Mikhail Bloodnovsky
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Sarge said:
I am guessing you don't like Tiny Tim?
What do you think Nazem Kadri is worth to the Leafs?
- Thread starter stephen_mogilny
- Start date
I am guessing you don't like Tiny Tim?
maplesyrup
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Chazz-Micheal Liles said:
I read a tweet from Burke the other day that he donated a large sum of money to something or other and he seems to be a well enough liked fellow so I "like" him I guess. I'd just rather "like" him if he was playing elsewhere if you know what I mean.
LuncheonMeat
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For me, the jury is still out on Kadri and I probably wouldn't lose all that much sleep if he was traded... assuming we got something good in return, that is. He was a little more physical in his last stint, but he's far from intimidating for the opposition.
Something about watching Kadri reminds me a lot of Kyle Wellwood. The hands, the way he moves and loops... I don't know. And honestly, I'm much more excited about Frattin. He's got great outside speed, goes to the net hard and has a fantastic work ethic and pretty good hands. I honeslty think of the two, he's going to develop into the better player.
Something about watching Kadri reminds me a lot of Kyle Wellwood. The hands, the way he moves and loops... I don't know. And honestly, I'm much more excited about Frattin. He's got great outside speed, goes to the net hard and has a fantastic work ethic and pretty good hands. I honeslty think of the two, he's going to develop into the better player.
I think we all knew that the OHL-version of Kadri wasn't going to be successful in the NHL. The talent and tenacity was definitely there but it wasn't going to be enough. Kadri seems to have improved some aspect of his game every time he came up to the Leafs, and he's handling his demotions rather well. He's definitely progressing, but it's just not happening as fast as we had hoped. And considering the challenges he's faced during his NHL stints (learning a new position, playing in a 3rd line role unfamiliar to him), that's not exactly surprising.
maplesyrup
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CarltonTheBear said:
Yeah, Steen faced the challenge with the new position and while he stuck faster, he only really blossomed a couple years ago... It can take that long sometimes.
maplesyrup
New member
Tigger said:
Apart from a few nice games, I've seen far too many lazy shifts from this guy and no, I don't think it's "Sundin lazy" where folks were confusing effortlessness with laziness. Yes, he's had a few nice showings but I'm not exactly sure what he brings to the table that is worth 4.75 per. Yeah, I know we didn't wind up needing the cap space which made this signing worthwhile at the time but I'm really concerned about the 4.75 hit for next year. Hopefully it can be dealt with one way or another but when he goes - whenever it is, I'll be happy about it.
Sarge said:
He's contributing in a number of ways, secondary scoring and pk come to mind but as long as he's contributing that's all that matters to me. Until something better is established I have no problem with him, at all. Worrying about next years cap situation because of Tim seems sort of counter productive, we have no idea what the landscape will be both with the cba and any new player contracts.
The guy is a very smart hockey player, he clogs the lanes and can pass. Is he worth the cap hit? No, but the Leafs knew that going in and were desperate to get some help at centre at the time while waiting/developing some younger players. He's an expensive insurance policy that has been helpful to the Leafs even if he isn't an all star night in, night out.
AtomicMapleLeaf
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Nothing is worth it, he's 21. Let's wait until he's 25 and very average until we start the trade Kadri crap.
maplesyrup
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Tigger said:
I don't know... I simply haven't seen enough of what you're saying he does, Tigger. Some? Sure... Has he "sucked?" No. - But I haven't been impressed at all apart from (like I said) a small handful of games. It's also possible it's a matter of endurance with Connolly I suppose. Maybe he'll get it going here in the last third or so of the season... We'll see.
I have no idea why you're implying anything about his endurance, he's on pace for 70 games played, where are you getting that from?
He's been getting the job done on the pk recently and hasn't hurt the team at even strength for the most part. Probably the most disappointing part of his game has been his PP production but then he's not being counted on for that and the Leafs PP seems to be working just fine.
His career norm in terms of ppg is only out by .03 and by .02 compared to last season where he also played 68 games.
Your critique seems to be based on worrying about next years cap situation, have any of the kids shown that they're capable of taking his spot? I don't think so, not yet at least. Are the Leafs up against the cap next year? Not significantly.
New player acquisitions that could take his place, or make it more palatable to have say Bozak on the third line, are an unknown at this point. Worst case next year they trade him at the deadline to a contender if they need to, he'll have an expiring contract at that point.
If he starts to really smell it up, which he isn't at this point, Burke can waive him.
I just don't see the problem here.
He's been getting the job done on the pk recently and hasn't hurt the team at even strength for the most part. Probably the most disappointing part of his game has been his PP production but then he's not being counted on for that and the Leafs PP seems to be working just fine.
His career norm in terms of ppg is only out by .03 and by .02 compared to last season where he also played 68 games.
Your critique seems to be based on worrying about next years cap situation, have any of the kids shown that they're capable of taking his spot? I don't think so, not yet at least. Are the Leafs up against the cap next year? Not significantly.
New player acquisitions that could take his place, or make it more palatable to have say Bozak on the third line, are an unknown at this point. Worst case next year they trade him at the deadline to a contender if they need to, he'll have an expiring contract at that point.
If he starts to really smell it up, which he isn't at this point, Burke can waive him.
I just don't see the problem here.
Kin
New member
Tigger said:
Just to interject, this isn't really true. If you're trying to figure out a games played pace, you need to do it in the same way that you'd do a pace for anything else(as in he'll play in the same percentage of games he's played in until this point). Right now Connolly has played in 42 of 54 games. If that pace continues, he'll play in 64 games this year, not 70.
maplesyrup
New member
Tigger said:
Not games played... His ability to be affective #2 centrer with the amount of minutes a #2 centre typically should get. I'm guessing he's look even worse with those minutes.
maplesyrup
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Tigger said:
You've made that clear.
maplesyrup
New member
Sorry for the string here but I just looked it up and yeah, Connolly ranks 59th in TOI/G among centres. - Not good. I really do think endurance could be an issue for him and perhaps he's being held back for that reason. Or, maybe he is getting held back for being not-so-good, I don't know... Either way, it's not the king of bang for the buck I'm looking for.