Wellwood Becomes A Canuck
June 25th, 2008 by SteveLooks like Vancouver has decided Kyle Wellwood has some skill that will be of use to them. They claimed him off of waivers today, and should they tender him a qualifying offer, will be able to retain his rights and prevent him from becoming an unrestricted free agent.
Personally I’m not sure why the Leafs wouldn’t have done the same. They could have at least made the qualifying offer and signed him to a two way contract… throwing him down to the Marlies if they didn’t want him on the big club. I have a feeling this will be a Steve Sullivan type scenario where in 2 or 3 years Damien Cox, Steve Simmons, et al will be penning pieces about how the Leafs let this skilled (but injury prone and lazy) forward go, when he could have been had for next to nothing. Unfortunately, I have a hard time disagreeing with that point.
Either way, the Leafs organization felt Wellwood was not going to contribute to the team in an appropriate fashion going forward, and as fans we’ll just have to accept that.
It should be noted though, that Vancouver has far fewer defensive deficiencies than the Leafs do, and as such, can likely manage Wellwood’s minutes and defensive issues far better than Toronto. He may provide them with a scoring threat off the wing to play with the Sedin twins on the Power Play, and he’ll likely do a very solid job of centring their 2nd line down the way. He just needs to get healthy, and work a bit harder.
I think the whole waiver wire thing is a bit of a wake up call for Kyle and I wish him all the best in his endeavours with the Canucks. I first made my belief in Kyle public over 4 years ago when I wrote an article for InsideHockey.com on how the St. John’s Maple Leafs were being under-rated, specifically because Wellwood’s point totals would jump that season. In the end, my predictions were vindicated, and Wellwood put up 87 points in 80 games that season, which placed him 1 point behind David Ling for the team lead. He played a big part in helping lead the team to 2nd place in the AHL’s North Division with 98 points.
I assume things will work out fine for Kyle in the long run, and he should have a decent NHL career ahead of him if he finds his focus. Who knows, maybe in a few years the Leafs will bring him back… or not… probably not. All of you who thought buying a Wellwood jersey was a good idea shall have to mothball it.
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9 Responses to “Wellwood Becomes A Canuck”
By thewordbird
on Jun 25, 2008
Beautiful. With available cap room and room in the top six for Wellwood to harness time on the PP, this was a solid move by the Canucks. He will definately improve over his past season. You know Luongo approves.
By Troy
on Jun 25, 2008
I like the move by Gillis. In a better system perhaps, Wellwood will be a productive player. At 25, he still has time to develop into a fairly good hockey player.
By bkblades
on Jun 25, 2008
We’ll have to see how Kyle will do. Wellwood was probably waived outright to ensure setting out Fletcher’s promise of changing the entire culture of the Leafs dressing room. Wellwood’s lack of conditioning and unwillingness and/or inability to improve the other aspects of his game (defensive responsibility, faceoffs, consistent 5 on 5 play, etc.) was not lost on both Paul Maurice and now, new Leafs management.
Furthermore, there is something to be said that the Canucks even got the opportunity to sign Wellwood considering teams with higher waiver priority (Atlanta, Tampa, Columbus, NYI) could have used the offensive depth, yet still passed on him. Either way, little risk and potentially good reward for the Canucks, so solid pick-up (assuming of course Wellwood signs, which looks to be guaranteed).
By Steve
on Jun 25, 2008
I would argue that Wellwood has less value to a team near the lower end of the standings, that is less able to cover up his deficiencies.
As for his improvements - his faceoffs have always been one of his better abilities. Wellwood had the 2nd highest face-off win percentage on the team after Sundin, and that was a difference of 55.2% for Sundin to 54.8% for Wellwood. In ‘06-’07 Wellwood actually had a 56.4% FO winning percentage, which was better than Sundin, and only surpassed by Jeff O’neill - who took 30 fewer faceoffs.
Kyle has always been a good faceoff man. Even in Junior, when he was the top faceoff man for the Canadian World Junior Team in 2002-’03.
Kyle is also naturally quite fast, with good foot speed, has excellent co-ordination, and tends to out-think most players at an NHL level. His problem is physical strength, durability, and conditioning for the rigors of an 82 game schedule when he’s being hit by players almost twice his size. He also needs to develop a bit more in his willingness to go into traffic to make plays… but that would come with increased strength.
If he sorts out his conditioning, and comes back hungry, he’ll be very good for the Canucks down the line.
By Glenn
on Jun 25, 2008
He is never going to be a healthy player, given his size and already growing record of injuries. The type of injuries he has sustained are typical of undersized out of shape players. It doesn’t matter his skill level if he can’t put 70-80 game seasons together.
I loved watching him play, but he will be a frustrating player with injuries.
By bkblades
on Jun 25, 2008
Good call on the faceoffs. I admit I cut and paste some things when I was contemplating on writing a post on Matt Stajan.
While true about other teams worse in the standings not putting in a claim for Wellwood due to their own defensive deficiencies, I wonder how much that really matters. Wellwood, I doubt will ever develop the defensive acumen to be a shutdown player. So his best value ultimately lies in the first 2 lines, usually noted as scoring lines. I would think for teams looking for more offensive balance, Wellwood would have been a cheap player to run on the power play and fill in the first/second lines. For teams looking for talent anywhere, especially offensive talent, I think they take any of Wellwood’s deficiencies in stride for more goals. Atlanta and NYI I thought were two teams that could have used Wellwood.
By Doug
on Jun 25, 2008
I agree with the Steve Sullivan analogy. Wellwood has the skill to be a number 2 centre on a good team, if he develops some responsibility. I also like Cliff’s move. He sent a message to the whole organization; no slackers allowed. If the Leafs do things right and build through the draft. They’ll get enough talent that they won’t miss Wellwood’s potential. So far so good.
By dan
on Jun 25, 2008
Exactly how many cups has Steve Sullivan won? None. How many will Kyle Wellwood win? None. He’s not the type of player who would take you through rounds in the playoffs. That’s why he’s gone. He doesn’t play the kind of hockey that this team is going to be playing, so why have him if he doesn’t fit the mould of the Leafs? Honestly, everyone is more worried about this move coming back and biting the team in the ass then they are worried about getting better. Don’t you think they tried to trade him? Do you think they would have taken any draft pick for him if anyone was willing to offer one? Sure, faceoffs are ok, sure putting up good point totals is good, but lets face it, keeping the puck out of the net is the way to win. Wellwood didn’t want to show he wanted to work, so beat it.
Has everyone here forgotten how weak of a slap shot he has? (flubbed shot, actually it handcuffed a few goalies, but it was brutal, house league peewee) Or how he couldn’t be found in the offensive zone corners, or in front of the opposing goalie, or in the right place in his end.
Let’s get off the fence here, sure he has upside, sure he’s going to put up points, but he’s not willing to work to be the best or put his team over the top. Lots of little guys play big, lots of little guys have been the spark plug to the team and put them over the top. Look at St. Louis, look at Thereon Fleury, they led their teams to the Cup. Do any of you truly see a Fleury or St. Louis in Kyle Wellwood?
Not one team, not one at all, wanted to give the Leafs a late draft pick for him. Think about that. They would rather pick up a long shot at pick number 255 than try to take on a chore like Wellwood. You should be praising Cliff for having the guts to change things, not second guessing it. JFJ tried to keep things the same and it didn’t work. The writing is on the wall, clear as day. THIS IS A GOOD MOVE.
By Martin
on Jun 26, 2008
Kyle Wellwood is LAZY. I know one of his teammates from junior who says that he “relied on his tremendous skill and usually drank himself silly instead of working out.” Cliff acknowledged this and I commend him for it.
The idea is, if Wellwood is to be effective he needs top-6 minutes and powerplay time. Neither of which he deserves, and will be better used on another youngster as the Leafs try to build for the coming years.