Pride, hustle, heart. An NHL 12 Leafs BAGM

[Tazer19]

Glad you were able to hang with the Leafs, nothing is worse than starting with a new team that you didn't build. I mean it can be fun because you get to make it your own, but a little bit of passion goes away, and you can't play or succeed at the greatest game on Earth without passion..... write that down.

[bthomp05]

Crap, damn Canes. Ow well, next year is your year Dynasty.

Congratulations on the contract, now win us the CUP!!!!

[johnnyrocks]

you will get them next year!!!

[Dynasty]

Hello and welcome fans and readers, for TSN I am hockey insider Bob McKenzie.

Today I would like to take some time to analyze the moves Toronto have made up to today, with pre season starting tomorrow the Leafs will have multiple avenues in which to peruse their return to playoff hockey.

Last season was considered by most a major, and long overdue success for Toronto, as promised Brian Burke aggressively perused ways to make his club more competitive and that paid off with a conference finals appearance.

not long after Toronto was ousted by the soon to be Stanley Cup champs, the Carolina Hurricanes, Toronto management came to a new five year deal with GM Brian Burke. While Burkes road to success was a little longer then anyone wanted, he came in and made this club better and better each year under his guidance, all the while restocking the minors with talent, drafting smartly and trading for talent to help propel this club forward.

Burke immediately signed Head Coach Doug Gilmour to a three year extension. Gilmour struggled his first year as head coach at the NHL level but really turned a corner last season, showing a greatly improved vision for on ice ebbs and flows and also how to curve his clubs trends and attitudes.

With draft day opening the Leafs weren’t exactly in the best drafting position, having made it so far into the playoffs it put them at the bottom of the pecking order and not having a pick until the third round left the Leafs sitting and watching for the beginning segments of the draft. Once the third round began, here is who Toronto went after.

Toronto's picks
Pick	Team	Player	Pos	Ht	Wt
3rd round 62nd OVR	Toronto Maple Leafs	Austin McCauley (PWF)	LW	6'2"	230 LBS
4th round 118th OVR	Toronto Maple Leafs	Stanislav Bryzgalov (DFD)	D	6'1"	192 LBS
5th round 148th OVR	Toronto Maple Leafs	Randy Gardener (SNP)	RW	5'9"	179 LBS
6th round 178th OVR	Toronto Maple Leafs	Kevin Brennan (BUT)	G	6'1"	178 LBS
7th round 208th OVR	Toronto Maple Leafs	Calvin Prince (PWF)	RW	6'5"	241 LBS

On the trade front the league in its entirety was very quiet with only one deal being made.

Minnesota trades:
RW Cal Clutterbuck

To Winnipeg for:
RW Blake Wheeler

The feeling from Toronto all throughout draft day was, look to the future and sit on what we have got. With free agency just around the corner and multiple big ticket players to resign I cant say I blame Brian for wanting to see how the contract status of Paul Gaustad, Mike Ribeiro, Phil Kessel, Kyle Turris, Theo Peckham, Joe Colborne, Jake Gardiner and Kurtis Foster play out before trades were made.

After making the conference finals it would be hard to see players wanting out of Toronto at this point, especially after which some have spent many years here trying to get to this point.

Re-sign period:

Toronto re-signs:
C Mike Ribeiro (PLY) 34 years old 4M 1 year deal 87 overall D/C-/C- potential
Last years numbers: GP: 82 G: 21 A: 48 PTS: 69 +/-: 24 PIMS: 14 PPG: 3 SHG: 0 Shots: 198 S%: 10.6% GWG: 1 GTG: 0

RW Phil Kessel (SNP) 26 years old 5.5M per season 4 year deal 87 overall C/C-/C potential
Last years numbers: GP: 82 G: 56 A: 36 PTS: 92 +/-: 35 PIMS: 35 PPG: 9 SHG: 1 Shots: 350 S%: 12.7% GWG: 7 GTG: 1

C Kyle Turris (PLY) 25 years old 4.5M per season 4 year deal 87 overall B/B/B- potential
Last years numbers: GP: 82 G: 29 A: 55 PTS: 84 +/-: 32 PIMS: 24 PPG: 9 SHG: 0 Shots: 201 S%: 14.4% GWG: 6 GTG: 0

D Theo Peckham (DFD) 26 years old 3M per season 4 year deal 85 overall C/C/C potential
Last years numbers: GP: 57 G: 4 A: 12 PTS: 16 +/-: 11 PIMS: 22 PPG: 0 SHG: 0 Shots: 48 S%: 8.3% GWG: 0 GTG: 0

C Joe Colborne (TWF) 24 years old 2.5M per season 3 year deal 84 overall B-/B-/B potential
Last years numbersAHL) GP: 76 G: 30 A: 49 PTS: 79 +/-: -7 PIMS: 39 PPG: 9 SHG: 1 Shots: 247 S%: 12.1% GWG: 3 GTG: 0

D Jake Gardiner (OFD) 24 years old 1.5M per season 3 year deal 81 overall B-/C/A- potential
Last years numbers: (AHL) GP: 56 G: 9 A: 23 PTS: 32 +/-: -19 PIMS: 10 PPG: 6 SHG: 0 Shots: 112 S%: 8.0% GWG: 1 GTG: 0

LW Samuel Henley (PWF) 21 years old .925M per season 3 year deal 76 overall B/B/A- potential (Drafted in 2012 in the first round 16th overall by Toronto)

RW Brett Ritchie (PWF) 21 years old .925M per season 3 year deal 76 overall A/C/B potential (Drafted in 2013 in the fourth round 98th overall by Toronto)

RW Kenny Ryan (GRN) 23 years old .690M 1 year deal 74 overall C-/B-/C- potential
Last years numbersAHL) GP: 57 G: 6 A: 13 PTS: 19 +/-: -6 PIMS: 43 PPG: 0 SHG: 0 Shots: 82 S%: 7.3% GWG: 0 GTG: 0

LW Stephane Legault (TWF) 21 years old .895M per season 3 year deal 74 overall B/B/B- potential (Drafted in 2013 in the 6th round 157th overall by Toronto)

LW Brock McGuinn (TWF) 20 years old .895M per season 3 year deal 74 overall B-/A-/C potential (Drafted in 2012 in the 7th round 196 overall by Toronto)

So as you can see Toronto retained the core players they needed to get resigned while also signing in house drafted talent to help restock their AHL affiliate the Toronto Marlies.

Toronto releases:

C Paul Gaustad (forgot to get his stats but he’s old with no potential, he honestly wanted like 4 mil to resign, for three years. so LOL NO)

C Kevin Porter 28 years old 81 overall C/C/C potential

C Samuel Pahlsson 36 years old 80 overall D/D-/E potential

LW Jerry D'amigo 23 years old 76 overall C/B-/C potential

RW George Parros 34 years old 83 overall C/C-/C- potential

RW Matt Halischuk 26 years old 80 overall C/C/C potential

RW Mike Brown 29 years old 79 overall C-/C/C potential

D Kurtis Foster 32 years old 85 overall C/C/C potential

D Korbinian Holzer 26 years old 80 overall C/C-/C potential

D Jesse Blacker 23 years old 74 overall C/C/D- potential
With having most of the core team locked up, Toronto heads into free agency with roughly 14 million in cap space and the ability to chase big ticket free agents if Burke so chooses to.
Free agency:
Heading into free agency the word around the league was the Montreal Canadiens and Max Pacioretty would not be able to come to an agreement and as a result the Canadiens were seeking a trade, they were looking for big bodies to help fill the gaps on the smaller team and playoff experience would be a bonus, it didn’t take Burke long to swoop in and get a deal done .

Toronto trades:
D Marc-Andre Bergeron 33 years old 2.5M 1 year deal C-/C-/C- 82 overall
LW Viktor Stalberg 28 years old 1.2M 1 year remaining on his contract C/C/C- potential 81 overall
LW Justin Abdelkader 27 years old 1m 1 year remaining on his contract C/C/C potential 81 overall
C Oscar Moller 25 years old .875M 1 year remaining on his contract B-/C/C potential 81 overall
2015 3rd round pick (TOR)

To Montreal for:
The rights to LW Max Pacioretty 25 years old B-/C/C potential 86 overall
While Montreal receives two power forwards in the deal and a power play point producer along with potential at the center position there is no doubt the Canadiens are sour at having to move Pacioretty.

Toronto Signs free agents:
C Tyler Alos (TWF) 21 years old .750M per season 3 year deal 74 overall B/B-/B- potential
D Ryley Miller (TGH) 21 years old .600M per season 3 year deal 77 overall B-/B/B- potential
D Cole Hamblin (DFD) 21 years old .525M per season 3 year deal 75 overall B-/B-/B potential
D Dominik Bielke (DFD) 23 years old .525M per season 3 year deal 75 overall B-/B/C potential
D Simon Despres (TWD) 23 years old .895M per season 2 year deal 76 overall B-/B-/B- potential
RW Jared Staal (PWF) 24 years old .785M 1 year deal 76 overall B-/B-/B- potential
Here we see Burke refilling the Marlies with depth and potential talent, after having a successful season last year as well the Marlies will be looking for a return to a playoffs of their own and this new group of depth and talent should help them move in the right direction.

D Dan Boyle (OFD) 38 years old 3.3M 1 year deal 84 overall D-/D/D- potential
Being 38 years old it is no doubt that Boyle is in the twilight of his career, but there is also no doubt that he can still effectively move the puck up the ice and man the point on a power play, while Boyle may not be able to handle first line time, look for him to be a solid addition to a second or third line role in a deep Leafs squad.

G Al Montoya (HYB) 29 years old 1M 1 year deal 81 overall C/C/C potential
While Montoya enters as the undisputed back up behind Bobrovsky and is an upgrade of last years back up in Chris Mason, this move makes it clear that again Bobrovsky will have to shoulder the majority of the workload this season, and while he seemed to do so well last year, could fatigue contribute to the Leafs loss to Carolina in the playoffs?

D Sheldon Brookbank (TGH) 33 years old 1.2M 1 year deal 82 overall C-/C-/C- potential
This is a pure depth move, to give Toronto a tough guy when they need one. Largely dependent on the play of Toronto’s other D men will tell how much game time and ice time Brookbank will see.
C Anthony Stewart (PWF) 29 years old 1.4M 1 year deal 82 overall C/C/C potential
Stewart will be the ace in the pocket as it were, a big body capable of getting into those hard areas, he may see time on the wing here in Toronto as the center position is a deep one, but with the ability to play centre Stewarts role may shift, injury depending.

D Andrei Markov (OFD) 35 years old 4.9M 1 year deal 87 overall C-/C-/C- potential
Like Boyle, Markov is also entering the twilight of his career while still boasting strong puck moving and power play potential, it wouldn’t be unreasonable to foresee Markov playing on Toronto’s top units to add the veteran experience and leadership to a still very young Toronto team.

It wasn’t long after the Markov signing that Burke held a press conference detailing the signing of forward Max Pacioretty who was acquired earlier via trade with Montreal.
Pacioretty signed a 3 year deal worth 4M per season and 12M total.
With the additions made, and the pieces already here in Toronto, combined with the success of last season I would venture to guess that anything less than a return to the conference finals would be seen as an utter failure on all sides.

For TSN I am hockey insider Bob McKenzie.


Key Player Progression
D Luke Schenn (DFD) 24 years old 89 overall B-/B-/B WAS 88 C/B-/B-
C Nazem Kadri (PLY) 23 years old 86 overall B/B-/B- WAS 85 B/B/B-
C Kyle Turris (PLY) 25 years old 87 overall B/B/B- WAS 85 A-/B/B
C Joe Colborne (TWF) 24 years old 84 overall B-/B-/B WAS 80 B/B-/B
D Cody Franson (OFD) 27 years old 86 overall C/C/B- WAS 85 B-/B-/B-
RW Phil Kessel (SNP) 26 years old 87 overall C/C-/C WAS 87 C/C-/C
D Jake Gardiner (OFD) 24 years old 81 overall B-/C/A- WAS 80 B-/B-/B
RW Austin Watson (TWF) 22 years old 79 overall B/B/B- WAS 77 B/B/B
G Sergei Bobrovsky (HYB) 25 years old 88 overall C/C/C WAS 87 B-/B-/B
LW Magnus Paajarvi (TWF) 23 years old 87 overall B/B/B WAS 85 B/B/B
RW Rick Nash (PWF) 30 years old 91 overall C/C/C WAS 90 C/C/C
LW Max Pacioretty (PWF) 25 years old 86 overall B-/C/C WAS 85 B-/C/C

[Dynasty]

Quote: Originally Posted by Tazer19

Glad you were able to hang with the Leafs, nothing is worse than starting with a new team that you didn't build. I mean it can be fun because you get to make it your own, but a little bit of passion goes away, and you can't play or succeed at the greatest game on Earth without passion..... write that down.

Yeah I was surprised I got offered a five year deal, the first two years were bad and I missed the playoffs each time, never mind reach the conference finals like they wanted.

Quote: Originally Posted by bthomp05

Crap, damn Canes. Ow well, next year is your year Dynasty. Congratulations on the contract, now win us the CUP!!!!

Thanks for following bt, we have a very strong team this season and if they can't push into the finals I will be pretty pissed :P

Quote: Originally Posted by johnnyrocks

you will get them next year!!!

Thanks John, can't wait till I get to play them again. This is the year of the Leaf!

[bthomp05]

Great work in the Offseason Dynasty. You definetly picked up some quality depth. How close are you to the cap now?

[Dynasty]

Thanks man, I have just over 3 mil remaining to use if i need to.

[johnnyrocks]

Quote: Originally Posted by Dynasty

Thanks man, I have just over 3 mil remaining to use if i need to.

Save it for trades! Don't spend too much. I have 5 mill and all my players are 80+. If you use your money wisely, you can have such a great team!