cferneyh Wrote:Well, I don't think their D is as bad as everyone assumes (especially with Carlo and White playing well for stretches this year). If they only allowed the 8th fewest shots in the league, then clearly they are doing something right. Combine that with finishing 8th in goals for, they are a top 10 team.....except for the goaltender.
I don't know who or what goalie would be available, but Sundin's window as a point-a-game player is coming to a close, so if they are bringing him back (which is 99% certain), then get a real frickin goalie and make a run at it. I just don't know what the price tag on getting a Toskela or whoever would be.
Let's break this down by position.
D - I'm not convinced that shots allowed is a good way to rate the strength of your defense. It's not necessarily about the quantity, but rather the quality of the scoring chances allowed, and that's hard to capture with a stat like that. I do agree that White and Carlo played well at times this year, though it remains to be seen if Carlo will ever be able to shake the injury bug (since playing his first game 4 seasons ago, he's managed only 73 career NHL games). And the more they emerge, the more one wonders what JFJ was smoking when he locked so much money into the other 4 guys for so long. In the end though, it seems likely that there's not going to be any changes on D next year anyway, so let's move on to the other positions.
Goal - You mentioned Toskala, but I believe he is under contract next year, though I am having a hard time finding a complete list of potential UFA's from reliable source. From what I can find, the only potential big name out there is JS Giguere, but there's no way the Leafs would be in the running for him. JFJ doesn't appear to want to give up on Raycroft, and given that, the best we can hope for is someone that will challenge Raycroft for the number one job (and who knows, maybe even push him to perform better). Potential UFA's that might fit that bill include Mathieu Garon and Niklas Backstrom, though it's hard to say how much Backstrom will go for. He has played very well this year, but still has only 41 games of NHL experience, so there's no guarantee he'll be able to keep up this pace next season (see Raycroft's rookie year stats as evidence of that). The other viable option, as you mentioned earlier, would be to find someone cheap in the AHL that can make the jump and fill that role. Or of course, JFJ can follow Grapes' advice and bring Cujo back.
hock:
Forwards - Yes, they did finish 8th in goals for, but some credit for that has to go to their defense. If you take away Sundin, the leading scorer up front had 45 points. That's a little concerning to me, so as tough as it will be to land one, JFJ needs to make a play for a first-liner. One of Gomez, Smyth, or Blake, in the $5-$6M range, would be the most realistic targets. With whatever money is left, he's got to decide which, if any, of his UFA's to try to bring back. O'Neil, Perrault, and Green are all as good as gone, while Antropov, Devereaux, and Battaglia would be possible candidates to return. That leaves Peca, who I'd consider bringing back, but only for a significant cut from the $2.5 million he made last year. And even at a lower salary, if they did land one of the big name forwards, there's not likely to be anything left over to sign Peca with anyway, so he'd probably have to go too.
The Nucks lost last night but seeing the Sens lose today cheered me up a little. 
Sure looks to me like Roberts is one of the best Pens so far during this series.
Sean Avery continues to be a huge factor for the Rangers, he scored the first goal & made a beauty pass to set up Shanahan for the winner. Jaromir Jagr had another strong game today, while Ilya Kovalchuk & Marian Hossa were all but invisible for the second straight game. Aside from a couple of shifts, Kovalchuk didn't do much offensively, and I really didn't notice Hossa in the game at all, he needs to be a lot better for the Thrashers to have any hope at all.
