost disappointing.

 

[GhostofPotvin29]

Whatever you do, and I'm warning you all, do not question Ray Ferraro on Twitter.

It's funny I always thought he was a pretty good play-by-play guy, but yeah on social media and radio interviews he sounds like an idiot.

I thought you folks were joking about the social media stuff because I always found him a pretty good play-by-play guy as well.  That is almost disappointing.

He just gets VERY defensive if questioned or criticized.  I think if you're going to post on twitter either do what Bob McKenzie does and don't interact with people, or if you do choose to, don't act like your word is handed down from on high and infallible.

 

[CarltonTheBear]

https://twitter.com/dustintokarski/status/410589753302474752

Ray Ferraro vs. a NHL prospect, AHL team, and random fan.

 

[AvroArrow]

Whatever you do, and I'm warning you all, do not question Ray Ferraro on Twitter.

It's funny I always thought he was a pretty good play-by-play guy

Really?  I find that he needs to learn when to shut up... He manages to take what should be a 5-20 second commentary and make it 60 seconds or longer...

 

[Heroic Shrimp]

Whatever you do, and I'm warning you all, do not question Ray Ferraro on Twitter.

I imagine that goes double if it's about SierraSil.

 

[Tigger]

Dave probably would have helped on the pk and filling in some offense and, more importantly, defense. Having both him and Bozak out hurts, there's no doubt.

 

[Britishbulldog]

What are you actually saying? The Leafs think he'll be a decent two-way centre with leadership skills?

The problem I have with Bolland is that he ISN'T a good center at all.  In the playoffs he FO% was between 25% and 35%.  The last 4 of the 5 games before injured his FO% were 40% Van, 40% Cal, 27.8% Edm, 20% Clb. He seem to luck out against Pittsburgh.

He is small at 5'11" 178 lbs although I seem him listed at a whopping 6'0" 184 lbs now on some websites, until last year he has averaged LESS than 1 hit a game so I have no idea who felt he was rugged.  On the rugged scale he is more like Raymond and less like Mike Brown.

If RC insists to continue to use him as a center then I hope it is in between Kulemin and  Clarkson.

On the positive side, he works hard, I have read that he is in great shape and I heard a RC interview where he said that Bolland does every drill at top speed.  That work ethic can change the mind set of a team in a good way.

 

[Corn Flake]

What are you actually saying? The Leafs think he'll be a decent two-way centre with leadership skills?

The problem I have with Bolland is that he ISN'T a good center at all.  In the playoffs he FO% was between 25% and 35%.  The last 4 of the 5 games before injured his FO% were 40% Van, 40% Cal, 27.8% Edm, 20% Clb. He seem to luck out against Pittsburgh.

You can't really judge a guy as being a good centre or not based on a small sample size of bad faceoff % results, especially when he has a long, successful track record before coming to Toronto as a centre on a contending team that won two cups.

 

[L K]

What are you actually saying? The Leafs think he'll be a decent two-way centre with leadership skills?

The problem I have with Bolland is that he ISN'T a good center at all.  In the playoffs he FO% was between 25% and 35%.  The last 4 of the 5 games before injured his FO% were 40% Van, 40% Cal, 27.8% Edm, 20% Clb. He seem to luck out against Pittsburgh.

You can't really judge a guy as being a good centre or not based on a small sample size of bad faceoff % results, especially when he has a long, successful track record before coming to Toronto as a centre on a contending team that won two cups.

Winning faceoffs is a big part of being a good center, but there is so much more involved in the position.  Ultimately, Bolland is a good penalty killer and he's good defensively at even strength.  He's not talented enough to keep up his offensive pace but he's a good one. 

I would be very concerned about his ability to return to the ice this year though given his slow recovery.  While the standard is pretty reasonable to go ~1 month without weight bearing, the fact that he has just gotten off crutches recently is not a good sign.  Two months with no workouts means he has a lot of recovery time ahead of him.  The Leafs are going to be extremely lucky if he makes it back by April.

 

[Britishbulldog]

What are you actually saying? The Leafs think he'll be a decent two-way centre with leadership skills?

The problem I have with Bolland is that he ISN'T a good center at all.  In the playoffs he FO% was between 25% and 35%.  The last 4 of the 5 games before injured his FO% were 40% Van, 40% Cal, 27.8% Edm, 20% Clb. He seem to luck out against Pittsburgh.

You can't really judge a guy as being a good centre or not based on a small sample size of bad faceoff % results, especially when he has a long, successful track record before coming to Toronto as a centre on a contending team that won two cups.

I guess I equate success as a center with as one who is successful on the FO dot.  When he has been consistently beaten every year at faceoffs but has been a great player, I call that a good forward and lousy center man.  From my point of view for the last few years though....he has been brutal winning faceoffs which I believe hurts a team regarding puck possession.

Now that being said, I also believe a lot of losses can be blamed on the wingers getting outworked by the opposition on scrums, etc which can skewer a center man's numbers but he seemed to have good wingers in Chicago.

I really like Bolland's strengths though and hope that he is re-signed by the Leafs for $4.2 MIL or less.

 

[Redleaf]

What are you actually saying? The Leafs think he'll be a decent two-way centre with leadership skills?

The problem I have with Bolland is that he ISN'T a good center at all.  In the playoffs he FO% was between 25% and 35%.  The last 4 of the 5 games before injured his FO% were 40% Van, 40% Cal, 27.8% Edm, 20% Clb. He seem to luck out against Pittsburgh.

You can't really judge a guy as being a good centre or not based on a small sample size of bad faceoff % results, especially when he has a long, successful track record before coming to Toronto as a centre on a contending team that won two cups.

Winning faceoffs is a big part of being a good center, but there is so much more involved in the position.  Ultimately, Bolland is a good penalty killer and he's good defensively at even strength.  He's not talented enough to keep up his offensive pace but he's a good one. 

I would be very concerned about his ability to return to the ice this year though given his slow recovery.  While the standard is pretty reasonable to go ~1 month without weight bearing, the fact that he has just gotten off crutches recently is not a good sign.  Two months with no workouts means he has a lot of recovery time ahead of him.  The Leafs are going to be extremely lucky if he makes it back by April.

April? Is that projected return date now? I thought he was supposed to return after the Olympic break?