Locked out Leafs Tracker

[CarltonTheBear]

Thought we could use a thread to keep track of what some of the Maple Leafs are doing during the NHL lockout. Some of the younger guys have been sent to the AHL, some will be looking at options in Europe, and others will likely stay in North America and attempt to train here.

Kadri, Colborne, Gardiner, Holzer, and Komarov have all been assigned to the Marlies. It's unclear yet whether Komarov will report to the AHL or return to the KHL. Frattin will likely join the Marlies as well once he's recovered from his injury.

Grabovki and Kulemin are likely off to the KHL. According to @dchesnokov Grabovki is being perused by two KHL teams, and Kulemin will sign with his old KHL team Metallurg Magnitogorsk.

According to @DavidAlter590 and @kevin_mcgran, Lupul will likely be playing hockey somewhere in Europe but a final decision hasn't been made yet. The KHL has some pretty strict guidelines for who can sign a temporary contract with them and Lupul doesn't meet them. The SEL has stated that they won't accept any NHL players unless they commit for a full season. Switzerland might be the most logical option for Lupul.

No other Leafs have publicly stated that they intend to play elsewhere during the lockout. Komisarek though has said that he might return to school in order to finish his degree in sports management and communications.

 

[moon111]

If the whole season is lost, could this be it for Connolly, Lombardi, MacArthur, and/or Steckel?  Would Bozak come back?  And if he didn't, would that impact Kessel resigning??  Could guys like Gunnarsson, Franson, Komarov, and/or Rynnas find a home elsewhere and forget the NHL altogether? 

 

[Brian Glennie]

No other Leafs have publicly stated that they intend to play elsewhere during the lockout. Komisarek though has said that he might return to school in order to finish his degree in sports management and communications.

Five Things I Tell Myself When I Get Mad About The Lockout:

1) It burns a year off Komisarek's contract.
Signing Komi was Burke's worst move as GM of the Leafs.
2) It burns a year off Burke's contract.
He's signed until Nov. 2014 according to Wikipedia.
3) It burns a year off Phaneuf's contract.
My least favorite player on the team. I still can't believe he wears the C. What a disgrace.
4) Gardiner will get a year to work with Dallas Eakins
Jake is an elite skater. I love the idea of him being properly developed and rounding out the rest of his game in a tough league under a first-rate coach.
5) I may develop other interests.
I don't know about this one. Hockey is about the only good thing I've ever associated with winter in Ontario. If the Marlies are playing on a Saturday night and there's a game day thread here and a decent feed I'll likely get right into it.

 

[GhostofPotvin29]

3) It burns a year off Phaneuf's contract.
My least favorite player on the team. I still can't believe he wears the C. What a disgrace.

Even after he had a good season?  I don't understand the hate, there are much worse players on the team.  To call him a 'disgrace' is such an exaggeration, he's done nothing disgraceful.

 

[Strangelove]

3) It burns a year off Phaneuf's contract.
My least favorite player on the team. I still can't believe he wears the C. What a disgrace.

Even after he had a good season?  I don't understand the hate, there are much worse players on the team.  To call him a 'disgrace' is such an exaggeration, he's done nothing disgraceful.

Stupid face and all that

If I'm being serious, though, then I'd have to disagree with your assessment.  Adequate season?  Maybe by some metric.  But relative to his salary he deeply underperformed.  Apart from the odd brilliant offensive shift he was a pretty big liability at either end of the ice.

 

[GhostofPotvin29]

He put up PP points at a similar level to his best offensive seasons: http://theleafsnation.com/2012/9/4/this-is-not-hockey-news-also-phaneufs-powerplay-production

[This following one was as of April 5th, so pretty much the end of the season]:

Dion is leading the Leafs in 5v5 TOI, the next player closest to him is his regular defensive partner, Carl Gunnarsson. Now, a case could be made that the Leafs suck because Dion plays so often. The rest of those numbers there will disprove that.

Dion is facing the toughest competition of any Leaf skater and is performing, possession-wise, better against them then the rest of the team is doing against weaker opponents (3.2 Corsi REL).

As is the case with most Leaf players, they are getting a horrible 5v5 On-Ice Sv%. Dion's Sv% On is about .02% lower then the average. That doesn't seem like a lot but as I showed in an earlier post it really does add up. Players can be judged unfairly if they have a very high or low quality of net-minder behind them and that is a part of what is happening with Dion. With a normalized 5v5 On-Ice Sv% Dion would look a lot better defensively in the eyes of the MSM because most shots wouldn't be squeaking through Jonas Gustavsson's armpit.

Not only is Phaneuf a quality defenseman in his own zone he is also a great defenseman in the offensive zone. Phaneuf is currently tied for 13th in scoring by defensemen with players such as Bieksa, Yandle and Shattenkirk.

http://theleafsnation.com/2012/4/5/leading-by-example-dion-phaneuf

Obviously I'm not saying he is an ELITE d-man, but he's nowhere near as bad as he's made out to be.

 

[maplesyrup]

Karma for Pots!

 

[ZBBM]

So Phaneufs problem was Gustavsson?  Sorry not interested in that purchase.

Glennie is exaggerating but not by much. Our defense was lousy and Phaneuf leads it. Advance stat that.

To get back on topic where is he playing during the lockout?  Or is he just waiting to get married?

 

[GhostofPotvin29]

Well if that's all you're going to take from that, then there's no point furthering an argument that will just entrench each other deeper in already held positions. 

EDIT:
But I will say...

Literally the sentence before that says: "Dion is facing the toughest competition of any Leaf skater and is performing, possession-wise, better against them then the rest of the team is doing against weaker opponents (3.2 Corsi REL)" but you boiled it all down to it is using Gustavsson as an excuse?  Goaltending is simply one unavoidable relevant issue when it comes to overall team defence.

Obviously my points were meant as cherry-picking some positive stats as a counterpoint to the negativity/Phaneuf-bashing - but I do think they are relevant and over-looked points when discussions of Phaneuf are brought up.

 

[ZBBM]

I don't expect to change your mind and I certainly don't want to sidetrack the thread. I guess my point here is that regular stats trump advanced stats when a team finishes near the bottom. Advanced stats can potentially reveal nuances but those hardly matter when your team gives up way more goals than it scores.  At a certain level of ineptitude The game ultimately is that simple.

 

[Kin]

I think that regardless of where you come down on the Phaneuf thing I think that most can agree that his contract isn't very good and that there are positives to burning off a year of it.

 

[maplesyrup]

I think that regardless of where you come down on the Phaneuf thing I think that most can agree that his contract isn't very good and that there are positives to burning off a year of it.

Absolutely. To each their own I suppose but Phaneuf strikes me as an odd choice for one's least favourite Leaf. In my humble opinion, he doesn't have the worst contract on the team and he's very far removed from being the least talented. I don't know, a "disgrace" he wears the "C"? I say pick your battles, man... There's bigger problems here.

 

[GhostofPotvin29]

I think that regardless of where you come down on the Phaneuf thing I think that most can agree that his contract isn't very good and that there are positives to burning off a year of it.

Agreed.

 

[Kin]

Absolutely. To each their own I suppose but Phaneuf strikes me as an odd choice for one's least favourite Leaf. In my humble opinion, he doesn't have the worst contract on the team and he's very far removed from being the least talented. I don't know, a "disgrace" he wears the "C"? I say pick your battles, man... There's bigger problems here.

Well, there are and there aren't. I mean, the least talented player on a team is going to be a 4th line scrub who is not always in the lineup and the reality is that those guys are largely interchangeable from team to team. The Kings didn't win the cup because they had a fourth line that was better than anyone elses or because they had really good players watching from the press box. The things that separate good teams from bad teams are the overall talent level and, specifically, the level of play of their best players.

So it strikes me as relatively reasonable if the guys who are going to draw the most ire are going to be the guys in the important positions who aren't really up to snuff. On the Leafs that's probably going to be Bozak, Reimer and, yes, Phaneuf.

 

[maplesyrup]

So it strikes me as relatively reasonable if the guys who are going to draw the most ire are going to be the guys in the important positions who aren't really up to snuff. On the Leafs that's probably going to be Bozak, Reimer and, yes, Phaneuf.

Up to snuff how? If you're saying Reimer isn't a proven #1 goalie and Bozak isn't a 1st line centre and there and as far as top pairing defensemen go, Phaneuf is firmly near the bottom of the bottom half of the league, sure, I agree wholeheartedly. I just don't get the hate for the guy though. I mean, take Lupul. Like Phaneuf, there's probably 20 or more guys I'd rather have in their respective spots. Everybody likes Lupul though. Why the love for him and the hate for Phaneuf? Is it simply just their stories and personalities? If so, while shallow, I guess I see it but if we're talking talent then I think by in large, folks need to put all the other BS aside and pay a little more attention.     

 

[Corn Flake]

Everybody likes Lupul though. Why the love for him and the hate for Phaneuf? Is it simply just their stories and personalities? If so, while shallow, I guess I see it but if we're talking talent then I think by in large, folks need to put all the other BS aside and pay a little more attention.   

+1111111!!!!

It seems that playing against other team's top lines for 25 mins / game, every single game and getting beat the odd time means he really isn't that good. Oh and that erratic shot of his... how could you NOT hate a player like that?  The team save % when he was on the ice last year was somewhere around .947% (lost the location of where I found this stat but it was a very reliable numbers geek source) which I guess isn't very good if you think about it.

/ sarcasm.

 

[Kin]

Up to snuff how? If you're saying Reimer isn't a proven #1 goalie and Bozak isn't a 1st line centre and there and as far as top pairing defensemen go, Phaneuf is firmly near the bottom of the bottom half of the league, sure, I agree wholeheartedly.

Yeah, that's more or less what I mean. Sort of like how Larry Murphy got booed out of town because he didn't live up to billing despite still being a pretty good offensive defenseman. Not having a legit #1 goalie or #1 centre or #1 defenseman probably are the team's biggest problems.

I just don't get the hate for the guy though. I mean, take Lupul. Like Phaneuf, there's probably 20 or more guys I'd rather have in their respective spots. Everybody likes Lupul though. Why the love for him and the hate for Phaneuf? Is it simply just their stories and personalities? If so, while shallow, I guess I see it but if we're talking talent then I think by in large, folks need to put all the other BS aside and pay a little more attention.   

Well, I think in the specific case of Lupul I think a lot of people like him because they kind of see him like found money. People didn't expect much from him but he's been a legit first line winger. But more than that and contrary to Phaneuf in his role, I actually think that if Lupul plays the way he did last year than he could fill that role on a contending team pretty admirably(he was on pace for a 31 goal, 83 point season).

And if you're asking about why someone is chosen as someone's least favourite Leaf, or most favourite, I think you have to recognize that we're not talking about anything cold and logical. Things like personality and story are going to play heavy roles in what's going to be an idiosyncratic choice regardless.

 

[maplesyrup]

I was kind of excited to see what Phaneuf could do under a full year of Carlyle.  :-\

 

[ZBBM]

I think that regardless of where you come down on the Phaneuf thing I think that most can agree that his contract isn't very good and that there are positives to burning off a year of it.

Agreed.

Yup.

Hey Nik, you brokered consensus!  If you were a Yank I'd sign you up as Middle East Envoy.

 

[caver]

Sounds like Kulemin is off to a good start with Malkin. That might be the spark he needs to get back on his game.