Leaf fans Seriously get a grip and come to reality !
Posted 5:55 PM ET | Comments 8
So it seems these days all I here from leaf fans is one of two things. One stay the course and continue to pile up top 5 to top 10 draft picks or wait till next summers free agents become available. Lets review those two scenario's
Scenario One - Staying the course and collecting top 10 picks for the next few years and were going to be a really good team who can contend ?? My answer to that is there is no guarntee of that at all !!! I have collected evidence to support my Theory that a boat load of top ten picks does not guarntee you anything !
Lets go with my first example The L.A Kings and what they have done in the last several seasons....
LA Kings Picks
Jens Karlsson 18th Overall 2001
Denis Grebeshkov 18th Overall 2002
Dustin Brown 13th overall 2003
Lauri Tukonen 11th overall 2004
Anze Kopitar 11th overall 2005
Jonathan Bernier 11th Overall 2006
Trevor lewis 17th Overall 2006
Thomas Hickey 4th Overall 2007
Drew Doughty 2nd Overall 2008
Colten Teubert 13th Overall 2008
2009 14th in west 34-37-11 79pts
2008 15th in west 32-43-7 71 pts
2007 14th in west 27-41-14 68 pts
2006 10th in west 42-35-5 89 pts
2004 11th in West 28-29-25 81 pts
2003 10th in west 33-37-12 78 pts
last 6 seasons 0 playoff games 0 playoff wins
total record of 196 wins , 222 losses , 74 OTL
avg pts per yr. 77.6
Here is the second example the atlanta thrashers
ATL Thrashers Picks
Patrick Stefan 1st overall 1999
Dany Heatley 2nd Overall 2000
Ilya Kovalchuck 3rd Overall 2001
Kari Lehtonen 2nd Overall 2002
Braydon Coburn 8th Overall 2003
Boris Valabik 10th Overall 2004
Alex Bourret 16th Overall 2005
Bryan Little 12th Overall 2006
Zach Bogosian 3rd Overall 2008
Daultan Leveille 29th Overall 2008
2002 15th in east 19-47-11 54 pts
2003 11th in east 31-39-12 74 pts
2004 10th in east 33-37-12 78 pts
2006 10th in east 41-33-8 90 pts
2007 3rd in east 43-28-11-97 pts
2008 14th in east 34-40-8 76 pts
2009 13th in east 35-41-6 76 pts
last 7 seasons 4 playoff games 0 playoff wins
total record - 236 wins, 265 losses,68OTL
avg pts per yr. 77.8
Heres example Three the blue jackets
CLB blue jackets picks
rosty klesla 4th overall 2000
Pascal Leclaire 8th Overall 2001
Rick Nash 1st Overlall 2002
Nik Zherdev 4th overall 2003
Alex Picard 8th Overall 2004
Gilbert Brule 6th Overall 2005
Derick Brassard 6th Overall 2006
Jakub Voracek 7th Overall 2007
Nikita Filatov 6th Overall 2008
2009 7th in west 41-31-10 92 pts
2008 13th in west 34-36-12 80 pts
2007 11th in west 33-42-7 73 pts
2006 13th in west 35-43-4 74 pts
2004 14th in west 25-45-12 62 pts
2003 15th in west 29-42-8 69 pts
last 6 seasons 4 playoff games 0 wins
total record 197 wins,239 losses,53 OTL
avg. pts per yr. 75
Example 4 The Coyotes
PHX coyotes Picks
Krys Kolanos 19th overall 2000
Fredrik Sjostrom 11th Overall 2001
Jakub Koreis 19th Overall 2002
Ben Eager 23rd Overall 2002
Blake Wheeler 5th Overall 2004
Martin Hanzal 17th Overall 2005
Peter Mueller 8th Overall 2006
Kyle Turris 3rd Overall 2007
Mikkel Boedker 8th Overall 2008
Victor Tikhonov 28th Overall 2008
2003 11th in west 31-35-16 78 pts
2004 13th in west 22-36-24 68 pts
2006 12th in west 38-39-5 81 pts
2007 15th in west 31-46-5 67 pts
2008 12th in west 38-37-7 83 pts
2009 13th in west 36-39-7 79 pts
last 6 seasons 0 playoff games 0 wins
total record 196wins,232losses,64 ties
avg. pts per yr. 76
Example 4 The Coyotes
PHX coyotes Picks
Krys Kolanos 19th overall 2000
Fredrik Sjostrom 11th Overall 2001
Jakub Koreis 19th Overall 2002
Ben Eager 23rd Overall 2002
Blake Wheeler 5th Overall 2004
Martin Hanzal 17th Overall 2005
Peter Mueller 8th Overall 2006
Kyle Turris 3rd Overall 2007
Mikkel Boedker 8th Overall 2008
Victor Tikhonov 28th Overall 2008
2003 11th in west 31-35-16 78 pts
2004 13th in west 22-36-24 68 pts
2006 12th in west 38-39-5 81 pts
2007 15th in west 31-46-5 67 pts
2008 12th in west 38-37-7 83 pts
2009 13th in west 36-39-7 79 pts
last 6 seasons 0 playoff games 0 wins
total record 196wins,232losses,64 ties
avg. pts per yr. 76
My second Scenario is the wait till next year scenario ??
Well first of all that could be yet another wasted year. Who wants to throw away another year to NOT get Taylor Hall the Leafs are just too talented to finish last. Yeah I would love to Have Rick Nash and or Ilya Kolvachuck come into this team. It would be incredible ! However there is no guarntee they don't resign where they are or get traded at the deadline and sign with the team they traded for. Do you really want to waste another 365 days on if's and's or but's I sure as hell dont want too.
In Conclusion ...
Burke absolutely cannot pass up the chance to kick the tires on The Sedins,Camalerri or Beauchmin. You could turn this team around this summer and still rebuild through the draft at the same time. Top 5 and Top 10 picks are no guarntee. Also to those who think the Leafs only have 14-16 million to spend your absolutely wrong. Any NHL team can go over the cap as long as there under the cap by late september. Were talking about Brian burke here I could see Blake being delt in a similar deal to the McCabe deal or even being sent down to the minors. I could also see the often injured mike van ryn to the minors as well as Jonas Frogren or lee Stempniak. I wouldn't be surprised to see burke spend 20-25 million this off season if it makes sense.
The following players are the players I think the Leafs will kick the tires on not neccesairly sign...
Sedins,Camalerri,Bertuzzi,Cole,Pyatt,Moen,Pahlsson,Orr,Grier,Neil,Peters,Knuble,Mcgratton,Madden,Larose,Samuelsson,Roy,Komisarek,Beauchmin,McKee,Sydor,Aucoin,Gustafson,Conklin,
Hope everyone has a great Canada-UFA day hope all your teams get the guys they want.
Scenario One - Staying the course and collecting top 10 picks for the next few years and were going to be a really good team who can contend ?? My answer to that is there is no guarntee of that at all !!! I have collected evidence to support my Theory that a boat load of top ten picks does not guarntee you anything !
Lets go with my first example The L.A Kings and what they have done in the last several seasons....
LA Kings Picks
Jens Karlsson 18th Overall 2001
Denis Grebeshkov 18th Overall 2002
Dustin Brown 13th overall 2003
Lauri Tukonen 11th overall 2004
Anze Kopitar 11th overall 2005
Jonathan Bernier 11th Overall 2006
Trevor lewis 17th Overall 2006
Thomas Hickey 4th Overall 2007
Drew Doughty 2nd Overall 2008
Colten Teubert 13th Overall 2008
2009 14th in west 34-37-11 79pts
2008 15th in west 32-43-7 71 pts
2007 14th in west 27-41-14 68 pts
2006 10th in west 42-35-5 89 pts
2004 11th in West 28-29-25 81 pts
2003 10th in west 33-37-12 78 pts
last 6 seasons 0 playoff games 0 playoff wins
total record of 196 wins , 222 losses , 74 OTL
avg pts per yr. 77.6
Here is the second example the atlanta thrashers
ATL Thrashers Picks
Patrick Stefan 1st overall 1999
Dany Heatley 2nd Overall 2000
Ilya Kovalchuck 3rd Overall 2001
Kari Lehtonen 2nd Overall 2002
Braydon Coburn 8th Overall 2003
Boris Valabik 10th Overall 2004
Alex Bourret 16th Overall 2005
Bryan Little 12th Overall 2006
Zach Bogosian 3rd Overall 2008
Daultan Leveille 29th Overall 2008
2002 15th in east 19-47-11 54 pts
2003 11th in east 31-39-12 74 pts
2004 10th in east 33-37-12 78 pts
2006 10th in east 41-33-8 90 pts
2007 3rd in east 43-28-11-97 pts
2008 14th in east 34-40-8 76 pts
2009 13th in east 35-41-6 76 pts
last 7 seasons 4 playoff games 0 playoff wins
total record - 236 wins, 265 losses,68OTL
avg pts per yr. 77.8
Heres example Three the blue jackets
CLB blue jackets picks
rosty klesla 4th overall 2000
Pascal Leclaire 8th Overall 2001
Rick Nash 1st Overlall 2002
Nik Zherdev 4th overall 2003
Alex Picard 8th Overall 2004
Gilbert Brule 6th Overall 2005
Derick Brassard 6th Overall 2006
Jakub Voracek 7th Overall 2007
Nikita Filatov 6th Overall 2008
2009 7th in west 41-31-10 92 pts
2008 13th in west 34-36-12 80 pts
2007 11th in west 33-42-7 73 pts
2006 13th in west 35-43-4 74 pts
2004 14th in west 25-45-12 62 pts
2003 15th in west 29-42-8 69 pts
last 6 seasons 4 playoff games 0 wins
total record 197 wins,239 losses,53 OTL
avg. pts per yr. 75
Example 4 The Coyotes
PHX coyotes Picks
Krys Kolanos 19th overall 2000
Fredrik Sjostrom 11th Overall 2001
Jakub Koreis 19th Overall 2002
Ben Eager 23rd Overall 2002
Blake Wheeler 5th Overall 2004
Martin Hanzal 17th Overall 2005
Peter Mueller 8th Overall 2006
Kyle Turris 3rd Overall 2007
Mikkel Boedker 8th Overall 2008
Victor Tikhonov 28th Overall 2008
2003 11th in west 31-35-16 78 pts
2004 13th in west 22-36-24 68 pts
2006 12th in west 38-39-5 81 pts
2007 15th in west 31-46-5 67 pts
2008 12th in west 38-37-7 83 pts
2009 13th in west 36-39-7 79 pts
last 6 seasons 0 playoff games 0 wins
total record 196wins,232losses,64 ties
avg. pts per yr. 76
Example 4 The Coyotes
PHX coyotes Picks
Krys Kolanos 19th overall 2000
Fredrik Sjostrom 11th Overall 2001
Jakub Koreis 19th Overall 2002
Ben Eager 23rd Overall 2002
Blake Wheeler 5th Overall 2004
Martin Hanzal 17th Overall 2005
Peter Mueller 8th Overall 2006
Kyle Turris 3rd Overall 2007
Mikkel Boedker 8th Overall 2008
Victor Tikhonov 28th Overall 2008
2003 11th in west 31-35-16 78 pts
2004 13th in west 22-36-24 68 pts
2006 12th in west 38-39-5 81 pts
2007 15th in west 31-46-5 67 pts
2008 12th in west 38-37-7 83 pts
2009 13th in west 36-39-7 79 pts
last 6 seasons 0 playoff games 0 wins
total record 196wins,232losses,64 ties
avg. pts per yr. 76
My second Scenario is the wait till next year scenario ??
Well first of all that could be yet another wasted year. Who wants to throw away another year to NOT get Taylor Hall the Leafs are just too talented to finish last. Yeah I would love to Have Rick Nash and or Ilya Kolvachuck come into this team. It would be incredible ! However there is no guarntee they don't resign where they are or get traded at the deadline and sign with the team they traded for. Do you really want to waste another 365 days on if's and's or but's I sure as hell dont want too.
In Conclusion ...
Burke absolutely cannot pass up the chance to kick the tires on The Sedins,Camalerri or Beauchmin. You could turn this team around this summer and still rebuild through the draft at the same time. Top 5 and Top 10 picks are no guarntee. Also to those who think the Leafs only have 14-16 million to spend your absolutely wrong. Any NHL team can go over the cap as long as there under the cap by late september. Were talking about Brian burke here I could see Blake being delt in a similar deal to the McCabe deal or even being sent down to the minors. I could also see the often injured mike van ryn to the minors as well as Jonas Frogren or lee Stempniak. I wouldn't be surprised to see burke spend 20-25 million this off season if it makes sense.
The following players are the players I think the Leafs will kick the tires on not neccesairly sign...
Sedins,Camalerri,Bertuzzi,Cole,Pyatt,Moen,Pahlsson,Orr,Grier,Neil,Peters,Knuble,Mcgratton,Madden,Larose,Samuelsson,Roy,Komisarek,Beauchmin,McKee,Sydor,Aucoin,Gustafson,Conklin,
Hope everyone has a great Canada-UFA day hope all your teams get the guys they want.
also to note i do believe that Stajan and Kaberle wont be leafs by training camp quite possibly Kubina and poni as well. I would think poni is the least likely to be leaving though
oh and a last point i wouldnt count burke out of the Clowe sweepstakes either ...
I don't understand why you tell leaf fans to come to reality when the two arguments you made are viable options. Your argument against drafting is flawed as you over look that fact that a team needs to build its assets up and then when you have a talented young core you can then look to free agents and trades to bring along the potential. No team has gotten a cup on drafting alone.
As for waiting for next year. The goal for Burke is not just to make the playoffs, but to make the team a consistent cup contender which takes time. Adding 20 Million in salary this season on UFA's will mean Toronto maxes out at the 7th or 8th spot and see's an early exit from the playoffs. Especially if its the Sedins and Camalerri they are adding.
well I do respect your opinion but you cant project where a teams gonna finish accurately usually... I'm guessing you didnt project boston 1st ?? I sure didnt ! As for it being flawed you can build up assets by drafting in round 1 anywhere not just the top 10. Im not saying trade the picks but dont go and dog the season for a top 10 when there are no guarntee's that player will turn out. Also thats worked out real well for those five teams I pointed out eh ?
Well, Chicago is looking pretty good with their draft picks, as are Washington and Pittsburgh. Detroit has a pretty good base of home grown talent. There's success stories and failures with every scenario.