Comments on: 08-09's Crystal Ball II

By: 08-09

08-09 — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 12:30:10 +0000

guess i was pretty close eh?

Gill got a 2nd rounder AND a 5th rounder

Kilger got a 3rd rounder (and a high one at that considering its Florida's pick)

By: 08-09

08-09 — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 12:27:30 +0000

guess i was pretty close eh?

Gill got a 2nd rounder AND a 5th rounder

Kilger got a 3rd rounder (and a high one at that considering its Florida's pick)

By: stoned

stoned — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 00:25:07 +0000

I appreciate all the time you took writing that story,but you lost me when you said Gill and Kilgar would fetch 2- 2nd rounders,that's a dream.

By: LEAFLANDER

LEAFLANDER — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 22:01:39 +0000

Here is what I would do for my 08-09 Leafs

Players Targeted via trade:

Alexei Cherepanov RW (prospect nyr) Marc Staal D NYR Tyler Kennedy RW Pit Jordan Staal C Pit Marc-Andre Fleury Pit, Peter Mueller Phx C Keith Ballard D Phx Steve Downie RW Phi

Free agent Signings -
Brian Campbell D

08 Draft
Stamkos

Sought players salaries:

Keith Ballard 2.5 mil Phx Caps Space 08-09 30.000 07-08 33.498
Fleury, Marc-Andre 08-09 1.600 07-08 0.989
Jordan Staal 850K Pens Cap Space 08-09 27.15007-08 29.062
Peter Mueller .850k Phx Caps Space 08-09 30.000 07 -08 33.498
Marc Staal .765k NY Rangers Cap Space 08-09 19.075 07-08 52.040
Tyler Kennedy 550K Pens Cap Space 08-09 27.150 19.075 07-08 29.062
Steve Downie 585k Flyers Cap Space 08-09-53.525 07-08 58.744
Alexei Cherepanov N/A NY Rangers Cap Space 08-09 19.075 07-08
Logan Couture C SJ San jose Cap 08-09 36.325 07-08 32.240

Leafs Cap 07-08 50.120 08-09 -43.765(before my trades)

Trades that I would swing:

Steen Stajan and Pavel Kubina
To Phx f
or Keith Ballard Peter Mueller

Antropov Colaiacovo 2nd rnd this yr draft from SJ
To NYR
for Marc Staal Cherepanov Brendon Shanahan salary dump in

Wellwood
To Flyers
for steve downie

Blake Kaberle Toskala
To Pits
for Jordan Staal Tyler Kennedy Marc-Andre Fleury

Sundin and Tucker
to San Jose
for Logan Couture (C) and 2 1st rnders and a 2nd rnd pick in this yrs draft'

Sign Fabian Brunnstrom LW
Sign

Campbell 7.5
McCabe - 5,750,000
Sundin 5 mil
Ballard 2.5 mil
Gill - 2,075,000
Bell - 2,166,667
Poni - 2,105,000
Fleury, Marc-Andre 1.600
Kulemin - 1,487,500
Kilger - 900,000
Tlusty - 855,000
White - 850,000
Fabian Brunnstrom 850K
Jordan Staal 850K
Peter Mueller 850k
Stankos 850
Marc Staal .765k
Stralman - 731,667
Alexei Cherepanov 700k
Logan Couture 700k
Pogge - 683,333
Steve Downie 585k
Devo - 575,000
Tyler Kennedy 550K
Kronwall - 487,500

40.416,667

08-09 Leafs Roster
Fabian Brunnstrom
RW Kulemin - Sundin C- Brunnstrom LW
RW Kennedy -Mueller C -- Tlusty LW
RW Cherepanov - Stamkos C-- Bell LW
RW Downie-Staal C-Devereaux LW
Ponikarovsky- LW

D Keith Ballard - D Brian Campbell
D Bryan Mccabe - D Marc Staal
D Anton Stralman-D Staffan Kronwall
D Hal Gill

Marc-Andre Fleury G
Justin Pogge G

40.416,667

By: mojo19

mojo19 — Sat, 09 Feb 2008 21:11:56 +0000

Beating Montreal makes me happy!

By: Wings19

Wings19 — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 18:24:00 +0000

Lol good luck with that

By: aj_furf

aj_furf — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 15:06:53 +0000

hahah...fair enough

Maybe they could land one of the top GM's you mentioned above, and just convice Yashin or Daige to make a cameo appearance for the purposes of making the 1st overall selection!

By: 08-09

08-09 — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 15:03:46 +0000

Thanks for the feedback.

Why Muckler. I dunno, to tell you the truth that is the thing that I am not very attached to.

I just like the poetic justice idea of Muckler walking into Scotiabank Place where he used to GM (and made the Heatley-Hossa trade among other things) and select Stamkos (or a significant #1 blueliner) for the Leafs, the Senators' arch rivals.

I would actually like to see more speculation that extends beyond the big 3 (rutherford, burke, holland) and onto other candidates like Armstrong, Taylor, Smith, Patrick etc.

But I am not attached to Muckler at all as the choice for the Leafs' GM.

By: aj_furf

aj_furf — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 15:01:06 +0000

Not sure of your reason for posting the figures above, but it's a good backdrop for a comment I'd like to make.

I don't agree at all with the concept of throwing in draft picks/prospects along with our big contracts simply to get them off the books. I think most of us agree that a youth movement is the right path to take. If that's true, they why use them to help free up cap space?

What do we need even need cap space for over the next two seasons? I say if we can't trade away the big contracts straight up, then just wait it out and let them expire.

For the Leafs, cap space will only be needed to re-sign prospects/draft picks that show signs of being legitimate NHL'ers. This won't happen for at least 3 years. Cap space for UFA's? Why bother. The only time the Leafs should consider persuing a big-ticket UFA is once there's a solid core to build around. Again, approximately 3-years. In 3 years, almost all of the bad contracts will be gone, the leafs will (hopefully) have a solid core of young players and the cap space to lock them up long term, and the flexibility to add meaningful UFA's when they're ready to compete for the cup again.

By: aj_furf

aj_furf — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 14:38:59 +0000

As I've indicated in a couple posts here, I find your article a great read. The thought that went into it, the fact that everything is realistic from a fairness point of view and the fact that you acknowledge it's unlikelihood.

There's a lot of fans in Leaf Nation who are just chompin' at the bit for this re-build to occur, so it's a lot of fun to speculate, and it's even more fun when the odd article comes out with good suggestions.

I have just one question that I don't think anyone has commented on yet:

Why Muckler?

I know it's just my own opinion, but for some reason, I don't like him. Just wondering why you made him your choice from all the other candidates. That, plus the fact that I think the leafs hinted that they will be looking for someone with loads of experience, but still considered "young".