Yardbarker: Niklas Hagman

Toronto Maple Leafs 2008-09 Season Preview

Tue, 30 Sep 2008 09:25:12 -0500

by Mike Jack, Mike Jack's Hockey Articles
The Toronto Maple Leafs, who have missed the play-offs for three consecutive seasons for the first time in over 80 years, have decided to rebuild with youth this off-season. As a result, the expectations placed on the Leafs will be even lower than the last couple seasons and we'll be seeing 8 or 9 new faces in the line-up. They've also given a face lift to their coaching staff, management and scouting staff.

Key Additions: Jeff Finger (D), Niklas Hagman (LW), Mikhail Grabovski (C), Jonas Frogren (D), Curtis Joseph (G), Jamal Mayers (RW), Ryan Hollweg (LW), Mike Van Ryn (D).

The Leafs greatest off-season pick up may be defenseman, Jeff Finger. The Leafs have been missing a defensive specialist on their back end for some time now and Finger was the best free agent defensive defenseman in their 20's available. Jonas Frogren will also provide a much needed defensive game. Hagman and Mayers are both physical players that can contribute offensively, while Hollweg will replace Wade Belak as the teams primary enforcer. Grabovski is a fast and creative youngster and could end up on Toronto's top line. Curtis (CuJo) Joseph returns but this time as a back-up to Vesa Toskala. He'll prove to be more reliable than former back-up, Andrew Raycroft. Mike Van Ryn will have to improve his defensive game if he wants to see ice time in Wilson's defensive system.

Key Departures: Bryan McCabe (D), Darcy Tucker (W), Andrew Raycroft (G), Kyle Wellwood (C).

McCabe's horrible defensive play has seen him leave town via a trade to Florida. The oft-injured Darcy Tucker was bought out in order to make room for youth and free up cap space. Raycroft was not a reliable back-up when Toskala suffered an injury last season, so he was bought out as well. Despite Wellwood's youth and potential, he was waived by the team because he's often injured and lacks interest in conditioning and rehabilitation.

Top Prospects: Nikolai Kulemin (W), Luke Schenn (D), Justin Pogge (G), John Mitchell (F)

Kulemin will most likely play on one of Toronto's top two lines after his excellent season in the Russian League last year. He's fast, tough and can score some goals. Head Coach, Ron Wilson has said Toronto's top pick in this year's draft, Luke Schenn, will not play for the Leafs this season unless he proves he can be one of the team's top four defenseman. So far in the pre-season, he's making a great case for himself. Justin Pogge will be the starter on the Leafs farm team, the Toronto Marlies. If Toskala happens to suffer an injury this season, you can bet that Pogge will see some NHL action.

Potential Line-Up:
Forward Lines:
Ponikarovsky/Grabovski/Antropov
Hagman/Steen/Kulemin
Tlusty/Stajan/Blake
Hollweg/Moore/Mayers

Defensive Pairings:
Kaberle/Finger
Kubina/Colaiacovo
Stralman/Frogren

Goaltenders:
Toskala, Joseph

Scratches:
Van Ryn, White, Bell, Devereaux

What Next?:
Toronto has a lot of cap room, but I wouldn't expect them to spend it unless it's on Mats Sundin. The only other move that may take place in the Leafs' near future would be to trade a defenseman if Luke Schenn can crack the line-up when the season starts.

Overall:
Since this is considered a rebuilding year for Toronto, there are very low expectations. The team will most likely not make the play-offs again this season. Although, Ron Wilson is a specialist at making underdog teams over achieve. Wilson will make the Leafs a great defensive team, and with a great goaltender like Vesa Toskala anything can happen.

HAGMAN, FINGER & CUJO: WHAT WILL THE MAPLE LEAFS DO NEXT?

Thu, 03 Jul 2008 19:50:05 -0500

by Mike Jack Yesterday, the Toronto Maple Leafs signed winger, Niklas Hagman, defenseman, Jeff Finger and goaltender Curtis Joseph on the first day of the NHL free agent signing period. Coach Ron Wilson has said Hagman will most likely play on a checking line with Jamal Mayers who was acquired in a trade with the St. Louis Blues just before the draft. Hagman scored 27 goals last season with the Dallas Star. He was signed for a reasonable $3 million per season. Finger, who played with Colorado last season, will play a defensive role and be paired with an offensive defenseman (Kaberle, Kubina or McCabe) on one of the teams top two pairing. Finger will be paid $3.5 million each season for the next four years. It seems like his contract is based on what Toronto GM, Cliff Fletcher thinks he can do, and not what he's done already which may be similar to what happened when Bryan McCabe was signed a few years ago, and that didn't really work out. Unlike McCabe though, Finger's proven that he's very skilled defensively. The risk is predicting the amount of offense he'll provide. Fletcher seems to think he's going to improve quite a bit. Joseph was the Leafs starting goaltender from 1998 to 2002, and now returns to back up Vesa Toskala. He left Toronto for a chance to win the Stanley Cup with Detroit, but ended up riding the pine when Dominik Hasek signed with Detroit soon after. Joseph signed with Toronto for only $700,000. He proved last season with Calgary that he can be effective in a back-up role despite being 41 years old. He's a way better goalie than Andrew Raycroft and they're paying him $1.5million less. That makes Raycroft's buy out cap hit of nearly $740,000 this season worth it. Now that the Leafs have gotten rid of most of their old players, CuJo will provide a veteran presence and mentor Toronto's younger goalies. The best part is that CuJo fans can now reuse and recycle their old Toronto CuJo jerseys, thus saving the planet. So, what's Toronto's next move? In a July 1st press conference, Fletcher said they'd sign another defenseman in the next couple days. I think the best fit of the remaining UFA defensemen is Steve Montador. They should be able to get him for less than $3 million and he's only 28 years old. If the Leafs do sign another defensemen though, they'll have eight defenseman signed (Tomas Kaberle, Pavel Kubina, McCabe, Finger, Anton Stralman, Ian White and Carlo Colaiacovo). I think that means that either Kubina, McCabe or maybe even Colaiacovo will be traded. Now that Brian Campbell, Mark Streit, Wade Redden, Michal Rozsival, Brooks Orpik and Ron Hainsey are all signed, teams looking for an offensive defenseman may be willing to dish out the dollars for McCabe or Kubina. McCabe said he'd waiver his no trade clause to go to New York because that's where his wife is from, but the Rangers just signed Redden and Rozsival and the Islanders signed Streit. The Islanders do still have nearly $19 million in cap space though, and may want another offensive defenseman. Since it's clear that Toronto know longer wants him, McCabe may be willing to settle for somewhere close to New York like New Jersey, Philadelphia or Buffalo. Kubina may have earned another chance with the Leafs after scoring 40 points last season, but at 31, he's now the fifth oldest Leaf and one of seven Leafs that are 30+. Kubina's contract only allows him to be traded before August 15th. Colaiacovo could be gone for the same reason that Kyle Wellwood left, he's hurt often. If Kubina or McCabe go, he'd be a good sixth or seventh defenseman though. If Luke Schenn, the 5th overall pick in the 2008 draft, makes a push in camp, he may too take Colaiacovo's spot. Now, that most of the really good UFA forwards have been signed, I think the Leafs might resign Mats Sundin (pictured backed when he had hair). They have $10.8 million in cap space, and it seems like Fletcher is going to stand firm on his $7 million offer. That's a descent raise from the $5.5 million he made last year but obviously a lot less than Vancouver's offer of $10 million per season. That would make him the highest paid player in the league. I don't think anyone will match that, so he'll probably either go to the Canucks or the Leafs. I think Sundin will be willing to take a pay cut to be where he wants to be just like Marian Hossa did. I don't think he'll sign until August though. Sundin has also received offers from the Canadiens and the Rangers. I think the Leafs will give Jason Blake another shot. He'll be 35 this season, but he had some stuff to deal with next year like cancer. He could still be a top scorer. It looks like the Leafs may be keeping Mark Bell around too. I think that huge hit on Daniel Alfredsson at the end of the year saved his career. Besides Fletcher's promise to sign another defenseman soon, any other moves the Leafs perform this off season will depend on whether or not they trade Kubina or McCabe and whether or not Sundin decides to sign back with Toronto.< These situations may not be resolved for another month. Toronto has just enough cap space right now to sign Sundin and a top six defenseman. If Kubina or McCabe are dealt or if Sundin signs elsewhere, they'll have some more cap room to bring in a two or three younger second or third line UFA forwards like Josef Vasicek, Antti Meittinen, Matt Cooke and/or Jason Williams.

WHO WILL THE MAPLE LEAFS SIGN?

Sat, 28 Jun 2008 03:45:43 -0500

by Mike Jack, Staff Writer

General Manager, Cliff Fletcher has accumulated quite the pile of money by relinquishing the likes of Darcy Tucker, Andrew Raycroft, Hal Gill, Chad Kilger, Kyle Wellwood and Wade Belak. Captain, Mats Sundin, Dominic Moore and John Pohl are unrestricted free agent that may not sign back with the team. The only restricted free agent from the Leafs is Matt Stajan. He's been given a qualifying offer by the Leafs which will apparently go to arbitration if he doesn't sign an offer sheet with another team. I think Stajan is too much of a Leafs fan to sign with another team though.

With the NHL free agent signing period just three days away (July 1^st), it could be a wild free agent season for the rebuilding Toronto Maple Leafs. If the Leafs choose not to go for their own unrestricted free agents, they'll have about $18 million in cap space available to sign younger unrestricted free agents with their only real roster needs being three forwards and a back-up goalie.

So, with $18 million to spend, here are the top five players the Leafs should offer a contract to on July 1^st:

5. Jeff Finger, Defenseman

The Leafs may need a defensive defenseman on their second defensive pairing. Hal Gill was suppose to be that guy last year, but a younger defensive player like Finger or Brooks Orpik will do them one better. They'll definitely need another defenseman or two if they decide to trade Pavel Kubina this summer or if they send McCabe to the minors. If they make either of those moves, they may use the cap space they'll save to get a younger offensive defenseman as well.

4. Wade Dubielewicz, Goaltender

With the buying out of Andrew Raycroft and farmhand, Scott Clemmenson becoming an unrestricted free agent, the Leafs need a back-up for Vesa Toskala. Some may say they should give Justin Pogge a shot, but Justin Pogge definitely needs to learn how to be a consistent AHL goalie before he sees any time in the NHL. Pogge was Clemmenson's back-up for most of the Marlies play-off run. Unlike Raycroft, Dubielewicz know his role as a back-up. He prepares himself as such by training himself to be ready to save his team when his starter goes down. When Toskala was hurt last season and the Leafs needed Raycroft to step up, they went on a huge losing streak. Dubie may not have had a lot of wins last season, buy his .919 save percentage speaks for itself. Other younger back-ups the Leafs may go for should include Alex Auld and Curtis Sanford. Any of these goalies could be signed for less than half of what Raycroft was making.

3. Patrick Rissmiller, Winger

Rissmiller is a tough third line player that has played under coach, Ron Wilson. He along with newly acquired Jamal Mayers could help fill the gap in grit left by the absence of Tucker, Kilger and Belak. If they don't get Rissmiller, then maybe they could go for Matt Cooke.

2. Kristian Huselius, Winger

During this free agent season, the major thing the Leafs need is a super-star forward in their 20's - maybe even two or three if they decide to trade Jason Blake. Huselius may not be a super-star yet, but he is the second best younger unrestricted forward available. He had 25 goal and 66 points 2007-08, and 34 goals and 77 points in 2008-09. If he were on the Leafs, he'd probably see a lot of time on their top line. Other younger forwards that the Leafs may go for are Radim Vrbata, Ryan Malone, Niklas Hagman, Jason Williams, Josef Vasicek, Antti Miettinen and Pascal Dupuis.

1. Marian Hossa, Winger

Hossa is the younger super-star the Leafs need to get if they don't sign Sundin. Though Hossa had one of his worst regular seasons last year, he proved he can perform in the play-offs by finishing third in play-off scoring. Hossa has the potential to score 100 points this season and he's remained healthy virtually his entire career. Hossa is also eight years younger than Sundin. Sundin is apparently looking for $7 million next season, and Hossa is looking for slightly more. What kind of drama would this add to the battle of Ontario? Hossa was once a star on the Ottawa Senators before getting traded in the Dany Heatley deal.

Richards best game as a Star

Sun, 27 Apr 2008 23:23:20 -0500

Brad Richards is showing that he was a better deadline accusation than the Sharks Brian Campbell, at least in the playoffs. Even though Richards didn't play a great game in the first game he came out firing on all cylinders in the third period of game two. He first tied the game 2-2 when Joe Pavelski took a pass in his own zone and lost an edge and gave up the puck when it looked like Richards had him lined up for a big hit. Richards took the puck and buried it past Evgeni Nabokov only 32 seconds into the third. Next he helped Sergei Zubov set up Mike Modano for a one timer on the powerplay that was blasted past Nabby. Then it looked as if Nabby took the rest of the game off cause he let in a bad goal when Richards centered the puck from behind the net and Niklas Hagman scored his first goal of the playoffs on the short side. Richards finished off his 4 point third period with an assist on Hagam's empty net goal and yet was not picked as one of the 3 stars of the game. I don't know who picks the 3 stars but I don't think he watched this game.

Monday Ice Water Cooler

Mon, 18 Feb 2008 14:10:47 -0500

The Cooler takes a bit of a look at the hot and not...and a little preview of what this month's Hockey Around The Horn may just look like.

The Fantasy Hockey Ice and Fire Report

Wed, 13 Feb 2008 01:39:57 -0500

On Fire This Week: The Dallas Stars They've got 6 straight wins, 20 goals for and only 9 against in that span. The Stars have loads of players playing well right now, and some that aren't they guys you'd expect. Starting in goal, Marty Turco is solid. He has 4 wins in a row, but has missed the last tqo with a sore neck. Mike Smith has filled in wonderfully, with a shutout and anther win. Both are viable fantasy options, and it looks like both are going to see some time as Dallas readies for the playoffs. On Ice This Week: The New York Islanders Seven losses in a row, that's the worst steak under Head Coach Ted Nolan. Sure they've had injuries and the flu has run through that locker room, but the problem is they're not getting enough offense – 11 goals for in 7 games is bad… 27 goals against is worse. And you can't put the blame on goalie Rick DiPietro. He's looked really good at times, but he's not getting enough help. His 0-6-2 record over his last 8 starts is a little troubling, and it's hurting his fantasy value. He is still making about 30 saves per game, and he'll keep playing in almost all of them. But until the guys in front of him start generating more offense, his wins total isn't going to be great.

Monday Ice Water Cooler.....

Mon, 21 Jan 2008 18:25:15 -0500

Yep...the Cooler takes a look at what a good day it was to be well....a fan of the Giants and especially the Devils....and just a little more as always.