Leafs hire Lindsay Hofford from London, Jim Paliafito from Saginaw

[TML fan]

Scouting report on Spezza.  The reason I bring it up is I find the early scouting reports between him and Strome to be similar:

"Spezza scouting report: Highly skilled player with a great shot. Has been compared to Bernie Nicholls or Jason Allison. Not a dynamic skater. But he has an engaging personality. Three years ago scouts thought he might be another Mario Lemieux. He has the potential to be a 100-point scorer. Some scout dropped him in their rankings after a poor playoff, but the consensus is that he will be an impact player. He might play next season. "

The Jason Allison comparison made me laugh, and then scared me.  I've heard that some scouts have compared Strome to Allison as well.  I've seen some Strome replays...surely he is a better skater than Allison?

Spezza being compared to Allison would have been a compliment.  He was a 95 point player in 2001.

I suppose that my memory of Allison is somewhat tainted from his broken days as a Leaf.

You mean when he was almost a PPG player? He was slow, but that didn't make him a bad player.

 

[freer]

Scouting report on Spezza.  The reason I bring it up is I find the early scouting reports between him and Strome to be similar:

"Spezza scouting report: Highly skilled player with a great shot. Has been compared to Bernie Nicholls or Jason Allison. Not a dynamic skater. But he has an engaging personality. Three years ago scouts thought he might be another Mario Lemieux. He has the potential to be a 100-point scorer. Some scout dropped him in their rankings after a poor playoff, but the consensus is that he will be an impact player. He might play next season. "

The Jason Allison comparison made me laugh, and then scared me.  I've heard that some scouts have compared Strome to Allison as well.  I've seen some Strome replays...surely he is a better skater than Allison?

Spezza being compared to Allison would have been a compliment.  He was a 95 point player in 2001.

I suppose that my memory of Allison is somewhat tainted from his broken days as a Leaf.

You mean when he was almost a PPG player? He was slow, but that didn't make him a bad player.

To be honest, if he didn't brake his hand with 11 games left, the leafs would of made the playoffs.

 

[Derk]

Scouting report on Spezza.  The reason I bring it up is I find the early scouting reports between him and Strome to be similar:

"Spezza scouting report: Highly skilled player with a great shot. Has been compared to Bernie Nicholls or Jason Allison. Not a dynamic skater. But he has an engaging personality. Three years ago scouts thought he might be another Mario Lemieux. He has the potential to be a 100-point scorer. Some scout dropped him in their rankings after a poor playoff, but the consensus is that he will be an impact player. He might play next season. "

The Jason Allison comparison made me laugh, and then scared me.  I've heard that some scouts have compared Strome to Allison as well.  I've seen some Strome replays...surely he is a better skater than Allison?

Spezza being compared to Allison would have been a compliment.  He was a 95 point player in 2001.

I suppose that my memory of Allison is somewhat tainted from his broken days as a Leaf.

You mean when he was almost a PPG player? He was slow, but that didn't make him a bad player.

Unfortunately, when I hear the name Jason Allison, the first thing that pops into my head is that gif of him aggressively not backchecking against the Sabres. I can understand why the memory of him would be tainted.

 

[rdowdall]

Scouting report on Spezza.  The reason I bring it up is I find the early scouting reports between him and Strome to be similar:

"Spezza scouting report: Highly skilled player with a great shot. Has been compared to Bernie Nicholls or Jason Allison. Not a dynamic skater. But he has an engaging personality. Three years ago scouts thought he might be another Mario Lemieux. He has the potential to be a 100-point scorer. Some scout dropped him in their rankings after a poor playoff, but the consensus is that he will be an impact player. He might play next season. "

The Jason Allison comparison made me laugh, and then scared me.  I've heard that some scouts have compared Strome to Allison as well.  I've seen some Strome replays...surely he is a better skater than Allison?

Spezza being compared to Allison would have been a compliment.  He was a 95 point player in 2001.

I suppose that my memory of Allison is somewhat tainted from his broken days as a Leaf.

You mean when he was almost a PPG player? He was slow, but that didn't make him a bad player.

I'll respond to this when he finishes his shootout attempt.

 

[TML fan]

Scouting report on Spezza.  The reason I bring it up is I find the early scouting reports between him and Strome to be similar:

"Spezza scouting report: Highly skilled player with a great shot. Has been compared to Bernie Nicholls or Jason Allison. Not a dynamic skater. But he has an engaging personality. Three years ago scouts thought he might be another Mario Lemieux. He has the potential to be a 100-point scorer. Some scout dropped him in their rankings after a poor playoff, but the consensus is that he will be an impact player. He might play next season. "

The Jason Allison comparison made me laugh, and then scared me.  I've heard that some scouts have compared Strome to Allison as well.  I've seen some Strome replays...surely he is a better skater than Allison?

Spezza being compared to Allison would have been a compliment.  He was a 95 point player in 2001.

I suppose that my memory of Allison is somewhat tainted from his broken days as a Leaf.

You mean when he was almost a PPG player? He was slow, but that didn't make him a bad player.

I'll respond to this when he finishes his shootout attempt.

Nice deflection. You can be the new Antropov.

 

[Kin]

Yeah, I don't get the Allison thing either. If memory serves he got a one year deal and was signed pretty late into the free agency period. I think everyone doubted whether he would really even play again after all of his injury problems.

So even if he had a terrible year, which he didn't, for him to stick out in anyone's mind as being an especially bad Leaf seems kind of strange.

 

[CarltonTheBear]

I get that his skating was pretty bad, but I always thought it was very weird that Allison retired at the age of 31.

 

[GhostofPotvin29]

I get that his skating was pretty bad, but I always thought it was very weird that Allison retired at the age of 31.

Well he was invited to Leafs camp by Burke in 2009 and Burke said this at the time: "He had some personal issues and some major physical issues at that time. He has solved all of those. In my mind, he is a guy who might give us a lift and he deserves that opportunity."

 

[Redleaf]

Things are definitely pointing towards the Leafs taking Marner.

If we're looking strictly at numbers this past season, Strome beat him out in points (68-45-84-129), but Marner (63-44-82-126) played 5 less games.

So Marner's PPG was greater. 1.90 for Strome & 2.00 for Marner. Strome is 3" taller, Marner is the faster skater. Who plays the better two-way game? Thats going to be a factor for Babcock.

Its really a tough call. One that I trust Hunter, Dubas, Shanahan & now Babcock will have a pretty good handle on going into the draft. I certainly wouldn't base the decision on familiarity alone.

 

[GhostofPotvin29]

Things are definitely pointing towards the Leafs taking Marner.

If we're looking strictly at numbers this past season, Strome beat him out in points (68-45-84-129), but Marner (63-44-82-126) played 5 less games.

So Marner's PPG was greater. 1.90 for Strome & 2.00 for Marner. Strome is 3" taller, Marner is the faster skater. Who plays the better two-way game? Thats going to be a factor for Babcock.

Its really a tough call. One that I trust Hunter, Dubas, Shanahan & now Babcock will have a pretty good handle on going into the draft. I certainly wouldn't base the decision on familiarity alone.

I'd probably lean Marner as well.

For those interested, there's a site that attempts to track CHL stats beyond the little that the official CHL sites provide here: http://chlstats.pythonanywhere.com/players/

TOI is estimated, as are some other stats, but it also provides projected NHL equivalencies, and adjustments for age, etc.  Pretty interesting to look at.

 

[Redleaf]

Things are definitely pointing towards the Leafs taking Marner.

If we're looking strictly at numbers this past season, Strome beat him out in points (68-45-84-129), but Marner (63-44-82-126) played 5 less games.

So Marner's PPG was greater. 1.90 for Strome & 2.00 for Marner. Strome is 3" taller, Marner is the faster skater. Who plays the better two-way game? Thats going to be a factor for Babcock.

Its really a tough call. One that I trust Hunter, Dubas, Shanahan & now Babcock will have a pretty good handle on going into the draft. I certainly wouldn't base the decision on familiarity alone.

I'd probably lean Marner as well.

For those interested, there's a site that attempts to track CHL stats beyond the little that the official CHL sites provide here: http://chlstats.pythonanywhere.com/players/

TOI is estimated, as are some other stats, but it also provides projected NHL equivalencies, and adjustments for age, etc.  Pretty interesting to look at.

I'm not really leaning in one direction or the other. They both have their pros and cons. And their numbers are very similar.  I think it really boils down to how much emphasis is put on speed compared to size at the centre position. I'm glad I'm not making the call.

 

[Kin]

I get that his skating was pretty bad, but I always thought it was very weird that Allison retired at the age of 31.

I think he saw the writing on the wall. He was really ineffective at 5 on 5 that season and while being effective on the PP was a major factor that year, I think the general perception was that penalties would have to come down.

 

[Lynx]

I'm curious to know why most people  assume Marner will be a winger in the NHL? According to all the scoring reports he is better defensively than Strome, so why would one shift to the wing but not the other?

I'll admit I haven't seen either play much so maybe there really is a reason, but it seems to me like most just look at his size and assume he is a winger because everybody wants their centremen to be big. The same thing was said about Kadri by most fans and he seems to be doing just fine.

 

[Lynx]

Sorry double post

 

[Big Daddy]

If Hanafin is available, because Arizona takes Marner( because they have Domi) and so is Strome.  I would hope we take the D man.

 

[Kin]

If Hanafin is available, because Arizona takes Marner( because they have Domi) and so is Strome.  I would hope we take the D man.

Seriously, imagine it's the Leafs for a second. They have the #3 pick. How far down on the list of factors do you think they should get before they take "played in junior with one of our other draft picks" into consideration?

 

[L K]

If Hanafin is available, because Arizona takes Marner( because they have Domi) and so is Strome.  I would hope we take the D man.

Seriously, imagine it's the Leafs for a second. They have the #3 pick. How far down on the list of factors do you think they should get before they take "played in junior with one of our other draft picks" into consideration?

As an absolutely rule, very little.  Although they also have Christian Dvorak who plays for the Knights right now too.  At times those players have played together with some success so there could be some thinking that with all other things being relatively equal that familiarity could be a bonus if they already have some pre-determined chemistry.

 

[Kin]

As an absolutely rule, very little.  Although they also have Christian Dvorak who plays for the Knights right now too.  At times those players have played together with some success so there could be some thinking that with all other things being relatively equal that familiarity could be a bonus if they already have some pre-determined chemistry.

Except so many other things actually do matter that "all things" are never going to be equal. The position, a player plays, for instance, is a much more valuable consideration.

 

[sickbeast]

Do you guys think that the Leafs will keep Kessel and Phaneuf now that they have Babcock?

 

[jdh1]

Do you guys think that the Leafs will keep Kessel and Phaneuf now that they have Babcock?

I would be all for trading them if they can get draft picks and prospects...Prospects can be a great way to fast forward a rebuild.
But if they can't get value I can see them staying untill they do.