Toronto Maple Leafs

[The Black Panther]

Says it all:
Detroit 17 scouts inc 5 Euro
Leafs(b4 purge) 10 scouts inc 2 Euro

[The Black Panther]

http://www.thescore.com/nhl/news/769129

Do u want Cody back?

[The Black Panther]

I Know its Damien Cox but its something all Leaf fans have thought about.

Babcock must make Kessel a Leafs asset again: Cox

The combination of reduced production, a reputation for being in average physical condition at best and the stigma of being labelled a “coach killer” has probably reduced Kessel’s trade value to an all-time low.

RICK MADONIK / TORONTO STAR Order this photo

Phil Kessel could take a lesson from what Bret Hull learned in Dallas.





By: Damien Cox Sports Columnist, Published on Fri May 22 2015
As the Maple Leafs contemplate a future with or without team captain Dion Phaneuf and sniper Phil Kessel, it would behoove Brendan Shanahan to consider one crucial truth.

If they part with either right now, they’ll be selling low.

Never a good strategy.

With Kessel, the threat of the Leafs moving a player for below his actual market value is even more real than that of Phaneuf. The combination of reduced production, a reputation for being in average physical condition at best and the stigma of being labelled a “coach killer” has probably reduced Kessel’s trade value to an all-time low.

Which leaves the club with two choices.

Theoretically, the Leafs could choose to simply cut bait with Kessel, dump the contract and look to start again with other players and other personalities.

Or, they could try to enhance Kessel’s value, and perhaps look to a brighter day when he’ll be a better player for the Leafs or fetch something bigger and better on the trade market.

Which is where Mike Babcock, hockey’s first $50 million coach, comes in.

You could look at the long list of NHL players Babcock has coached and imagine that Kessel might be his greatest individual challenge if both are there for Leaf camp in September. Coming from a franchise where players like Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk provided peer pressure for others to play the same consistent, trustworthy 200-foot game they delivered night after night, Babcock now inherits a Leafs team that had a No. 1 line featuring Kessel that was minus-100 this season.

Maybe, for that reason alone, Kessel has to go despite the fact he’ll be only 28 in October and has averaged 0.41 goals per game as a Leaf (for a comparison, Chicago superstar Patrick Kane has averaged 0.38 goals per game over that time). After all, if you’re going to convince Nazem Kadri, William Nylander and other young forwards to play the game a certain way, you can’t have Kessel doing it his way on his terms.

Randy Carlyle, while coach of the Leafs, used to fret about giving Kessel days off from practice, but his assistants would tell him the upside was that practice would be better and more productive without No. 81.

What an indictment that is.

The question is whether Babcock, to some the best coach in hockey, can do anything about it.

From Moose Jaw to Spokane to Cincinnati to Anaheim to Detroit, he’s had to work with a lot of different personalities. He had Sean Avery and Ilya Bryzgalov in Cincinnati, quirky Sandis Ozolinsh with the Ducks, Todd Bertuzzi with all his baggage and idiosyncratic Dominik Hasek in Detroit.

The difference with Kessel, however, is that he’s not a strong or troublesome personality, but a quiet, passive one, and an athlete who was born so athletically gifted much has come easily to him, including great wealth.

How do you appeal to such a player and person? Maybe you can’t. Winnipeg, to name one team and one player, simply gave up on Evander Kane in exasperation and shipped him off to Buffalo.

If there’s a comparison to the task Kessel presents for Babcock, perhaps it’s the job Ken Hitchcock did with Brett Hull once upon a time in Dallas.

The Golden Brett didn’t score as much for Hitchcock as he did for the St. Louis Blues, but he won more, including a Stanley Cup in 1999. His game evolved dramatically.

“I came in kind of as a free-wheeler. I kind of played my own game,” Hull explained in a 2011 radio interview. “Within the system, I had a theory on what I had to do to get open and create some offence. (But) when I got to Dallas, there was no ad-libbing. We had a game plan, there was a certain way we played and you were going to do it come hell or high water.

“It was a big adjustment for me. But when you see (Mike) Modano and (Joe) Nieuwendyk and (Jere) Lehtinen and (Sergei) Zubov play under that umbrella, it doesn’t take you long to figure out you’re going to do it and enjoy it and enjoy winning. That’s what happened.”

The comparison, obviously, is problematic for two reasons. Kessel isn’t Hull, and the Leafs don’t have an established leadership group that includes the likes of Modano, Nieuwendyk, Lehtonen and Zubov.

At the same time, Hull was 33 and much more set in his ways after 11 seasons in St. Louis than Kessel, who looks more like a lost sheep than a headstrong player determined to march to the beat of his own drum.

Hitchcock, interestingly, said this week he had to change his initial philosophy when he started coaching Hull.

“I went in with the attitude I’m going to get him to conform, and that philosophy didn’t work,” he told The Star. “When I sat down and started listening to him, I quickly found out I can learn a lot from this guy. I took more from our conversations than he did.

“I allowed the players on the team to hold Brett accountable, and we had a veteran group. But I picked his brain a lot. He’s a scorer, but a very smart player. He knows the quiet places on the ice. How to read defencemen. How to get breakaways.

“I’ve found myself using information I got from him for the rest of my career, things like skill development and how to score.”

Hitchcock, who coached with Babcock at the Olympics, had similar but different experiences in Columbus with another elite scorer, Rick Nash, and offered up one strategy.

“One thing that worked was to put Rick in checking situations,” he said. “We had him killing penalties and playing against the other team’s top line. When that happens, you have no choice but to dig in. We did that with Brett, too.”

So it can be done.

Trying to do so, you have to believe, is a much better option than selling low.






I might add what another writer said: I’ve been wondering if the Leafs might retain Kessel and Dion Phaneuf for the upcoming season to see if they’ll improve under Babcock. If they do, it’ll boost their trade value. It could also make them worthwhile retaining. Then again, if they perform poorly under Babcock, it will send their trade value plummeting. It’ll be interesting to see what the Leafs do with these two.

[2014olympicgold]

It was like Ovi when Trotz came in. Will he kill one more coach? The polar opposite personalities and game, but same questions are swirling Ovi. This is selling low, but when the leafs are competitive, Kessel will be 30+yrs old. I honestly think he can’t/shouldn’t be a Leaf by 2016 draft. Either that be trading him now or next yr. But all has to do with the return. Same with Dion. Championships aren’t built around paying players to play on other teams too.

[The Black Panther]

Nice article to keep us Leaf fans somewhat at peace through the pain(on the otherhand after reading this things were pretty ugly):

Leafs Must Improve Their Woeful Draft Record.

by Lyle Richardson | May 21, 2015 | Soapbox | 5 comments
Now that Maple Leafs president Brendan Shanahan spent big bucks to bring former Detroit Red Wings coach to Toronto as the Leafs bench boss, he must find a general manager who can do a better job at the draft table..

Will William Nylander become a rare Toronto MapleLeafs draft success story?

Make no mistake, folks, the Leafs’ draft record is a horrible one. Since the turn of this century, it’s among the league’s worst. Thanks to the good folks at HockeyDB.com, here’s a quick look at the damage:

2000 – Right wing Brad Boyes, who’s played 762 NHL games and netted 481 points, none of those with the Leafs.
2001 – Defenseman Carlo Colaiacovo (434 NHL games, 152 points) and center Kyle Wellwood (489 games, 235 points). Colaiacovo spent parts of five-and-a-half seasons with the Leafs, while Wellwood toiled for three seasons in Toronto.
2002 – Left wing Alexander Steen (679 games, 429 points), center Matt Stajan (774 games, 361 points) and defenseman Ian White (503 games, 179 points). Steen played nearly 3 1/2 seasons with the Leafs, Stajan 5 1/2 seasons, White 4 1/2 seasons. None are with the Leafs today.
2003 – Center John Mitchell (412 games, 149 points) played 2 1/2 seasons with the Leafs.
2004 – Goalie Justin Pogge played all of seven games with the Leafs. Left wing Robbie Earl played only nine of his 47 career NHL games with the Leafs.
2005 – Goaltender Tuukka Rask won the Vezina Trophy in 2014 with the Boston Bruins. He never played a game with the Leafs. Defenseman Anton Stralman played only 78 of his 476 (and counting) NHL regular-season games with the Leafs.
2006 – A bumper crop of fair-to-middling selections. Goaltender James Reimer, left wings Jiri Tlusty, Nikolay Kulemin and Viktor Stalberg, plus forward Leo Komarov. Of these, Reimer and Komarov remain with the Leafs. Kulemin spent six seasons in Toronto and joined the New York Islanders last summer as a free agent.
2007 – The underappreciated Carl Gunnarsson played all but 61 of his 365 (and counting) NHL games with the Leafs. He was dealt to St. Louis last summer.
2008 – Defenseman Luke Schenn spent the first four of his seven NHL seasons with the Leafs before being dealt to the Philadelphia Flyers for James van Riemsdyk. At least the Leafs got a good scoring winger for Schenn.
2009 – Center Nazem Kadri (250 games and counting, 152 points) selected seventh overall.
2010 to 2014 – Morgan Rielly (fifth overall, 2012 draft) is a promising young Leafs defenseman. William Nylander (eighth overall, 2015 draft) is a well-regarded prospect center.
Little wonder the Leafs only made the playoffs once since 2005-06, with that appearance coming in a lockout-shortened season. The few solid selections (Rask, Steen) made before 2010 were dealt away. The jury remains out on Kadri as to his potential as a reliable first- or second-line forward.
Of the picks in this decade, Reilly looks like a winner. It’s too early to tell about Nylander and the rest selected since 2012. Of those selected in 2010 and 2011, the window on any of them becoming full-time NHLers is swiftly closing.
While the Leafs have done a lousy job drafting and developing their talent, their rivals in Montreal and Ottawa have surpassed them. Since 2005, the Montreal Canadiens and Ottawa Senators have selected and developed talented stars who have become, or soon will become, foundation players.
Carey Price (2005), P.K. Subban and Max Pacioretty (both in 2007) blossomed into superstars for the Canadiens, joined by promising young forwards Brendan Gallagher (2010) and Alex Galchenyuk (2013).
The Senators, meanwhile, selected superstar defenseman and team captain Erik Karlsson (2008), 2015 rookie scoring leader Mike Hoffman (2009), 2015 Calder nominee Mark Stone (2010) and promising forward Mika Zibanejad (2011).
Granted, those clubs aren’t Stanley Cup contenders. At least, not yet. The core of talent they’ve drafted and developed into stars gives them a better chance of reaching that goal than the Leafs.
Drafting well isn’t the only pillar for constructing a successful roster, but in the salary-cap era, it’s taken on greater significance. Teams cannot simply buy top talent via unrestricted free agency anymore, as the Leafs did from 1998 through 2004. Teams now prefer to re-sign their best players early in their careers to lengthy deals taking them from their early-to mid-twenties into their early-thirties. That leaves slim pickings for quality talent in the UFA market.
Trades are another key roster-building tool, but with many clubs handcuffed by the salary cap, good deals are harder to find. In most cases, trades must be as close to dollar-for-dollar as possible. Most in-season swaps are usually made near the trade deadline involving pending unrestricted free agents.
A club which drafts well under a salary cap can develop young talent into stars who play key roles in maintaining a playoff contender. Those teams can also speed up their rebuilding process by drawing upon their prospect depth to acquire established talent.
Shanahan wants to build the Maple Leafs into a Stanley Cup champion. To do so requires the drafting and developing of potential franchise players. There’s currently no one on the Leafs roster or within their system who appears to have superstar potential.
Until the Leafs improve in that department, they’ll remain doomed to mediocrity regardless of the pedigree of their head coach.

[The Black Panther]

Something else to chew on:

How is Red Wings' potential pursuit of Dion Phaneuf affected by Mike Babcock's move to Toronto?



The Toronto Maple Leafs soured on Dion Phaneuf just one year after signing him to a $49 million pact. (The Associated Press)

By Ansar Khan | [email protected]
on May 25, 2015 at 6:03 AM, updated May 25, 2015 at 6:07 AM





During his introductory press conference Thursday in Toronto, Babcock sounded like he was going to give Phaneuf (6-3, 214), the team captain, a chance to show what he can do under his guidance.
"I'm going to get to know Dion and he's going to get to know me," Babcock said. "I like to think I'm a straightforward communicator. When you work for people and they tell you what they want I'm one of those people. I like to please them.
"But I like to know what they want, I don't want to read their mind, I want them to tell me, and I'll be straightforward in that way as well. But I think you have to help your leaders. That's what your job is, to help them do things right. You just do it right day after day after day."
The Leafs signed Phaneuf, 30, to a seven-year, $49 million contract midway through the 2013-14 season. They apparently soured on their captain quickly, to even consider moving him to an Atlantic Division rival.
Could Babcock's coaching have a positive impact?
"I'm a fan of Dion," Babcock said. "I think he's a good kid. I think he works hard and he tries hard. But for me to comment on players that are here now, that's unfair because I've evaluated them from afar and that to me is not what a coach does."
Phaneuf's contract limits his possible destinations. He has six years remaining at a $7 million cap hit. He also has a limited no-trade clause but reportedly was willing to waive it to come to Detroit.
The Red Wings tried to get Toronto to retain about $2 million per season, but the Leafs declined. They also weren't interested in taking back Toronto native Stephen Weiss,who has three years remaining at a cap hit of $4.9 million ($16 million in actual salary). They wanted top forward prospect Anthony Mantha, who the Red Wings aren't likely to move despite his struggles during his first pro season with the Grand Rapids Griffins.
Babcock pushed hard for the Weiss signing in 2013 but surely isn't interested in him now, after making him a healthy scratch the final five games of the playoff series against Tampa Bay. That will be one of the main storylines this summer and possibly into the season for the Maple Leafs. The Detroit Red Wings figure to be watching with interest.​The Red Wings made a pitch for the big, hard-hitting but inconsistent defenseman with the booming left-handed shot at the trade deadline. Might talks be revisited in the off-season?

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[Zorro]

The Leafs actually haven't drafted that bad.. The trades they have made and the guys they have let go has killed this team for the past 10 or so years..

Steen, Stahlberg, Stajan, Stralman, and Gunnarsson would all look pretty nice in Leafs jerseys, because they are looking quite good in other teams jerseys these days.. And I haven't even mentioned Rask yet.. Raycroft for Rask has to be the worst move that was made..

All in all, the drafting hasn't been as bad as people make it out to be..

[reeveta]

Just an idea to spitball. I think another way to gain an asset or two would be to try a 'sign and trade' type move. First, find a willing, contending team partner. Then take a 'rental' type player say like Martin St. Louis this summer. Sign him to a 1 year, $5 million deal. Then, 5 minutes later, trade him to the contender but the Leafs retain half his salary. The Leafs get some sort of 'futures' in return. The contender gets Martin St. Louis for the year but only spends $2.5 million in cap space on him instead of $5 million.

[The Black Panther]

MacLean: Leafs should target Ducks’ Beleskey


The tide appeared to have turned in the Blackhawks’ favour after some late game heroics, but the Ducks' Matt Beleskey had the final say.

EMILY SADLER
MAY 26, 2015, 10:36 AM
There’s talk in Toronto about the possibility of bringing back first-time unrestricted free agent Cody Franson.

But Sportsnet’s Doug MacLean believes the Maple Leafs should focus their attention on a different UFA: Anaheim Ducks forward Matt Beleskey.

“He’s a guy to pursue in the off-season,” MacLean told Sportsnet 590 The Fan’s Dean Blundell & Co. “He’s had a great year, he’s a battler, he’s a physical presence.”

The 26-year-old left winger and pending UFA’s 32 points this regular season (22 goals, 10 assists) has been followed by an explosive playoffs, no doubt adding to his value.

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LISTEN: Doug MacLean on Dean Blundell & Co.

MacLean says a do-it-all forward like Beleskey could warrant a deal in the range of $3 to 5 million.

Beleskey's eight points so far this spring include a five-game goal streak that saw him score in each game of the Ducks’ second-round series versus the Calgary Flames.

The Windsor, Ont., native has also scored the game-winning goal three times — including Monday’s overtime winner to lift the Ducks past the Blackhawks in Game 5 of the Western Conference final.


“If you’re going to rebuild, he’s a young guy… he’d be a good pickup for the Leafs.”

[JagrBomb]

i'd only be happy with FA signings if they are like Winnik. cheap, that could be flipped at the deadline for picks. if they dont pan out then put them on waivers and let the young kids play.

don't be stupid and take risks with guys like belesky that will cost you millions and potentially end up as bad contracts that are immoveable.

[2014olympicgold]

Winning teams aren’t built on paying a player to play against you. If they retain the dollar for only 1-2yrs, meh maybe that’s a good thing. MSL would be a good locker room guy for a young team, but I don’t want him stealing too many minutes from the young guys.

There’s Nyladner, Bailey, Gauthier, Biggs, Verhaeghe, Brown, Leipsic, and Soshnikov that need ice time in the NA system, either NHL or AHL.

Nylander, 2016 pick, Gauthier, and Bailey will prolly be the front runners to get into the NHL system. So 4 guys, leaving 8 spots left for the NHL ready guys. Kessel, JvR, Bozak, Kadri, Lupul, Komarov, and Holland. So 1 spot left for FA guys like Sill, Panik, Lindstrom, Kozun, and anyone else they want to try and bring in.

Komarov-Sill-Nylander would be a line to think about. You have the skill young guy playing with people who will stick up for him. The last thing I want is a Draisaitl situation where he was bullied from the get-go. Frattin and Nylander had great chemistry with Froese when he was brought in around December/January.

Some guys need to move to open up minutes for the youth.

[audiopile]

Belesky 2015 = Bonino 2014.

Proceed with Caution.

[The Black Panther]

I'll be disappointed if the Leafs participate in free agency. It goes completely against their new mandate of no more bandaid fixes.
The only way I'd be ok with it is if they bring in a cheap and proven veteran who can teach the kids how to be professionals. Build a winning culture slowly.
Someone who eats and craps hockey, goes to the gym religiously, takes nutrition seriously - a Gary Roberts type.

I totally agree. Just posting articles.

[Shake]

Leafs GM search getting tougher. The net is shrinking. Futa untouchable in LA and also Gorton not moving from NY either.

[JagrBomb]

Leafs GM search getting tougher. The net is shrinking. Futa untouchable in LA and also Gorton not moving from NY either.

they need someone with good contacts in the league. managing the cap would be a good asset too but you can always get someone else to do that.

dare i say...pierre mcguire?