Mike Peca: A Preventable Loss
Posted 1:54 AM ET | Comments 1
With news that Michael Peca will be heading to the Columbus Blue Jackets, the blame definitely lies on the shoulders of JFJ.
In Peca, the Leafs have lost a top-notch penalty killer, one-time Selke winner, and a guy who can play a solid defensive game; in other words, he was the kind of player the Leafs desperately needed.
In Matt Stajan and Alex Steen, the Leafs have two young players who could easily be converted into checking line forwards with the right training. Both players have shown potential to be solid penalty killers, with Stajan showing real promise at killing penalties. This is a neccessity, given the fact the Leafs' PK is among the worst in the NHL. The operative word, however, is right training. That would be Michael Peca.
It is very likely that Steen and Stajan will be on the 3rd line together. I have projected that Mark Bell will play with them; however, the line would be even better had Peca been flanked by the two young guns. What's more, we sacrificed Peca to essentially re-sign Nik Antropov. While Antropov had a solid season, and provides solid chemistry with Alexei Ponikarovsky, he is made of glass. His injuries will undoubtedly hurt his stock, and, personally, I didn't think he was worth the $2.05M cap hit, when Peca would have signed for much, much cheaper.
In the end, we could have had a solid defensive forward that could train two defensive-minded players with potential, and instead used the cap money on an easily breakable Kazakh. Instead of re-signing Peca, today he will start anew in Ohio's capital. Well done, JFJ. Well done.
In Peca, the Leafs have lost a top-notch penalty killer, one-time Selke winner, and a guy who can play a solid defensive game; in other words, he was the kind of player the Leafs desperately needed.
In Matt Stajan and Alex Steen, the Leafs have two young players who could easily be converted into checking line forwards with the right training. Both players have shown potential to be solid penalty killers, with Stajan showing real promise at killing penalties. This is a neccessity, given the fact the Leafs' PK is among the worst in the NHL. The operative word, however, is right training. That would be Michael Peca.
It is very likely that Steen and Stajan will be on the 3rd line together. I have projected that Mark Bell will play with them; however, the line would be even better had Peca been flanked by the two young guns. What's more, we sacrificed Peca to essentially re-sign Nik Antropov. While Antropov had a solid season, and provides solid chemistry with Alexei Ponikarovsky, he is made of glass. His injuries will undoubtedly hurt his stock, and, personally, I didn't think he was worth the $2.05M cap hit, when Peca would have signed for much, much cheaper.
In the end, we could have had a solid defensive forward that could train two defensive-minded players with potential, and instead used the cap money on an easily breakable Kazakh. Instead of re-signing Peca, today he will start anew in Ohio's capital. Well done, JFJ. Well done.
I know this is the least of our worries in Sabre land with the way the team has performed as of late but I would like your thoughts and opinions on this. concrete driveway contractor