3rd line Center….Colby on the right, sjostrom on the left

I believe he had arbitration rights and the Leafs didn’t want to go there.

when he wasn’t qualified, you’d know that if they had qualified him at 110% – as would be the minimum – he would get $550k for 1 year.

HOWEVER this also gives him the ability to reject the QO and take the Leafs to arbitration – where he could have well gotten a deal over $1m (more than the Leafs wanted to spend) that would be binding, or would have let him walk.

Leafs wanted him – just not over $1m. Let him test a few days of UFA… got him back at a reasonable price.

lol……..you got the numbers mixed up

 Agree. Not huge fan of mitchell last year, but a third line centre at 3/4 of a million is good shit.

for ever having questioned his asset management abilities.

Mitchell loves Kovy.

Socks.
One year is a great term for him as well.

Summary: Socks. Everyone needs cheap players. Ours happens to be able to get 20-30 points.

Socks!

I’m excited for October when the season officially starts. Let’s hope I’m still excited in December.

More offseason recapping!

Gus signing: A
Didn’t risk drafting Kabanov: F
Drafted Ross, McKegg: B
Versteeg trade: B
Armstrong: D
Mitchell: A
Kulemin: B+ (3 years would have been optimal)
DIDNT GET US KOVALCHUK: F-
WHY DO WE STILL HAVE KABERLE ON OUR ROSTER: D (must…have…patience…)

Overall, B-/C+ so far.

Shootout Eyecandy!

Nope… just because he made good decisions on his own player contract doesn’t mean he made a good decision on the UFA signing.

July 1 is not a great day for the Leafs in the past few years. Other than Hagman, can we think of any great UFA signings that have been made? (NHL UFAs, not college or European free agent signings)

Armstrong + Komisarek + Versteeg = Kovalchuk + Stalberg + whichever cheap young D plays best in camp. I know which combination I’d prefer.

Not criticizing the Versteeg deal just making a point.

All the litle overpayments add up. Last year’s overpayments stole $1.4MM in cap space for this year.

If he’s still scoring 20+ points on the 4th line making $<1m, I don’t see why we’d just ditch him.

Just remember this: it wasn’t that long ago that pretty much everybody around here, including at least one of our Benevolent Overlords, was waaaaaay down on Ian White. The words “useless” and “terrible” got bandied about an awful lot around here when he was being discussed.

Example (not picking on PPP, my point is that what he wrote was essentially convential “wisdom” at the time): September 3, 2008 feature called “Reading the Tea Leafs – Ian White” on this very blog…

In a perfect world, White would have sat all of last season so that Jay Harrison (so long!), Staffan Kronwall, or Anton Stralman would have received a much better chance to showcase their talent. Instead, we were treated to Bryan McCabe Mk II – Miniature Edition. We were treated to seeing an undersized defenceman unable to use his speed, unwilling to physically engage opponents, and completely one-sided. If the puck wasn’t on his forehand then he couldn’t handle it.

The most painful part? While every other defenceman on the Leafs has been injured White just keeps on ticking. There was no relief from his presence on the blueline.

Projected 2008-2009 role/team
If I was in Cliff Fletcher’s shoes White’s Leafs’ career would be over just as soon as I could find someone to trade me a prospect/late round draft pick for him.

I’m not suggesting that Ian White is the second coming of Nik Lidstrom, and I’m not suggesting that every player who’s been described as “terrible” will turn out to be useful. The point is rather that sometimes, players struggle for a bit, then turn it around. Sometimes, of course, they struggle for a bit, carry a purse, get traded to Anaheim and then Calgary, and still can’t understand why their nickname is “dogshit”.

Taking everything into consideration, though – JFM is cheap and young. If what people mean when they say he is “terrible” and “useless” is that he is “not Sidney Crosby”, well, obvious point is obvious, good for you. If what they mean is that he can’t competently perform any role on an NHL team, I say it’s too early to tell about that, and that the evidence is mixed. Prior to struggling a little at the start of last year (the whole team did) and then getting injured, JFM showed some promise. We’re not going to win the Cup this year. If it only costs $750k to try him out again on a limited basis and in a limited role, and as long as he’s not taking ice time away from someone who crucially needs the playing time…well, why the hell wouldn’t we do it?