February 26, 2008 / 17:49
Cliffy's hands were tied, yes, but I still think he did a very respectable job today with what he had to work with. Let's see what he did: He got rid of a goon, a 4th liner, and a 3rd pairing defenseman, and got one 2nd, one 3rd, and two 5th round picks in return. Ditching Gill and Kilger loosens up 3 million bucks next year, and creates some roster spots for youth. Earth shattering, no. But he basically made something from nothing. When you consider the Habs got less for Huet than Fletcher got for Gill, he looks even better.
February 27, 2008 / 07:39
Freddie,
I think you're way off on this one. Fletch knew the situation coming in and he knew there was a 2% chance that he would be able to move any of the 5 with NTC's. Clearly he couldn't get anything worthwhile for McCabe out of New York, so he stayed.
He cleared $3M+ in salary and picked up 5 additional picks, which they can still trade around for more/better trades.
I think the 5 players with NTC's stuck together and said "Hey, we can make a difference, we have a good team, talented people. What we don't have is good management. So let's not waive our NTC's and force management to come up with something else." I personally think that the so-called lack of movement yesterday is a direct reflection on MLSE Management in that:
1. Apparently by their own admission they hired the wrong GM
2. They let that GM give out 5 NTC's to the highest paid players on the team, creating the situation we see now.
3. The bumbled the firing of the GM and then no one with a future in the position was interested, so they had to go back to someone that was considered a "friend" to "help them out of a jam".
So, how much did they spend on Fletcher? Not that it's his fault, if they offered me the job, I'd have taken it too.
If anyone on the team "threw" any game(s), I would want heads. It's against the rules and I don't know, but probably against the law too. From the lowest of the low to the top dogs, I would want to see every single soul at MLSE fired and replaced with people with at least a modicome of integrity, including the ushers, ticket takers right through and including Peddie and his crew if they were throwing games. You want to sink the year, then play your worst players and get them to do their best. Kubina should see more ice time than McKaberle and Belak should have had more ice time than Sundin. (Moot now of course).
Can the Leafs make the playoffs? Last week everyone said "no". Last month, everyone said "no". Yet here we are less than 20 games to go and mathematically, they can still make the playoffs. Will they? We have to wait and see. If they start throwing games, not a chance, what about rallying and winning? Montreal was down what 5-0 in a game last week and won 6-5. I'd rather see them put some effort into it and come up short than throw games and hope they get a better pick.
MLSE has a bad history of picks anyway, so I don't know how getting a better pick will turn this team around. If they do get some good youg'ins they are going to need the leadership of a great player like Mats Sundin anyway.
The league should look at exempting one player from each team from the salary cap and limiting the number of NTC's allowed. Say, 1 per team, everyone else is trade eligible.
Go Leafs Go.
--Pete
February 27, 2008 / 08:33
Did no one listen to Fletcher's interview? He made it very clear that there would be a much different face to this team going into training camp next year that could only mean one thing. BUY outs and at least 3 of them .with Kabina being able to be traded in the off season the only two I see staying with the leafs with a NTC is Tucker and Kaberle the rest will all be gone and that includes Sundin
and the biggest change of them all will be Maurice will be not be back to as coach
February 27, 2008 / 09:35
Even though Fletcher said there would be salary cap room available, I’ll have to see it to believe it. There was opportunity to clear cap space during the past 2 years by waiving the many mistakes of Ferguson (Raycroft, Tucker, Kubina, etc) but yet the Leafs mgmt didn’t do it. My point is that I can’t see the Teacher’s Pension Board pissing away 10-12 million dollars this summer. And frankly, if I’m an investor with them, I can’t blame them.
February 27, 2008 / 09:36
Even though Fletcher said there would be salary cap room available, I’ll have to see it to believe it. There was opportunity to clear cap space during the past 2 years by waiving the many mistakes of Ferguson (Raycroft, Tucker, Kubina, etc) but yet the Leafs mgmt didn’t do it. My point is that I can’t see the Teacher’s Pension Board pissing away 10-12 million dollars this summer. And frankly, if I’m an investor with them, I can’t blame them.
February 27, 2008 / 10:48
Am I missing something with the current "math" that according to the media has the Laffers "6 points out of a playoff spot"?
I took a quick look at the standings this morning and Philly is in 8th right now 6 points up on Toronto.
They also have a game in hand, so give them at least a point for a tie in that game.
That makes Toronto 7 points out from a tie and at least 8 points out of a spot minimum. So don’t they need to have 4 more wins then say Philly or whoever is in 8th, down the stretch to be in with a shot.
This all reminds me of a classic Simpsons episode when Homer and Bart and desperately chasing a pig on a spit as it travels through town getting all crapped up along the way. The whole time their mantra is "it's still good! It's still good".
February 28, 2008 / 08:55
Oh, when I read the title of this post I thought it was going to be about Toronto radio, My bad.
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