Comments on: Roberto Luongo trade to Leafs isn’t a done deal, at least not yet: Cox

By: toronto77

toronto77 — Fri, 02 Nov 2012 23:34:55 +0000

Ya, Ashton is not looking not as promising as he should be. After being a former first round pick and a decent player for Team Canada in the IIHF, it will be disappointing to see him become nothing better than a 3rd line checker.

And also…how about Garret Sparks for the Guelph Storm? the leafs could have another steal there.

By: lafleur10

lafleur10 — Fri, 02 Nov 2012 23:19:56 +0000

yeah and the season won’t be too far behind unfortunately,and it sucks because all of us as fans are being punished for their greed!

By: thisgamewelose

thisgamewelose — Fri, 02 Nov 2012 18:59:35 +0000

Looks like the Winter Classic is off.

By: mojo19

mojo19 — Thu, 01 Nov 2012 21:32:50 +0000

You could be right, Mr.Illitch might not care about the money, but I bet he’s still one of the owners lobbying hard to get the lockout over with just because he loves hockey and the loves the Red Wings.

As far as the lockout benefitting the Wings, I would tend to disagree. With Datsyuk, Franzen, Zetterberg, Cleary, Bertuzzi, and Samuelsson all on the wrong side of 30, losing a year closes a window Detroit has to win more cups with their core.

Also 3 key UFA’s for Detroit are Filpulla, Cleary, and Jimmy Howard. Depending on how long this lockout drags on, there is a chance these guys could hit the open market next July.

I don’t know about you but I think Cleary would be a pretty solid pickup as a quality veteran and good character guy. He seems like he would fit perfectly in a Randy Carlyle system.

By: Shoelesshobo

Shoelesshobo — Thu, 01 Nov 2012 17:50:05 +0000

My point about the Wings is there is a quote of the Owner saying he would put all of his players on LTIR and pay their salaries throughout the lockout if he could. So really I do not see the loss season be such a major thing to him. Honestly I think this is pretty good for the Wings as it has given Zetterburg a chance to go play with Brunner in the Swiss league and develop chemistry and they are tearing it up over there. If you get a chance watch those two play it is amazing.

Also for the Red Wings they took a massive hit to their D core. Maybe the use this time to address it with another free agency. With names like Edler, Timonen, Lubo, Whitney hitting UFA they could make a play for them.

I don’t know I just feel like Detroit is in a spot in this lockout they could seriously profit from a lockout hockey success wise.

By: mojo19

mojo19 — Thu, 01 Nov 2012 16:24:32 +0000

I like Ashton. Here’s my assessment:

I think he’ll be a 3rd/4th line guy. But one who will drop the gloves, throw some hits, play a bit dirty in the corners, use his size, etc.

Depending on how his offence develops will determine whether he’s a 3rd line guy capable of putting up maybe 10+ goals and 30 points, or a 4th liner who can chip in here or there. But if he could become effective like a Drew Miller or something, that would be cool.

By: reinjosh

reinjosh — Thu, 01 Nov 2012 13:30:46 +0000

Am I the only one that really doesn’t see much from Ashton? I’m just less impressed than everyone and don’t really see what role he’s supposed to fill. I’ll give him a shot but I just don’t think he’ll be anything more than a 4th line guy.

By: mojo19

mojo19 — Thu, 01 Nov 2012 04:01:17 +0000

I really don’t watch a ton of junior hockey. My cousin follows the OHL really closely and he was talking about Leivo too. Sounds like a promising draft pick at this stage.

By: mojo19

mojo19 — Thu, 01 Nov 2012 03:59:24 +0000

Censorship…. smh

By: toronto77

toronto77 — Thu, 01 Nov 2012 00:53:10 +0000

Of all the leafs top 3 round draft picks in the last 3 drafts and all the talk about Rielly, Finn, Biggs, Percy, Ross, McKegg. The prospect that gets the least amount of attention next to Olden maybe is Josh Leivo. This guy could have been a 2011 3rd round steal, just like people are saying that McKegg was a 3rd round steal in 2010. I think this guy is very similar to Brad Ross, hard to tell which one will be better long term, but Leivo is one of the best players in the OHL and tied for 1st on the team in points.

If all these forwards: Biggs, Ross, McKegg, Leivo and even Ashton all reach their potential then Burke could finally turn the leafs into the bruins. Even if Broll turns out to be a sucessful 4th line enforcer who he can score a goal 10-15 goals a season.

Which I suspect is his plan, because every time he describes his style of team he basically describes everything that the bruins are.