SB Nation - Jonas Frogren

Kadri Cut, Hanson and Frogren sent to Marlies

Chemmy — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 15:52:28 -0000

Nasty Nazem will be back.

Nazem Kadri has been returned to his OHL club the London Knights as per Jonas Siegel at AM640. This is the right move for a number of reasons: Kadri needs to bulk up to dominate at the NHL level and survive the rigors of an 82 game schedule against grown men.

This means that Kadri's RFA deal doesn't kick in until next year which is a big relief to those of us with brains. Kadri will be looked on in London to lead a very good OHL club run by the Hunters which has been described by many as an NHL player factory.

This move has nothing to do with Kadri's ability to play hockey and this writer can't wait for next summer to see Kadri come back bigger and meaner. Start the campaign now: Kadri wears the C for Team Canada at the WJHC.

Christian Hanson has been returned to the Marlies along with Jonas Frogren. Frogren is a disposable piece at this point. Hanson on the other hand looks good and will probably see time with the Leafs during the season depending on how things shake out with the vets. It's good to have players like Hanson chomping at the bit to make sure vets don't think their job is secure.

At this time Tyler Bozak and Viktor Stalberg remain with the big club.

Truculence Incorporated - Brian Burke CEO

blurr1974 — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 09:00:57 -0000

More photos » by Darren Calabrese - AP

I like you, let's hug!

Browse more photos »

After watching the game last night, I had one thought: So that's what a good GM does. Years of ineptitude, which is far more painful to watch than mediocrity, had me convinced GM's just were not that important. I was happy Burke signed on, but seeing as how Cliff didn't do much but change the faces of the team, I didn't think good ol' BB was going to fair much better. I was wrong.

Seems like the rest of the Barilkosphere had a thought or two as well.

First, the Truthulence speaks a word about truculence.
Steve from Hockey Talk is thinking some of the blue on the Leafs unis might be left on the opposing team, in the form of bruises. Truculence!
TSM likes what he saw from the new kids. And the truculence.
MLHS has quite a few thoughts as well. In summary, Bozak - good. Allison -bad. Beauchemin and Frogren - truculence.
The Hockey-Bums makes note of the fact that Garnet Exelby (it's XLB gang...) did what he was brought here to do. Truculence!
The Two Line pass has some photographic proof of the skills of one Viktor Stalberg and notes losses like this can be fun to watch. Thanks to the truculence.
John Mitchell is the reason Jonas Gustavsson signed with the Leafs. He's also been known to show some mother(expletive deleted) truculence.
Branching out, here's a completely unbiased opinion on the Leafs opposition to the Hamilton Coyotes. Tr....no, that's not it, more like "meh."
Finally, hair tips, from Kerry Fraser (with a glove tap to mf37 for the link) and not an ounce of truculence to be found.

UPDATED

The Zambonic Youth's Godd Till is a hep cat, and he's got a few words for us senior citizens. One of them better be "truculence."
The Hungry Leafs Fan was at the game last night. Do not adjust your TV set, these Leafs really were the personification of truculence.
HockeyCentric wonders where Tlusty was last night

Poll

Trade Matt Stajan:

Yesterday

31 votes

Tomorrow

16 votes

Next week

33 votes

Sooner than that

18 votes

I'm sorry, who?

32 votes

130 votes | Poll has closed

Toronto Maple Leafs Announce 2009 Training Camp Roster (2X Updated)

PPP — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 23:23:05 -0000

Update September 21 10:11PM - Ice Chips has notes on the Leafs' latest cuts and it looks like Blacker is back in Windsor.

Update: I've updated the training camp roster after Burke's first round of cuts. You can find the full list of cuts here.

Thanks to Jared for posting a FanShot with news that the Toronto Maple Leafs have released their 2009 training camp roster. Here's the complete list and I'll update it as cuts are made.

Forwards		Defence		Goaltenders
Jason Allison	~~Dale Mitchell~~	Francois Beauchemin	~~Juraj Mikus~~	~~Andrew Engelage~~
~~Alex Berry~~	John Mitchell	~~Jesse Blacker~~	~~Phil Oreskovic~~	Beau Erickson
Jason Blake	~~Ben Ondrus~~	~~Josh Engel~~	~~Todd Perry~~	Jonas Gustavsson
~~Darryl Boyce~~	Colton Orr	Garnet Exelby	Andy Rogers	Joey MacDonald
Tyler Bozak	Alexei Ponikarovsky	Jeff Finger	~~Joe Ryan~~	~~James Reimer~~
Tim Brent	Wayne Primeau	Jonas Frogren	Luke Schenn	Vesa Toskala
~~Joel Champagne~~	~~Kyle Rogers~~	Carl Gunnarson	Barron Smith
Jamie Devane	Jay Rosehill	Tomas Kaberle	~~Juha Uotila~~
~~Andre Deveaux~~	Gr~~eg Scott~~	Mike Komisarek	Mike Van Ryn
~~Alex Foster~~	~~Robert Slaney~~	~~Brandon Manning~~	Ian White
~~Stefano Giliati~~	Viktor Stalberg
Mikhail Grabovski	Matt Stajan
~~Richard Greenop~~	~~Mikhail Stefanovich~~
Niklas Hagman	Lee Stempniak
~~Ryan Hamilton~~	Jiri Tlusty
Christian Hanson	Rickard Wallin
Nazem Kadri	John Kurtz
Nikolai Kulemin	Jamal Mayers

Musings of Interest: Anton Stralman

Kent Wilson — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 16:59:29 -0000

One of the "throw-in" guys in the Primeau swap, Stralman is actually a fairly interesting player - one who might make life interesting for any number of Calgary defenders on the big club's perimeter. The 23 year old already has 88 NHL games under his belt and has put up points in some good leagues this far in his career.

Stralman was a 7th round pick by the Maple Leafs back in 2005. The next year, he made the leap to the Swedish Elite League as a teenager, managing 9 points in 45 games. He stayed in Sweden for one more season, this time garnering more ice and better results:

Stralman played for Sweden in the 2005 and 2006 world junior championships before graduating to the Swedish Elite League and national team this season. He scored 10 goals and 11 assists in 53 games for Timra IK of the Swedish Elite League, earned a first team all-star berth, and was named one of the top three players for his country at the world championships last week in Moscow.

Those are some nice results for a youngster in high level surroundings.

From there, Stralman made the leap directly to the NHL, playing in 50 games and scoring 9 points. He was completely sheltered during his rookie season, averaging less than 13 minutes of ice per game, which isn't terribly unusal for really young, inexperienced defenders. It's notable that Stralman was prefered over the much older Staffan Kronwall who was also on the Leafs at the time - Kronwall appeared in just 18 games for Toronto that year.

This past season, the Leafs added Jeff Finger, Luke Schenn, Mike Van Ryn and 28 year old rookie Jonas Frogren. Stralman was pushed down the depth chart a bit as a result and only saw 38 games in the show. Nevertheless, his ES and PP ice time climbed a tad to 12:13 and 2:38 respectively. On the farm, Stralman tied for the highest scoring defenseman on the Marlies (with...Staffan Kronwall!) in terms of goals with 7, despite only playing in 36 games.

Stralman's advanced stats from last season are limited in their power given the small sample of games, but worth looking at anyways:

QofC: -0.05 (2nd easiest amongst defensemen)

QofT: 0.00 (middling)

corsi: +6.6 (best amongst defensemen, tied with Kaberle)

ESP/60: 0.94 (best)

GA/60: 2.69 (3rd best)

Some encouraging numbers for a 22 year old. His circumstances look similar to Frogren (who put up mostly inferior rates) at behindthenet, but the truth is the older and bigger player was deployed in less offense rich situations, including 19 more defensive zone than offensive zone draws. Stralman was the opposite - he got the Phaneuf/Giordano treatment with 49 more face-offs at the good end of the ice.

The immediate future for Stralman is murky, at best. The word on Stralman is he has good offensive abilities and instincts, but is still something of a liability in his own end of the ice. He's probably a step ahead of guys like Palin and Pelech due to his 88 games of NHL experience, but he's clearly behind a guy like Mark Giordano who is older, more tested and put up better advanced stats at ES last season. Adam Pardy is probably also ahead of Stralman on the Flams depth chart, although the latter might be the superior prospect owing to their relative difference in age, past results, potential ceilings, etc. Their difference in styles and the fact that Stralman's abilities are already replicated on the roster by guys like Gio and Dion Phaneuf may also swing the coaching staff's preference in favor of Pardy.

Although he may be waiver eligible according to capgeek, Stralman is also behind the aforementioned Kronwall owing to Staffan's one-way NHL contract. That said, I can't see the team balking at sending Kronwall's 500k to the farm should Stralman prove to be the superior player. Either way, the organization risks losing one (or both) of these guys to the waiver wire should the club start shuttling them between the farm and parent teams this season. That will no doubt make for a competitive pre-season between the two as well as an intricate dance when the year gets going and the first injury comes down the pipe.

New trends in the NHL, thanks to the CBA

PeterR — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 11:00:14 -0000

If you're beginning to notice new trends in the ways NHL teams assemble their talent, you're not alone. As GMs begin to get used to the collective bargaining agreement, salary cap, and find new loopholes to defeat the purpose of that salary cap, you're going to see all sorts of new ways of putting together an NHL team.

Obviously, there's still the old-fashioned way of building from within. The Detroit Red Wings seem to have mastered that technique, and have proven that it can work in the new NHL. But it takes time, and it takes very good scouting and player-development staff--things not every team has.

There's also the free-agent acquisition way, which the New York Rangers are infamous for, and the Tampa Bay Lightning so horribly failed at last season. It doesn't seem to work nearly as well.

And new trends are certainly popping up. Teams don't want to lose their star players, and pay--or overpay--them to stick around. When working with a salary cap, though, this usually means bringing in some cheaper talent--prospects on entry-level deals playing in roles with more responsibility, undrafted players from Europe being wooed to North America, and undrafted college prospects joining the ranks of their drafted brethren on cheap contracts.

What does this mean for the league? Obviously, we're gettign some funny looking contracts. And it sure looks like the middle-class of players might be getting the squeeze in favour of expensive stars and cheap youngsters.

(Read more... )

On this past Wednesday, Steve Zipay from Newsday put together his 'All-Free-Agent' team, consisting entirely of players who, for some reason or another, haven't yet been signed to contracts for the upcoming season. It consists of some pretty big names and established NHLers:

Tanguay-Sundin- Sykora
Williams -Lang-Afinogenov
Pyatt-Malhotra-Satan
Bertuzzi-Betts-Grier

Extras? Your choices. Perrin, Niedermeyer, Comrie, Hinote, Shanny, Moore. I'm sure I've missed some.

Defense:
Seidenberg-Schneider
Morris-Bergeron
Alberts-Zubov
Murphy

Goaltenders:
Fernandez
Gerber
Legace
Biron

Not a bad team at all, in my opinion. And these aren't 'expensive' acquisitions, in most cases; anywhere from $2M to $4M, less in some cases, would likely be enough to get these players under contract. But with a good number of young players being brought into the league to fill out rosters, there's beginning to be less room for these middle-of-the-road veterans on NHL rosters.

These unsigned players are one of the new trends in NHL cap management: Most NHL teams are up against the cap, and aren't able to sign free agents, even those as attractive as some of the names above. My previous NHL 2K9 season demonstrated a microcosm of what's happening now, and that's that teams will spend to the cap keeping their team intact, rarely leaving enough room for much in the way of free-agent signings. It'll mean some lesser stars, including second-liners, will have to take serious salary cuts or wait it out until, half-way through the season, their cap hit won't be so high.

We've all also seen significant superstar movement, where players' contracts expire and they (or the franchise) decides to move in another direction. This past July 1, it was significant. But there are other more subtle occurences that are presenting themselves, and may become trends as the current collective bargaining agreement and salary cap force teams into coming up with creative solutions to difficult situations.

Something you might begin to see more of are signings such as that the Rangers made with centre Tyler Arnason, and the New Jersey Devils signed with defenceman Cory Murphy. Both players are NHL veterans who, due to in all likelihood new trends in cap-management, signed two-way contracts with their respective new NHL teams. Arnason, in particular, has played 487 games in his career, but signed his deal that would see him earn only $700k even if he stays in the NHL, and far less if the team re-assigns him to the AHL for budgetary reasons. Murphy has less experience, with 79 games played over his two seasons, but also signed a two-way deal for $975k if he stays in the big leagues. These two-way contracts reflect one thing, above all: Teams need flexibility. The freedom to send an NHL-calibre player back and forth from their minor-league affiliate is as valuable as the player himself.

One thing you'll definitely see more of, at least until the NHL closes the existing loophole, is heavily frontloaded long-term contracts, such as that given to Marian Hossa by the Chicago Blackhawks. Hossa's almost unprecedented 12-year , $62.4M deal has an annual cap hit of $5.2M but is structured so that it will pay him $7.9M for the first seven years, going down in the final five to $4M, $1M, $1M, $750k, and $750k--meaning that almost 89 per cent of the money will be paid to Hossa with the contract less than two-thirds of its way through, and Hossa will be 42 by the time that final year rolls around. Is there an expectation for him to fulfill the final years of that contract? No, but the frontloaded structure allows the Hawks to buy out Hossa for far less, if need be, and--because Hossa was under 35 when the deal was signed--those amounts won't count against the cap if the winger retires before the contract is up. The Cannon took a look at the precedent that set, and posed a question: Why not sign, say, Phil Kessel to a 30-year deal with a value of $71.25M, and a cap hit of only $2.375M per season.

We're also seeing a growing number of undrafted prospects coming out of either European leagues or the college ranks. Ottawa GM Bryan Murray has pulled plenty of players from college, including current Senators Jesse Winchester and Craig Schira, as well as Dustin Penner and Curtis Glencross, and it seems like every year there's another college player who's got some teams trying to acquire his services; last year the biggest name was Tyler Bozak, who was signed to an entry-level deal by the Maple Leafs (who also acquired Christian Hanson in the same way). The attraction to these players is twofold: One, they don't cost any assets to acquire, and two, they're cheap. In essence, the risk:reward ratio is lower than that of signing a veteran.

The Leafs have also made recent headlines signing European players to inexpensive entry-level deals, including most recently picking up alleged monster goaltender Jonas Gustavsson from Sweden, but also, during last season, Jonas Frogren to a deal. Even a player such as Fabian Brunnstrom of the Dallas Stars, who was signed late in the 2007-08 season, can be had for a lower cap hit than a similarly-skilled NHL veteran; Brunnstrom's cap hit this year was $2.25M. He might not have been as productive or consistent as Stars brass would like, but his salary is a lowly $875k and is littered with performance-based incentives.

What does all of this mean? Well, one could argue that the average age in the NHL will be going down. That hasn't happened yet, though; After a fairly steep climb in average age from the 1980s into the early 2000s, the trend has largely flatlined, according to statistics on QuantHockey.com. This could be attributed to the fact that undrafted prospects typically join the league at an older age than conventionally drafted prospects, usually in their mid-twenties, or because some these trends have yet to get into higher numbers.

One statistic that may be evident, however, would be the age rookies enter the league at, and that has been getting older in recent years. See the chart below, again drawn from stats on QuantHockey:

Decade	Aged 18	Aged 19	Aged 20	Aged 21+
2000s	21	62	201	825
1990s	43	113	178	794
1980s	97	179	210	579

In both real and relative terms, rookies are getting older. But even with rookies getting older, we're also seeing a higher number of rookies: With 1,109 rookies so far this decade, compensating for the fact that the entire 2004-05 season was lost due to the lockout, we're looking at a steady increase in number and age of rookies playing in the NHL--although some of that can be attributed to the larger number of teams playing today than in decades past.

Unasked Questions About Frogren

PPP — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 15:30:09 -0000

I am not one to let things go lightly. Despite the presence of three former first round drafts picks I can't cheer for the St. Louis Blues because of Sergio Momesso and Allan Bester's five-hole. I'll never cheer for another Canadian team in the playoffs because at some point in time their team has broken the Leafs' hearts or their fans have been jerks. So you can see why I am still writing about this Frogren/draft pick screw-job. And I am not the only one.

MF37 reads my mind and posts a timeline on the events surrounding the Frogren signing along with the salient question:

I understand how both sides interpreted the CBA and their relative positions, but what I don't understand, and what I'd love to know, is what agreements were reached at the mid-November settlement? I'd also love to know how, five months after reaching an agreement, the NHL can apply sanctions against the Leafs...30+ journalists following this team and all we have are more questions.

The silence on this issue is deafening. Whether it's because the reporters do not understand the CBA and do not want to expose their ignorance (not exactly a long-shot considering how complicated it is) or whether everyone has clammed up (but why not report that?) or if they don't think that they're readers can handle it (not exactly news that most people are dumb) I can't tell you. However, there is no better way to describe the entire situation than puzzling.

The most curious part is that even Tim Wharnsby, who wrote about the settlement reached prior to arbitration, is keeping quiet:

Prior to a hearing on Thursday the two sides settled and agreed that Frogren would continue playing under the two-year, $2.13-million (all currency U.S.) deal he signed in the summer. The Swede's contract includes a $755,000 signing bonus and salaries of $475,000 this season and $900,000 in 2009-10.

Yesterday you would have thought that this was some trivial decision going against the Leafs. The media that worked itself into a frenzy over the barest hint of imagined impropriety before Burke became GM were barely able to pen two pieces. The Globe went with the Canadian Press wire story while the Sun and the National Post had nothing (at least online because I won't touch those dirty rags in print). The people that actually bothered to look at the story went the predictable route and blamed it all on Cliff Fletcher. Of course, they did so without conducting any investigative work.

Here's Kevin McGran's "contribution":

Frogren's contract stays as written. Only the Leafs are being punished for the mistake.

...

Further compounding the embarrassment to the Leafs – a team hoping to compile draft picks as it rebuilds – is having to forfeit the fourth-round pick they got from Tampa in a complicated and controversial trade-deadline deal.

Doesn't that line about the contract staying as written ring any alarm bells in his head? What about the fact that the pick that gets taken is the one from that trade that he labels as "complicated and controversial"? Instead we are handed what appears to be the company line: Fletcher screwed up.

Darren Dreger, the lesser of the Insiders, acts as a stenographer for the NHL and also leaves some huge questions hanging in the balance:

The Jonas Frogren debacle isn't as complicated as some are making it out to be.

Well, that's just condescending. It is much more complicated that he'll try to make it.

For starters, according to the National Hockey League, there was no arbitration in this case. The $500,000 fine and forfeiture of a fourth round draft pick was determined by the league based on the Leafs attempt to circumvent the Collective Bargaining Agreement.

While it's true that there was no arbitration there is no mention that the two sides did come to an agreement in November. How about asking what that agreement was? Was the punishment levied then? How did the Leafs' circumvent the CBA. By reading MF37's post yesterday with the relevant sections of the CBA highlighted and explained it is certainly not clear what the Leafs did wrong.

Frogren's contract permitted payment once the contract was registered, however the contract was never registered, it was rejected because of his entry status at the time, but Toronto paid the signing bonus anyway, violating the rules of the collective bargaining agreement.

Ok, a couple of questions here: If the contract was not registered then how was Frogren allowed to play while the Leafs and the NHLPA and Don Meehan (one of the most powerful, knowledgeable, and evil agents in hockey) appealed the NHL's initial attempt to prevent the contract from being signed? When suspensions in sports are appealed generally the player is allowed to continue playing so that if they win their appeal they are not punished. It does not make sense that Frogren would have been allowed to play without his contract being registered. Plus, if the settlement eventually found that his contract was acceptable then how was the bonus payment against the rules? Not to mention that Dreger cannot even be bothered to explain what rule in the CBA this apparently violated.

All in all it's a very weak piece and sheds no light on the situation. Well, at least not to me. TSM finds the explanation to be plenty good enough:

What likely happened is that Cliff knew what he was doing, wanted the player and figured to hell with the consequences. Ooops.

How is that a valid conclusion? The Leafs bent over backwards to prevent even the smallest hint of tampering with regards to Burke but then they decide they don't give a shit in this case? Over Jonas Frogren? Not likely. As MF37 put it:

I think it's grossly unfair and incredibly simple to paint this situation as any type of incompetence on the part of the Leafs or Cliff Fletcher.

The Leafs, their lawyers, the NHLPA and Don Meehan all agreed and argued that given his age, draft status, and heritage Frogren was an unrestricted free agent who was not limited to an entry level deal.

THis was hardly a case of a doddering old man insisting that he was right. Not to mention that there was apparently an agreement reached in November proving Fletcher right!

But hey, if something is going to be grossly unfair and incredibly simple then Damien Cox wants in! In a piece that is nothing more than a hatchet job on one of the targets of The Omen's vendettas Cox jumps at the chance to get in another shot:

Yesterday, meanwhile, the league fined the Leafs $500,000 and stripped them of a fourth round pick for the Jonas Frogren signing last summer. The contract was illegal, but rather than running it past the NHL first, Fletcher just did it and now the Burke administration is paying the price.

Let's forget that that Leafs, the NHLPA, and Don Meehan all ran the contract by the NHL, filed a grievance about it, and came to a settlement before arbitration. It must just be that Fletcher was hopped up on Mountain Dew and felt like thumbing his nose at the NHL consequences be damned!

That's just ridiculous. Almost as ridiculous as Cox (or anyone for that matter!) not looking into why Fletcher thought he was justified in pursuing the contract or what rule the Leafs' broke or why the punishment is so harsh. They might also want to ask why the punishment was chosen as I did Wednesday night. Well, going back to Dreger, I guess he did. But if you believe his explanation then I have a bridge in Brooklyn to sell you.

Having to forfeit a fourth round pick is also considered by the Maple Leafs to be stiff punishment, although the NHL says the fact this pick was acquired through a trade with the Tampa Bay Lightning many have viewed as salary dump is purely coincidental.

It's so coincidental that opposition bloggers say that at the very best the move has terrible optics:

The mixing of two controversies is a poor decision. It appears that the punishment for Frogren is a reaction to the Tampa trade. It appears that in a desire to make the Tampa trade go away, the NHL used the Frogren issue as a convenient excuse. Is it less of a problem to sign players who pay their own transfer if you do not attempt to buy draft picks? Mixing two unrelated issues like this is a bad NHL move.

So why did the league choose the Lightning's 4th rounder? Why not just veto the deal if they had an issue with it? Was the fact that the Lightning qualified to receive revenue sharing because of the deal a factor? Why was Frogren allowed to play if his contract wasn't registered with the league? And what was in this mysterious "settlement" in November? Was the punishment levied then? Did the Leafs get that 4th rounder from Tampa in order to comply with the punishment since they didn't have their own (Thanks JFJ!)?

These are all questions that hang in the air and, at the very least, give the impression of impropriety. Unfortunately for the fans that would like an explanation the reporters covering the team are either parroting the league's statement, taking a chance to get in some ad hominem attacks, or are ignoring the issue. Thank God for the wonderful Toronto media.

Update From The Comments:

MF37 is playing the part of roving reporter excellently:

Both Wharnsby and McGran emailed me back within about 10 minutes and were very helpful.

McGran said he’s still pursuing this story, has a whole bunch of questions himself and hopes to write more on this.

Wharnsby said the settlement reached in November was simply that Frogren would be allowed to play, the terms of his contract wouldn’t change and if the League took any punitiive measures they would go against the Leafs, not Frogren.

Also, check out the McGran article from this summer. Maybe there is some hope after all.

NHL voids Leafs' fourth-round pick

James Mirtle — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 11:00:13 -0000

More photos » by Elise Amendola - AP

The Toronto Maple Leafs essentially gave up defenceman Richard Petiot to the Tampa Bay Lightning, for whom he's played 11 games since then, for nothing after the NHL forfeited the fourth-round pick Toronto received in the deal.

Browse more photos »

This, my friends, is officially the most talked about fourth-round pick of all-time:

NHL deputy commissioner, Bill Daly, confirmed the sanctions to TSN.

"We can confirm that the Toronto Maple Leafs have been sanctioned by the league for violations of league rules in connection with the club's 2008 signing of Jonas Frogren, and that one aspect of the league-imposed discipline requires the forfeiture of the club's fourth round draft pick in the 2009 Entry Draft (previously acquired from Tampa Bay). We have no further comment on the matter."

Here was my take on the fourth-rounder back at the deadline on what's now truly become a bizarre set of events. Brian Burke's likely seething.

Not press release Brian Burke, though (too bad his Twitter account's gone).

''The Toronto Maple Leafs acknowledge and apologize for the error of judgement,'' Burke said in a statement. ''The club accepts the punishment handed down by the league and will not be commenting further on the matter.''

I haven't seen a take anywhere in the press on this so far, but Pension Plan Puppets has the right idea:

"They stripped the Leafs of their fourth round draft pick (while conveniently allowing the rest of the trade to go through so that the Lightning qualify for revenue sharing!) and have punished them for a deal that was ruled legal and a buyout that is not explicitly prohibited under the current CBA (teams cannot directly buyout contracts but the Leafs just gave Frogren a whack of cash). Essentially, two good moves are being wiped out because the league hates creativity."

Originally I'd said that Burke made this deal "to prove he could," but that's obviously been refuted emphatically by the league (albeit a month later). What rational they can use as to why they waited this long to rule on the Frogren situation given he signed in July, I haven't the foggiest, but the bottom line is that the Tampa deal has cost Burke about $500,000 and the rights to Richard Petiot, who's looked pretty decent for the Lightning thus far.

And there's still no word on when Lou Lamoriello gets his smack on the wrist for this one.

Favouritism for Toronto?

PPP — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 03:36:21 -0000

The next time some drunken buffoon tells you that the league favours the Leafs because the league's head offices are in the same building as the ACC tell him this story. And then throw a beer in his face. Preferably his own because you'd hate to waste your own beer.

"We can confirm that the Toronto Maple Leafs have been sanctioned by the league for violations of league rules in connection with the club's 2008 signing of Jonas Frogren, and that one aspect of the league-imposed discipline requires the forfeiture of the club's fourth round draft pick in the 2009 Entry Draft (previously acquired from Tampa Bay). We have no further comment on the matter."

- Bill Daly via Darren Dreger

Let's not put lipstick on a pig, this decision seems to be a situation where the Leafs are being punished for knowing the rules inside out and being too creative for the league's comfort. Let's look at the timeline on this fiasco.

First, the league tried to nix the Leafs' contract with Frogren on a technicality centred around Frogren's status through the transition between the old CBA and the post-lockout CBA. Update: The NHLPA and the Leafs filed a grievance and settled before it got to the arbitrator! The contract was upheld as legal under the current CBA:

The Toronto Maple Leafs and the National Hockey League Players' Association got their way over the NHL in the matter over 28-year-old rookie defenceman Jonas Frogren.

The league wanted the Leafs to sign Frogren to an entry-level deal. But the NHLPA and the Leafs contended that he should not be subjected to the restrictions of an entry-level pact.

Prior to a hearing on Thursday the two sides settled and agreed that Frogren would continue playing under the two-year, $2.13-million (all currency U.S.) deal he signed in the summer. The Swede's contract includes a $755,000 signing bonus and salaries of $475,000 this season and $900,000 in 2009-10.

- Tim Wharnsby

David Johnson took a look at some of the other issues surrounding the deal in the summer. What seems to have upset the league seems to be that the Leafs not only found a way to get Frogren the money to buy out his contract (teams cannot do it) but they also made a deal with a European team that isn't covered by the IIHF transfer agreement. The NHL clearly was not happy with this as it prevented them from squeezing countries into a transfer agreement. Damn Cliff Fletcher for trying his best to get the Leafs an advantage through legal means.

But Cliff Fletcher wasn't the last GM to try to use the Leafs' financial resources to get the team an advantage through the reules. At the trade deadline Brian Burke made an interesting trade with the Lightning that earned the Leafs a 4th round draft pick. Mirtle looked at the revenue sharing implications for the deal but essential the worry was that the Leafs were buying a draft pick.

*The NHL should examine any future Tampa Bay Lightning/Toronto Maple Leaf dealings very closely. The "trade" in which the Leafs acquired an injured Olaf Kolzig, Jamie Heward - who may well currently be in a different dimension -, a "prospect" who was drafted five years ago, is 23 and can’t stay healthy and a fourth round pick in exchange for Richard Petiot is too bizarre for words.. Mirtle priced this as costing the Leafs about $600K. If you accept that a fourth round pick isn’t worth $600K and that Burke isn’t that dumb, you’re left to wonder what his angle is on this.

- MC79Hockey

Here's what Petiot has done so far for the Lightning:

	GP	G	A	P	+/-	PIM	PPG	SHG	GWG	GTG	SOG	PCT
2008 - Richard Petiot	11	0	3	3	5	21	0	0	0	0	10	0.0

It sure looks like he is an NHLer and that the Leafs were amply rewarded with a fourth round draft pick. The rest just seems to be a favour for the Lightning that the league might appreciate. Better to have the Lightning receiving revenue sharing and not collapsing then missing the mark and getting into financial help. How many teams can Bettman prop up financially on his own?

So the Leafs made two moves well within the rules and are now being punished for their creativity. If these deals were against the rules then here are two questions to ponder:

Why did the NHL loses the Frogren grievance in November?
Why didn't the NHL cancel the Leafs-Lightning trade when it was sent for approval to the league?

Mc79 thinks that this is karmic payback but in reality the NHL has just decided that the Leafs are too clever for them. They stripped the Leafs of their fourth round draft pick (while conveniently allowing the rest of the trade to go through so that the Lightning qualify for revenue sharing!) and have punished them for a deal that was ruled legal and a buyout that is not explicitly prohibited under the current CBA (teams cannot directly buyout contracts but the Leafs just gave Frogren a whack of cash). Essentially, two good moves are being wiped out because the league hates creativity. Total horseshit. What does Burke think?

''The Toronto Maple Leafs acknowledge and apologize for the error of judgement,'' Maple Leafs GM Brian Burke said in a statement. ''The club accepts the punishment handed down by the league and will not be commenting further on the matter.''

I defy you to read that and not hear the clenched teeth. Favouritism? Sure, for the anti-Leafs.

Poll

Why does Bettman hate the league's most valuable franchise?

Burke won't stop stuffing him in his locker at NHL Head Offce

32 votes

Fletcher repeatedly asked him to count to five 'like that puppet guy"

15 votes

Everyone fears a Leafs revival

55 votes

Chris Bosh kept scooping him up and demanding his pot of gold

25 votes

127 votes | Poll has closed

Oilers 4 Maple Leafs 1: Finally

PPP — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 20:00:09 -0000

If Marc Pouliot is ever the victim of a headshot or any sort of dirty play my mind will wander back to early in the first period and I'll think that karma has once again settled the score. Mike Van Ryn, sporting the 'A' and seemingly back to full health after being one the receiving end of a dirty play from a filthy Hab, was once again targeted by a piece of shit player. The slew foot on Van Ryn would have been bad enough but it was made worse by the awkward landing that wrenched his recently injured knee. Shockingly, the newspaper reports refuse to identify the hit as it deserves to be labelled: Filthy.

In a complete surprise Jonas Frogren's injury also came when he became 'tangled up' with Pouliot. The TV networks didn't show a replay but I feel safe in assuming that the aforementioned piece of shit pulled another slewfoot. I have no idea when the scrub might get his comeuppance but I can only hope it's on par with ending Van Ryn's season.

As for the rest of the game, the lack of a sniper highlighted the Leafs' inability to score more than 1 goal despite dominating the Oilers for most of the game. They were repeatedly able to pin the Oilers in their zone but found themselves constantly stymied by Dwayne Roloson and the at times fortuitous shot blocking efforts of the Oilers. Before the game MacTavish was asked by Elliotte Friedman if he saw any similarities between the 2006 Oilers that made it to the Final and this year's edition. It looked like it was all he could do to stifle laughter as he admitted that while that team had an issue in goal this year's team struggles everywhere else and it showed against the Marlies last night.

The line of Jason Blake-John Mitchell-Jeff Hamilton was especially effective inasmuch as they didn't score a goal. The two wingers used their speed to recover pucks and cause troubles for the Oilers' defence while Mitchell tied his speed to his size to do the same. I have to admit that I had a bit of a mancrush on Mitchell but it's growing. The bandwagon is getting sluggish so I have had some trouble driving it lately.

Martin Gerber had a rough night as the three goals he allowed came on only 17 shots. The first two were breakaways and he could not come up with the momentum-swinging saves that he did Thursday night. The third was one of those ridiculous deflections that somehow ended up top shelf.

The end result is that the Leafs move one step closer to getting back in the draft lottery while the players' played fairly well. The injuries will give a window to Burke to evaluate more of the players on the farms as he moves towards his first draft and free agency period as GM of the Leafs. All in all a decent result I guess.

Game Preview: The Leafs Go on a Trip!

Chemmy — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 19:00:06 -0000

Pre-Game: 9:00 p.m., Leafs TV
Broadcast: 9:30 p.m., Sportsnet, AM640
Post-Game: 12:00 a.m., Leafs TV
Post Video: mapleleafs.com

REMEMBER YOUR SPG PICKS

Toronto heads to Calgary after their exciting win against Montreal. The Flames are battling the flu. Jarome Iginla may be a game time decision and Dion Phaneuf has swelling around his eye from the above stick incident. This could bode well for the Leafs if they skate hard all night. Hopefully they're not jet lagged.

Let's hope Grabovski keeps his four game goal streak going and the Leafs get a good effort out of Toskala. Taking two out of three is going to be very difficult if the Leafs need to win in Vancouver later this week against Luongo.

Update: Since the Leafs are playing the rough and tumble Flames Jason Blake and Anton Stralman will be scratches with Ryan Hollweg and Jonas Frogren taking their places. If Hollweg hits someone from behind tonight I'll burn an effigy of him in front of the ACC before a game. Hockey Viking will be on the prowl for more big hits.