PunBB

I like the move for Allison. Relatively low risk... if he doesn't work out he doesn't kill your salary cap, but if he plays like he did before getting hurt then you've got yourself a heck of a player.

And I wouldn't pay $4M for Aucoin... but oh yeah, Toronto's D is a bit scary. Berg and Pilar are goals for the other team just waiting to happen, Kaberle must have a "no-shoot" clause in his contract, and McCabe can play really well but is also prone to some of the most egregious "brain farts" I've ever seen.

Leaf fans, get your Gravol... it's gonna be a bumpy ride.

j-monster Wrote:Leaf fans, get your Gravol... it's gonna be a bumpy ride.

Maybe so, but it will likely be a short one...

It's pretty obvious JFJ is quietly setting himself up for next summer, when the likes of Hossa, Thornton, Redden and Chara (among many others) will all go to the highest bidder.

As it stands now, only Sundin, O'Neill and Domi are on the payroll for 2006-2007, meaning the Leafs will have in the neighbourhood of $30M worth of spending money next summer to reload the team (assuming another $39M cap) with younger, "new CBA" UFAs...My hunch is alot of the signings we've seen in the past week will look pretty silly by this time next year...

As for the immediate future, you can bet the local mediots will latch onto the Marlies to help ease the pain caused by the "transitional season" at the ACC...

MikeS Wrote:It's pretty obvious JFJ is quietly setting himself up for next summer, when the likes of Hossa, Thornton, Redden and Chara (among many others) will all go to the highest bidder.

As it stands now, only Sundin, O'Neill and Domi are on the payroll for 2006-2007, meaning the Leafs will have in the neighbourhood of $30M worth of spending money next summer to reload the team (assuming another $39M cap) with younger, "new CBA" UFAs...My hunch is alot of the signings we've seen in the past week will look pretty silly by this time next year...

It's funny how it is pretty obvious (at least to you and I and a couple of other Leaf fans I know), but the vast majority of Leaf fans can't see what is going on. Apparently most Leaf fans aren't aware of a little something called "the salary cap" and/or the ramifications of committing to anything this year.

cferneyh Wrote:

MikeS Wrote:It's pretty obvious JFJ is quietly setting himself up for next summer, when the likes of Hossa, Thornton, Redden and Chara (among many others) will all go to the highest bidder.

As it stands now, only Sundin, O'Neill and Domi are on the payroll for 2006-2007, meaning the Leafs will have in the neighbourhood of $30M worth of spending money next summer to reload the team (assuming another $39M cap) with younger, "new CBA" UFAs...My hunch is alot of the signings we've seen in the past week will look pretty silly by this time next year...

It's funny how it is pretty obvious (at least to you and I and a couple of other Leaf fans I know), but the vast majority of Leaf fans can't see what is going on. Apparently most Leaf fans aren't aware of a little something called "the salary cap" and/or the ramifications of committing to anything this year.

As a representative of the vast majority, I would like to say that we are most concerned that "Wait Till Next Year" is, if you guys are to be believed, now an OFFICIAL team policy.

The Leafs never went out and got real superstars via free agency when money was no object and they had gads of it. I don't know on what basis you see Thornton, Redden, Chara, and Hossa suiting up for the Leafs next year. First of all, they can't afford four of them. Second of all, other teams have money to spend too and the Leafs can't blow them out of the water becuase of the cap, even if they were willing to (which, unless you're an aging gimpy has-been, the Leafs has never been prepared to do). And third of all, they're free agents and they have to be willing to sign with the Leafs, which, my Toronto-centricism aside, is not a given.

Cfrenyh, you dismiss the Domi signing and say that he sucks, but don't you see it as symptomatic of this organization's approach to spending money (yes, I know it's their money and they can spend it how they want and I have no right to bitch because, I don't know, because professional sports is real life, or something, and it's not my money) and signing players. Spending ANY money on Domi is a dumb move, and giving him a two-year deal was especially dumb.

Forgive me if I don't think that Ferguson has some grand plan or ace up his sleeve for good ole Next Year. Or, even if he has one, that he'll pull it off with the masterstroke that you guys seem to take for granted.

As Calgary, and the Ducks, and the Hurricanes have proved recently, any team can go to the Cup final in any given year. [And before you say it, losing in the Cup final is WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYY better than not getting there at all]. Any team can go to the Cup final in any given year, unless, of course, they've already written off their season in July and August.

ct

Chris Tanz Wrote:As a representative of the vast majority, I would like to say that we are most concerned that "Wait Till Next Year" is, if you guys are to be believed, now an OFFICIAL team policy.

The Leafs never went out and got real superstars via free agency when money was no object and they had gads of it. I don't know on what basis you see Thornton, Redden, Chara, and Hossa suiting up for the Leafs next year. First of all, they can't afford four of them. Second of all, other teams have money to spend too and the Leafs can't blow them out of the water becuase of the cap, even if they were willing to (which, unless you're an aging gimpy has-been, the Leafs has never been prepared to do). And third of all, they're free agents and they have to be willing to sign with the Leafs, which, my Toronto-centricism aside, is not a given.

Cfrenyh, you dismiss the Domi signing and say that he sucks, but don't you see it as symptomatic of this organization's approach to spending money (yes, I know it's their money and they can spend it how they want and I have no right to bitch because, I don't know, because professional sports is real life, or something, and it's not my money) and signing players. Spending ANY money on Domi is a dumb move, and giving him a two-year deal was especially dumb.

Forgive me if I don't think that Ferguson has some grand plan or ace up his sleeve for good ole Next Year. Or, even if he has one, that he'll pull it off with the masterstroke that you guys seem to take for granted.

As Calgary, and the Ducks, and the Hurricanes have proved recently, any team can go to the Cup final in any given year. [And before you say it, losing in the Cup final is WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYY better than not getting there at all]. Any team can go to the Cup final in any given year, unless, of course, they've already written off their season in July and August.

ct

No, I don't see the Domi signing as symptomatic of the organization. If the "Domi clause" were widespread, then Nieuwendyk and Roberts would be back in the fold too. Hell, Steve Thomas might be also.

My biggest concern with the Domi signing is that I get the impression it came down from Tannenbaum since he and Domi are buddies. If T-bum is gonna start making GM decisions on a regular basis, then we might be in for another batch of the Ballard years {{shudder}}.

I think it is pretty clear what JFJ is doing here and it amazes me that anyone could think that rather than waiting to see how the dust settles with (a) the new rules and (b) league revenues - which will dictate future cap levels, that a better strategy would be to throw large sums of money at big oaf d-men (Hatcher), injury prone superstars (Forsberg), or giving 2nd tier players 1st tier money. Honestly Chris, is there one single player out there who was/is available as a free agent that made you say: "Man, if the Leafs got him they'd fer sure win the Cup this year!" Anyone?

I'm not saying that it is guaranteed that the Leafs are going to get any of the big name UFAs next year, but I'd at least prefer them to have the opportunity to (which they will) with more information on what the new cap will be (which will be known) and with more information on which players are more successful with the new rules (which will also be a known).

I simply don't see the better alternative being "let's sign Hatcher and Forsberg to fat contracts and see what happens!!!!"

Funny that you bring up the Flames. I'm sure you'd be thrilled if the Leafs missed the playoffs for 8 years in a row (or whatever it was) and then made the Cup final but lost. Considering your impatience with them right now in AUGUST, I think that's a crock of shit.

Anyway, I'll shut up now. We're simply not gonna agree on this one.

Chris Tanz Wrote:As a representative of the vast majority, I would like to say that we are most concerned that "Wait Till Next Year" is, if you guys are to be believed, now an OFFICIAL team policy.

The Leafs never went out and got real superstars via free agency when money was no object and they had gads of it. I don't know on what basis you see Thornton, Redden, Chara, and Hossa suiting up for the Leafs next year. First of all, they can't afford four of them. Second of all, other teams have money to spend too and the Leafs can't blow them out of the water becuase of the cap, even if they were willing to (which, unless you're an aging gimpy has-been, the Leafs has never been prepared to do). And third of all, they're free agents and they have to be willing to sign with the Leafs, which, my Toronto-centricism aside, is not a given.

Chris, I wasn't suggesting they sign ALL of them, merely that the Leafs will be very nicely positioned to make a run at next summer's younger UFA crop, which IMHO are far more desireable than the Forsbergs, Hatchers and Amontes that were available last week...Hell, just the threat of the Leafs making large offers to Hossa and Chara ought to make most sober Sens fans VERY worried...

Quote:Spending ANY money on Domi is a dumb move, and giving him a two-year deal was especially dumb.

Then the Pens (who reportedly had a 3-year deal at more than $1.5M per on the table) must be complete morons...Say what you will about Domi, the guy is part of the fabric of this team (and, by extension this city); he's up there with Sundin in terms of seniority, truly bleeds blue and white and dare I say, next to Pinball Clemons, he might be the most popular pro sports personality in the city right now thanks to all his charity and social work (not to mention his Quizno's commercials!)... :lol:

Quote: Forgive me if I don't think that Ferguson has some grand plan or ace up his sleeve for good ole Next Year. Or, even if he has one, that he'll pull it off with the masterstroke that you guys seem to take for granted.

I'm not writing off this season at all...If the rumours today prove to be true and the Leafs add yet another T.O. boy in Lindros (once again on a one-year deal), JFJ will have added three players averaging 30 years of age who previously led their NHL clubs in scoring for less than $5M TOTAL...and he still has more than $5M to play with (hello Anson Carter?)...he's hardly throwing in the towel on this year...

I agree with cferneyh that in the grand scheme of things the more prudent strategy might be to wait and see how the new rules play out and which players can best adapt to the changes before throwing tens of millions of dollars at "pre-Armageddon" NHL stars in long term deals...thats all...

cferneyh Wrote:We're simply not gonna agree on this one.

yeah, but we're raising the level of debate. and that's important too.

ct

cferneyh Wrote:

MikeS Wrote:It's pretty obvious JFJ is quietly setting himself up for next summer, when the likes of Hossa, Thornton, Redden and Chara (among many others) will all go to the highest bidder.

As it stands now, only Sundin, O'Neill and Domi are on the payroll for 2006-2007, meaning the Leafs will have in the neighbourhood of $30M worth of spending money next summer to reload the team (assuming another $39M cap) with younger, "new CBA" UFAs...My hunch is alot of the signings we've seen in the past week will look pretty silly by this time next year...

It's funny how it is pretty obvious (at least to you and I and a couple of other Leaf fans I know), but the vast majority of Leaf fans can't see what is going on. Apparently most Leaf fans aren't aware of a little something called "the salary cap" and/or the ramifications of committing to anything this year.

cfern, do you think you can give the Toronto Sun a call and explain this concept to Strac and Simmons then? Otherwise I think Simmons is going to have an artery burst ranting against Ferguson, and Strac's ego will keep ballooning until his head explodes... and wouldn't that create an ungodly mess?

Of course, if the plan does end up working to perfection and the Leafs land Joe Thornton (damn, wouldn't he look good in a Leaf uni?), then these guys will praise Ferguson to the highest heavens. Must be a nice gig to be Strac or Simmons these days... who cares if they're right or not? :roll:

j-monster Wrote:Must be a nice gig to be Strac or Simmons these days... who cares if they're right or not? :roll:

And don't forget the uber-genius Damien Cox.

It's always been a nice gig for those clowns. Watch sports and bitch and complain about it for a living. Then when they are proven wrong - which they are 90% of the time - they've moved on to something else to bitch and complain about.

I've said it before and I'll say it again. If those guys are so smart how come they've never been NHL GM's? Surely the money would be A LOT better, and they'd get a chance to prove just how smart they are (which is to say, not very).