Hockey Trade Rumors

Brian Burke turned some heads in the local media this week as training camp approaches when he said that his roster is pretty much set except for 1 spot at forward to be decided…I first came across this statement on mapleleafs.com on Mike Ulmer’s blog and then today on TSN Radio 1050AM the afternoon crew was having a heated discussion as to whether Burke was right to make such claims. The two sides of the argument went like this –

On one hand, you have a team that missed the playoffs by 8 pts, and fnished in 10th place in the East last year, and you’re trying to say that there aren’t 4-5 roster spots up for grabs? Also consider that in September of 1998 Tomas Kaberle was a no one at Leafs rookie camp expected to come over for the rookie camp only and then head back to Europe. But he dominated that camp and earned a spot at the real camp where he continued to turn heads, made the NHL and has been there ever since. Who’s to say there isn’t going to be another situation like this that will change the plans Burke has pencilled in so far?

On the other hand, when you look at the roster, it woud really be a shock to see more than a couple of these players not make the team. The way I see it, there are just 2 spots open at forward. Have a look, and see what you think:

Top 6 forwards: Kessel, Connolly, Grabovski, Kulemin, MacArthur, and Lupul seem to be locks. This was debated on TSN Radio today, with Lupul being singled out as a guy who will have to earn it. Having said that, I would tend to disagree. Lupul had 9 goals and 9 assists in the final quarter of the season after being traded to Toronto, and he appears to be healthy and is a veteran who is a proven scorer, which can’t be said about many other players at camp. So to me, Lupul is a safe lock.

Role players: You know veteran Colby Armstrong will be returning, there is no question that the designated enforcer Colton Orr, who has been given a clean bill of health, will be returning. And unless there is an unexpected set back, Matthew Lombardi is symptom free and clear to play so you can write his name in confidently. There was no argument about any of this.

This leaves 4 roster spots left to get to 13 (assuming Burke carries his traditional 13-8-2 to get to the 23 man roster limit). Of the final four spots there was some debate today about whether Mike Brown deserved to be pencilled in. To me, Brown is a lock, here is a guy Burke traded for from his old team and then late in the season signed him to a 3 year contract extension. Brown is the guy who takes some heat off Orr and drops the gloves, plays with a ton of hustle and will be the 4th line energy winger. Tyler Bozak was the most debated player of the day, with his -27 cited on several occasions. But at the end of the day, you have to figure Burke likes him giving him the $1.5 million salary, and I would expect Bozak to be used as a utility player, getting some PK time and maybe coming in and out of the line up on the 3rd and 4th lines. This leaves just 2 spots, one on the 3rd line at wing, and 1 as the 4th line center/13th forward.

Joffrey Lupul – Tim Connolly – Phil Kessel
Clarke MacArthur – M. Grabovski – Nik Kulemin
__________ – Matthew Lombardi – Colby Armstrong
Mike Brown – ____________ – Colton Orr + Tyler Bozak

The leading candidates to take these spots would be:
Nazem Kadri
Joe Colborne
Phillipe Dupuis
Marcel Mueller
Darryl Boyce
Matt Frattin
Joey Crabb
Jay Rosehill
Tyler Brenner
Luca Caputi
Jerry D’Amigo
Leo Komarov
Of these 12 players, 2 of them should make the Leafs roster, barring any surprise signings or stand out rookies at camp. Do you agree, or disagree with this assesment, what do you think?