Originally Posted by
eyemissgilmour
Leaf Free Agents - Do they come back, and if so - for how much?
Kulemin - RFA... $2.35 last year
Boy, talk about a good player with no leverage at all in these negotiations. I'm going to guess a 2 year deal for 2.5 per year. Even after an awful season, he was still slightly underpaid at 2.35 and is one of their hardest working, and best defensive forwards. Still has good enough hands, good wheels, and great size to be an effective 2nd liner.
Frattin - RFA... $1.30 last year
Solid young forward and I think a mainstay on their 3rd line with spot duty in the top 6. Very good powerful skater with a good shot and good hockey sense. It would be a mistake to not bring him back. Because he's 24, I think they try hard to re-sign him to a 2 year deal to see if he can improve on a very good AHL playoff run.
Crabb - UFA.... $750k last year
Totally depends on his salary demands. I think he is one of the more underrated 3rd liners in the game. So if he's willing to get only a modest raise, I think they bring him back. Unfortunately, with mediocre guys like Connelly, Komisarek and Lombardi eating up cap space, it's hard to say how flexible they are willing to be with Crabb.
I think he comes back for 3 years - 4 mil total deal. 1 way.
Rosehill - UFA ... $600k last year
Depends on the market and if they see a suitable "enforcer" type replacement. Burke and Carlyle have both been very vocal that they want an enforcer in the lineup and right now Rosehill is that guy... mostly because Orr can't skate. Rosehill isn't as good a fighter, but he's a decent forechecker with decent skating ability. So I think they bring back to the 4th line for 800k on a 1 year deal.
Franson - RFA... $800k last year
I think Franson is gone via trade. Similar to their dumping of Stralman for a pick a few years ago. Solid offensively but slow on his feet, and not tough enough, of defensively aware enough to fit in with Carlyle. It's too bad - I like Franson and think he will be a solid #4 d-man when teams stop jerking him around.
Gustavsson - UFA.... 1.35 last year.
The consensus is that Monster is gone and I agree completely.
Scrivens - RFA.... 600k last year
I think Scrivens and Reimer split the starts next season. I don't think there's an obvious upgrade in free agency over either of these guys. So unless they pull off a surprising deal, I'm going to go against the grain and say that I don't believe Scrivens will be in the minors next season. He's having a terrific playoff so far, and I think they will reward him in the fall, assuming he has a strong camp.
Locks for resign are Frattin, Kulemin, Scrivens. Kulemin I think your right about. Leafs will push this season, him and his agent will push saying he just had bad luck this season. He'll get 2.8ish I think. Small term as well. He may get 2 years with a slightly higher salary so the Leafs can keep him as an RFA still.
Frattin won't have much leverage as he has minimal NHL experience, even though he's been great in his first pro AHL season. Likely a smaller term contract as well so that he can prove himself and get a big pay day soon enough.
I think I agree with you. Maybe they grab a one year veteran guy to give Scrivens a little more time in the AHL and really solidify himself as an elite goaltending prospect.
Franson is interesting. It's a fairly safe bet he won't be a dump like Stralman. Regardless of the system, Burke invested fairly a lot in him (if you consider Lombardi's 3.5 million an investment, which it should be) and he already turned down a 2nd rounder and a roster player (likely just a contract dump) for him early on. He'll get his time to shine or Burke will get his price for him. He won't be given away I don't think.
14T BiWeekly H2H. 4 C/RW/LW, 6 D, 2 G
Cats:G(3), A(1.5), PIM(0.2), PPP(1), SOG(0.2), GWG(1), SHP(2), Hits(0.3), BkS(0.4). W(2), SO(2), OTL(0.5), SV(0.2), GA(-1), L(-1). 9 Keepers in Bold. 12 player Farm team (skaters under 110, goalies under 80 gp) in italics
LW - Gaudreau, Forsberg, Parise, Hyman (C)
C - Backstrom, Getzlaf, N Foligno (LW/RW), Kotkaniemi, Carter (LW/RW)
RW - Tarasenko, Rantanen, Arvidsson, Atkinson, Gourde (C/LW), Mikheyev (RW)
D - Dahlin, Theodore, Ellis, Klingberg, Fox, Andersson
G - Murray, Grubauer
Prospects -Rossi, Turcotte, Kravstov, Tippett, Bouchard, Lehtonen, K Miller, Addison, DeSmith, Kahkonen, Ingram, Gustavsson