The Bubble Boys Episode I

by PPP on Oct 4, 2008 5:26 PM EDT Comment 13 comments

Tonight's game will be the last one before the Leafs try to work their way down to a 23 man roster. Here's a look at who's left with the Leafs:

Forwards: Nik Antropov, Mark Bell, Jason Blake, Boyd Devereaux, Robbie Earl, Mikhail Grabovski, Nik Hagman, Ryan Hollweg, Nik Kulemin, Jamal Mayers, John Mitchell, Dominic Moore, Alex Ponikarovsky, Kyle Rogers, Matt Stajan, Alex Steen, Jiri Tlusty, Jeremy Williams. (18)

Defence: Carlo Colaiacovo, Jeff Finger, Jonas Frogren, Tomas Kaberle, Staffan Kronwall, Pavel Kubina, Richard Petiot, Luke Schenn, Jaime Sifers, Anton Stralman, Mike Van Ryn, Ian White. (12)

Goalies: Vesa Toskala, Curtis Joseph, Justin Pogge. (3)

The Leafs have to be at 23 players by Wednesday and will likely be set by Monday for their last preseason tune-up. So who goes? Goalie is simple because Pogge gets sent to the Marlies. That leaves 21 spots open. Who fills those 21 spots?

On the backend the decisions are much more difficult. Kubina, Kaberle, and Finger are locks but two of them are hurt and Finger will miss at least the first week of the season if not more. Due to these injuries and the fact that Carlo is made of glass the Leafs could start the season with 8 defencemen. However, they might go with nine in case Schenn has to go back to junior before Finger has recovered. Carlo Colaiacovo is in the lineup on the second pairing. Petiot and Sifers are definitely Marlies to start. That leaves 6 defencemen fighting for 2 playing spots and two in the pressbox.

Luke Schenn is not staying for the entire season but nine games takes us through the October 28th date against the Lightning. Finger will have likely had almost 5 weeks to recover from what is supposed to be a slight injury so there should be no worries from that angle.

Fletcher is clearly looking to deal Van Ryn so I think it's safe to assume that he'll stay with the big club so as to not lose him to waivers. Same with Ian White. Frogren has improved with each game and was brought over to play in the NHL. He''ll stick. That gives us eight defencemen staying with Staffan Kronwall unaccounted for until now: he stays or he's lost to waivers. Stralman can still pass through waivers so he'll be told to be the big dog on the back-end with the Marlies until some space can be cleared with the big club. He might get a little upset but if the situation is explained then I expect him to be a professional about it. The other option I can see is maybe Van Ryn being stashed on the Marlies in the hopes that no one will try to pick him up as he passes through waivers.

At forward, the following are locks in my mind: Nik Antropov, Alex Ponikarovsky, Jason Blake, Matt Stajan, Alex Steen, Jamal Mayers, Nik Hagman, Nik Kulemin, Mikhail Grabovski, and Dominic Moore. That fills 10 of the 12 spots. One of the reasons that Wilson has been using White at forward was to see if he could get away with carrying only 12 forwards to start the season until some moves were made.

Robbie Earl, Jeremy Williams, and Kyle Rogers will go down to the Marlies leaving five forwards fighting it out for two spots. Jiri Tlusty is the only one of the five remaining players that doesn't have to clear waivers to go to the Marlies so he might be asked to take a knee for the good of the team. Fletcher will have to make some big decisions as Devereaux and Bell are two guys that I think (definitely in Devo's case) can contribute this year. Bell even wore an 'A' last night so it's tough to think that they'll be risked on waivers. Mitchell has had a monster camp but I am not sure that he'd be at risk going down. Hollweg will likely stick which makes me wonder what the Leafs might do with the injuries to keep a couple of extra forwards up in an attempt to give the Silver Fox some time to manoeuvre.

There are definitely some difficult decisions. What are your thoughts?

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I think Bell will get a shot on the big club, he hasn’t had much jump in camp, but then he hasn’t had too much oppertunity to shine on the 4th lines.
I think he will be a better choice then Devo in the long run if he can get his confidence and legs back.

Because Taking The Leafs Seriously Is Not An Option

by JaredFromLondon on Oct 4, 2008 5:37 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Wait,, wasn't...

Jeremy Williams put on waivers or something like that, or am I just imagining things?

Making stuff up since real Leafs news is far too depressing

by loser domi on Oct 4, 2008 6:38 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

No, he was already sent down.

Pension Plan Puppets: A Toronto Maple Leafs blog and a group therapy session.

by PPP on Oct 4, 2008 9:39 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

That’s what it was. I knew he moved somewhere

Making stuff up since real Leafs news is far too depressing

by loser domi on Oct 5, 2008 2:17 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I think Wilson and the Leafs are going to be revolutionaries, implementing the new 1-1-3 system. One offensive player (the Centre), one two-way player (rover), and three D. The D won’t leave their own zone, the rover won’t enter the offensive zone, and the Centre will be the only player allowed to skate all over the ice, into any zone he wants. We’ll average 6 shots a game, or about what we did against Jersey in the playoffs a few years ago. Every game will go to shootout, and it’ll be the most boring thing you’ll ever see. Can’t wait. We’ll need 9 D (everyone from the above list minus Schenn, Sifers and Petiot), and 5 C (Antropov, Steen, Grabovski, Blake and Kulemin) and 5 Rovers (Hagman, Moore, Mayers, Stajan and one of Bell/Boyd/Mitchell). Other two are healthy scratches. Tlusty gets sent down with Rogers and Williams, the Hollweg trade gets undone, and Pony gets lynched. Greatest team ever. Can’t wait.

by lordosis on Oct 4, 2008 6:41 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

You know what’s alarming (actually, depressing might be a more apt term)? I’m actually sitting here thinking, “lordosis, that doesn’t sound like such a bad idea.” I would have commended you on the excellent sarcasm, but in actuality (or sadly, take your pick), I think you’re more closer to the truth than at first glance. Playoffs!

by bkblades on Oct 4, 2008 7:10 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Wait, I’m confused. Jason Blake took a shot on net, but instead of being easily stopped by the goalie, it went in. Is that allowed? Did they change the rules in the off-season?

by Mabel on Oct 4, 2008 7:31 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

contracts decide who stays

Performance is often not the determining factor for players on the bubble. It’s contracts. Unless the Leafs don’t care if they lose a player, they are not likely to put a player on waivers in order to send them down to the Marlies. Probably the main reason White has been playing the wing. So Stralman may have played well enough to make the team but he is one of the few defensemen that can be sent to the minors without having to clear waivers. Schenn can be sent back to Kelowna and might not even get in the 9 games because the Leafs still have plenty of defenseman even with the injuries. Kronwall cannot be put on waivers so it depends if the Leafs care if he is lost. Bell might be put on waivers and sent to the Marlies because it is unlikely anyone would claim his $2.5 million contract (in fact maybe they would like to see him go). Devereaux would likely be claimed if put on waivers. Mitchell deserves a spot but he doesn’t need to clear waivers so he may not stick. I think Tlusty could use some seasoning in the AHL but who knows what the “braintrust” is thinking.

by Pseudonym on Oct 5, 2008 11:38 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Right on

Contracts play a huge part.

The only thing is that apparently Mitchell does have to clear waivers so I think that’ll keep him up with the Leafs.

Pension Plan Puppets: A Toronto Maple Leafs blog and a group therapy session.

by PPP on Oct 5, 2008 12:07 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

So, here’s a question:

How is it that a team with so few “blue-chip” prospects that still has next to no scoring forwards end up with so many hard goddamn decisions in terms of personnel?

Old Guys in Blue and White

by koopa kid on Oct 5, 2008 2:53 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Well, some of the questions surround trying to keep glue guys that we don’t want to lose (Devereaux, Mitchell) or guys that have potential to return to a 50 point plateau (Mark Bell).

And part of it is that the Leafs do actually have some kids worth keeping but you didn’t hear that from me. I mean, you’ve only ever heard that from Leaf fans.

Pension Plan Puppets: A Toronto Maple Leafs blog and a group therapy session.

by PPP on Oct 5, 2008 2:55 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

glue guys

Personally I think Fletcher would love to lose Bell if someone would take that contract off their hands. He is just not worth that kind of money. As for the other bodies, you don’t want to lose players because until you acquire blue chip prospects you still need to ice a team (even if you plan to tank) and you need to develop organizational depth. So you hang onto cheap talent (Devereaux, Moore, Mitchell White, etc.) even if they just ok. In cap world, contracts and salaries loom big in building your roster.

By the way, for the few diehards who believed the Leafs shouldn’t have given up on Raycroft, his start last Friday in Colorado was brutal (or typical Raycroft).\

by Pseudonym on Oct 5, 2008 7:43 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs