Why Not Take A Flyer On Alex Henry? - Howard Berger Swipes Again
October 5th, 2008 by SteveIf the Leafs are hoping to add a tough guy to the lineup, they might want to think about grabbing Alex Henry off the waiver wire, where he was placed this afternoon by the Montreal Canadiens. He’s a tough customer with size, standing 6′5″ and 220 lbs. He’s gone toe to toe with some of the better fighters in the NHL, and would give the Leafs a legitamate heavyweight, though he doesn’t really possess much in the way of speed and or skill.
He has predominantly played D over his NHL career but he’s also lined up at LW in the past. He’s played 175 games in the NHL, registering only 11 points. Most of his playing time has come with the Minnesota Wild where he played 63 games during the ‘05-06 season, and 71 games in the ‘03-04 season. Last year with the Millwaukee Admirals of the AHL he played in 80 games and registered 142 PIMs.
It won’t cost them anything to add him aside from his salary, and that comes in at a rather manageable $500,000 for the season. They may not have much use for him, but he’d be better than nothing if they notice the team being beaten up regularly.
On another note
Howard Berger woke up grumpy this morning. Let’s ignore the fact that we’re using different math for different teams in his most recent blog. The Red Wings left off 7 of their best players = Grand Rapids, The Leafs played all but 1 of their best players = Toronto Maple Leafs (and possibly the Toronto Marlies if you remember the whole gutting of the old guard that happened during the off season but hey why should Howard be counted on to remember such trivialties).
Ok so where was I… oh right… the number of players missing or playing for each team. Regulars that weren’t in the line up for the Leafs as listed by Howard: Pavel Kubina. Regulars that weren’t in the line up as any moron who follows the Leafs should realize: Jeff Finger, Pavel Kubina, Nikolai Kulemin, Vesa Toskala, Dominic Moore. So let’s see, one of their top 3 defensive forwards, their top goaltender, and their two best defensive D men in terms of NHL experience and playing time. Yeah, that’s only ONE of their best.
Now when it comes to Detroit, Howie is correct in asserting that 7 of their best WERE NOT in the line up last night: Lidstrom, Zetterberg, Datsyuk, Holmstrom, Franzen, Rafalski, and Filppula. Here are some of the Red Wings that WERE in the line up last night, oh and most of them won the Stanley Cup last year: Hossa, Cleary, Maltby, Draper, Kronwall, Stuart, and Osgood. Ok so we’ve got their highest paid player who has been over 100 points in a single season recently, most of their top checking line, two of their most physical top 4 D men, and their starting goalie who led the league in Winning percentage last year. When the team is mainly defensive, and has JUST won the damn Stanley Cup, is it really that shocking that their reserves are quite decent to boot? They play their system to a tee, and they win with it. Get over it already.
So here’s the comment Howard made that I had the biggest problem with:
“These are questions that will plague the incumbents on the hockey club — players that have virtually no concept of winning at the NHL level.”
I’m going to ignore the word incumbent here, so I’m not being entirely fair to Howard, but the idea that nobody on the Leafs has any recollection of what winning feels like is patently absurd. So lets see, I guess we’ll ignore the fact that Kaberle is a 9 year veteran in the NHL, who has played on more than one of the Leafs record setting seasons. Those would be the pre-lockout years where the team was posting 100 point seasons relatively regularly, and considered a Cup contender?
We’ll leave Pavel Kubina out of the mix due to his injury, but we’ll also have to ignore the fact that he’s won a Stanley Cup. We’ll also ignore the history of players like Nik Hagman (Dallas Stars forward - they suck a lot apparently), Nik Antropov (8 year vet, also played on most of the cup contending Leafs teams from before the lockout), Alexei Ponikarovsky (7 year veteran, he was with Antropov on the wings of Joe Niewundyk back when the Leafs were so bad they were considered a threat to capture the East crown), Jeff Finger (He might have been one of many players to play in Colorado, and he probably deserves zero credit, but somehow I think playing with Joe Sakic and crew for a year probably turned him into a total loser), Vesa Toskala (yeah I think San Jose was noted for losing predominantly when he was recording 23-7-4 and 26-10-1 seasons), and lastly that wily veteran who’s been sucking badly, Curtis Joseph (who also apparently never won a damn thing in the NHL, despite being the 4th winningest netminder in the history of the NHL… L O S E R).
God Howie can be annoying.
Posted in Player Analysis
12 Responses to “Why Not Take A Flyer On Alex Henry? - Howard Berger Swipes Again”
By Kulemin
on Oct 5, 2008
Here is my take on what should happen for an incredible turn around for this franchise (and a quick one). It might be a bit imaginative, but it isn’t completely illogical.
This team needs to make some key trades that include the following:
Toskala should be moved soon to prevent this team from stealing games they have no right to win. His value is still high. They should acquire at least a first round pick and/or a good prospect. They might even be able to get some other pieces out of this.
Kaberle should be moved for a first round pick and a top prospect.
Kubina should be moved for as much as they can get. A late first or a high second round pick, with additional picks.
Then they should move Poni, Blake, and Devereaux for some draft picks to add depth. Whatever they can get.
That would bring them to at least:
2 high first rounders
A late first or high second rounder
A few second and third round picks along with some later picks.
1-2 decent prospects
They should finish in last and get at least the second overall pick. If their acquired first round picks aren’t high enough, trade them off to get a top five pick.
That should put them somewhere like (positions might not be right):
Schenn Tavares Steen
Prospect Antropov Hagman
Kulemin Grabovski Ruegsegger
Tlusty Stajan Moore
Schenn Finger
Colaiacovo Van Ryn
Stralman Frogren
Pogge
Signing
Throw in the other acquired prospect where needed. Wishful thinking? Probably.
By Steve
on Oct 5, 2008
What you are advocating is basically a complete rebuild, in the mold of the recent resurgences of Pittsburgh and Washington.
Unfortunately the reality is that Ovechkin, Crosby, Malkin, Whitney, Green, etc. are a group of “generational” + “organizational” level talents, who happen to be have developed while playing with solid veterans like Kolzig, Gonchar, Federov, Roberts, Kozlov, and more.
Washington finished out of the playoffs in 4 of the 5 seasons immediately prior to last year. They stockpiled picks, and they tried to use them to the best of their ability, and frankly they failed catastrophically for years.
In 1999, they picked 4 players in the 2nd round, and none of them has played more than 50 games in the NHL. Their lone first rounder in ‘99, Kris Beech, has played 198 games.
In 2000 their top 2 picks turned out fairly well in Brian Sutherby and Matt Pettinger, but they only had 6 picks in the entire draft, with none in rounds 3, 6, 7, and 8. They actually drafted twice in the 2nd round, and none of their players taken after the 43rd pick (Pettinger) panned out that season either.
In 2001, they picked 2 players who have become NHLers, Nathan Paetsch and Johnny Oduya, but they didn’t have a 1st round pick that year, and the late round pick that made it was 7th rounder Oduya, and he made it as an unsigned free agent after playing for years in Sweden and coming into the NHL with New Jersey.
In 2002, they picked three first rounders in Steve Eminger, Alex Semin, and Boyd Gordon, and all 3 made the squad eventually. They traded Eminger, but the other two are still integral members of their young squad. They had 10 other picks in later rounds that season, and NONE of them have made the NHL. 3 out of 13 isn’t exactly a huge success rate.
In 2003, they picked 6 times, and the only player to make their team has been first rounder Eric Fehr.
They did well in 2004 with another 3 first rounders, including Ovechkin, Mike Green, and Jeff Schultz. Unfortunately, their 10 other draft picks that year, from another 13 pick draft have combined for a total of 11 games in the NHL (all of which are from 2 players).
None of the players they have drafted since 2005 have played a single game in the NHL.
Even the Leafs have had 3 players since 2005 make it to the show, Stralman, Rask, and Tlusty. Over the same span from 1999 to now, the Leafs have actually had 12 significant picks turn into decent prospects or players in the NHL. Compare that to Washington, and you get the exact same total of 12 picks making the big leagues.
Some would argue the main distinction is front line talent, which would be relatively accurate, but when you consider that the only real front line players the Caps have actually drafted include Ovechkin, Green, and Semin… while the Leafs have drafted Boyes, Stajan, Steen, Pogge, Rask, Stralman, Tlusty, and Ian White… you begin to wonder how well the mold has worked for Washington overall.
Pittsburgh has had a slightly better run than Washington with it’s picks, but then it was out for 4 consecutive years also.
In 1999, they picked up Ryan Malone in the 4th round, and Tom Kostopolous in the 7th. Konstantin Koltzov was their first rounder and he played 144 NHL games before returning to Russia.
In 2000 they drafted Brooks Orpik in the first round, and Michel Ouellet in the 4th.
In 2001 they took Colby Armstrong in the first round and Tomas Surovy in the 4th.
In 2002 they took Ryan Whitney in the first round, Eric Christensen in the 3rd, and Maxime Talbot in the 8th round.
In 2003 they got Marc-Andre Fleury first overall, and they drafted future Phoenix agitator Daniel Carcillo in the 3rd round.
In 2004, they drafted Evgeni Malkin 2nd overall, added potentially helpful Alex Goligoski in the 2nd round, and Tyler Kennedy in the 4th round.
In 2005, they picked up Sidney Crosby first overall and Kris Letang in the 3rd round.
In 2006, they drafted Jordan Staal second overall.
Then in 2007 they drafted Angelo Esposito in the first round before dealing him later on for Marion Hossa (who they lost for nothing).
So basically Pittsburgh has been getting a lot of top five picks in the first round - Crosby, Malkin, Fleury, Staal, Whitney.
That kind of helps most teams with a makeover. Unfortunately I don’t think fans want to see the Leafs finish dead last for 4 or 5 years in a row… especially since they’ve already missed the playoffs for 3 consecutive seasons… that would be missing them for another 4 or 5, so we’d be talking 8 overall?
One set of draft picks won’t accelerate things much, unless you somehow imagine all of these blue chippers falling into our laps and making the club in a year or two. Unfortunately it almost never works out that way.
I don’t think it helps to jettison every useful player of value, particularly since they will STILL have value in 2 or 3 years. What they need to do is remold things in the form Wilson envisages. I don’t think that requires a fire-sale.
The Leafs are not turning into the Thrashers, Penguins, or Capitals in the near future.
Expect them to try and work it more along the lines of how things went with the Rangers. Between the ‘97-98 season, and the year of the lockout, ‘04-05, the NY Rangers missed the playoffs every year.
In ‘98 the Rangers drafted Manny Malholtra, Tomas Kloucek.
In ‘99 they drafted Jamie Lundmark, and the unfortunate experiment of Pavel Brendl.
In 2000 they drafted Dominic Moore (now our property of course) and Henrik Lundqvist - their organizational saviour. Lundqvist was drafted in 2000, and continued to play in Sweden until the first year post-lockout, 2005-06. He became a dominant goaltender in Sweden and has continued to dominate in North America.
In 2001, they drafted goalie Dan Blackburn (who was rushed to the NHL and forced to retire horribly prematurely following injuries to his glove hand), Fedor Tyutin, Garth Murray, Marek Zidlicky, and Ryan Hollweg (another Leaf property these days). Zidlicky never donned the Rangers uniform as was a part of the trade that brought the Rangers Mike Dunham from the Nashville Predators. Dunham was the stop-gap goaltending solution between Mike Richter and Henrik Lundqvist, sort of like the Leafs Vesa Toskala.
In 2002, the Rangers picked up Petr Prucha in the 8th round, and not much else.
In 2003, they drafted Nigel Dawes in the 5th round.
In 2004, they drafted Brandon Dubinsky in the 2nd round and Ryan Callahan in the 4th. That year they had two first rounders (Al Montoya was one of them and he should still develop into a solid NHLer, but he’s now Phoenix Coyotes property), four second rounders and two third rounders, giving them 8 picks in the top 80 players taken.
In 2005, they landed the 2nd Staal brother, Marc, in the first round, and then followed that up with two second rounders and two third rounders, though none of those 4 have made the NHL yet.
They took Bobby Sanguinetti in 2006, Alexei Cherepanov in 2007, and Michael Del Zotto this past season, but none of their picks from those three drafts have surfaced in the NHL as of yet.
The Rangers managed to select 13 NHL regulars over the same span, with one of them retiring early. They have another 2 or 3 players in their system who may yet turn out to be “game breaking” players, and they’ve done well to recapture their lost pride since the lockout.
But in so doing, they didn’t sell the farm in exchange for draft picks. They’ve still had a consistent level of veteran presence, from Jagr, Straka, and Shanahan, to the more recent additions of Gomez, Drury, and Redden. The Broadway Blue Shirts have done a solid job of trying to balance the old with the new, and stay near the top of the heap.
Following their Cup win with Messier, Richter, Leetch, Zubov, Kovalev, etc. leading the charge, they took a long time to realize the need for a youth movement. Despite that fact, they never wholeheartedly bought into it quite as much as the Leafs seemingly have this season. We’ll see how things pan out, but I honestly don’t think the Leafs should, or will, sell off every asset in the cupboard in an effort to get nothing but young talent.
Franchise level talent is hard to come by in the draft, even when you’re picking in the top 5 regularly. Pittsburgh did well with it, but that’s frankly a once in history series of picks. Expecting the Leafs to rattle of a series of drafts that result in their own version of Fleury/Malkin/Crosby/Staal, would be bordering on insanity.
Can we please stop the pie in the sky reasoning and be realistic?
By LeaferSutherland
on Oct 5, 2008
Wow. That was one heck of a comment.
Truth is, some stiff in a suit in some office somewhere came up with the idea that tanking should be the Leaf’s answer. And since then, everyone has bought into it, suggesting that a Stamkos or a Tavares will turn this franchise around in a metter of a year or two. However, history shows us that it takes a decade at the very least for a top 10 overall pick to actually see what it is like to play in a Stanley Cup game.
Tanking and complete rebuilds have proven successful in some cases, but if Leaf fans are this impatient with losing games, just imagine how annoying they will be after 10 straight sub-par seasons?
By bkblades
on Oct 5, 2008
Speaking of Pittsburgh’s bevy of talent, while Crosby and Malkin are generational talents, the jury’s still out for both Fleury and Staal. They may end up as elite players, or they may just end up as solid contributors. If there were any guaranteed, can’t go wrong draft picks for an organization in the last 15 years of the NHL, the Pens were that team.
To hear some people cry out for multiple tank seasons, especially for players who are under fire as prospects themselves (Tavares being the main one), is unrealistic and quite honestly, more than a little delusional.
By Steve
on Oct 5, 2008
Yeah that comment was pretty ridiculously long… oh well. I could’ve written a posting about it I guess, but I think I already did right here.
By Coach Dunbar
on Oct 5, 2008
Steve great comment/post… in regards to hype with highly touted prospects I can only say two words…
Alexandre Daigle.
By blurr1974
on Oct 6, 2008
I don’t think there’s any one right way to “success.” The Daigle argument against drafting is 15 years old. He was drafted in 93. The only other first overall bust you could conceivably reference is Stefan in 99, which was a draft universally proclaimed to be one of the weakest ever. The draft has always been a crap shoot. Look at guys like Kaberle and Zetterberg for recent examples of how you can get just as lucky in the draft as you can strike out. There will always be arguments for and against building through the draft, but the idea that we will come up goose eggs and doughnuts by drafting is, too quote PPP, Negative Nancy.
By Coach Dunbar
on Oct 6, 2008
blurr1974 I agree with you but given Toronto’s past track record of drafting, the likely hood of ending up with eggs and donuts is far greater than gravy and steaks.
Drafting isn’t the only way to rebuild but rather just one tool you have to use to help with a rebuild - not just the only tool - timing and luck have more to do with a successful team build than anything else.
By blurr1974
on Oct 6, 2008
Coach - the trading away of prospects for established vets has been their downfall. Imagine if we’d hung on to Brad Boyes. That 40 goal forward we’ve been looking for, we drafted him and traded him for Owen Nolan…
By Sean
on Oct 8, 2008
blurr1974, Boyes looks great now but he was passed over in San Jose (played mostly in the minors) AND Boston (decent #s there but somehow they didn’t want him). It’s taken him another 4 years before becoming the player he is now. Imagine getting hyped then beaten down by the Leafs fans for 4 years and think if he stayed in Toronto he may not be the player he is today with St Louis.
By Steve
on Oct 8, 2008
As far as trading away youth for veterans, there really isn’t much of that in the Leafs recent history that points to that sort of behaviour.
They traded Boyes as part of the package for Nolan in the 2002-03 season (also included were Alyn McCauley and a 1st round pick). That was 5+ years ago. Boyes spent another 3 years in the AHL before cracking the NHL with Boston.
Boston would be where he ended up after San Jose dealt him to Boston as part of the deal to get Jeff Jillson (you might not remember him but he was considered comparable to Kyle McClaren when the deal happened), and Curtis Brown.
Then after one and a half years in Boston they dealt him to St. Louis for Denis Wideman.
One thing you can say about Boyes is he’s valuable enough that he’s being traded for generally good players. If there’s one team that should really regret giving up on him it should be San Jose. They got Jillson and Brown and they gave up Boyes? That’s a lot worse than Owen Nolan.
Oh and whenever people complain about the Nolan deal, they probably forget the fact that Nolan had 26 goals and 34 assists for the Leafs in just 79 regular season games. I don’t really think 60 points is crappy production for what works out to roughly 1 season’s worth of work. That was also at a time when the team was trying to push for a cup and legitimately had a shot as one of the best teams in the East.
Brad Boyes was nowheres near to helping the team at that point in time, and it’s not really shocking that they dealt him.
If you want to point to a deal like that, where the Leafs gave up a prospect and got a crap player in return, use the Tuuka Rask trade for Andrew Raycroft… way easier to make the Leafs look bad.
By Kulemin
on Oct 12, 2008
Thanks for the comment. I didn’t imagine my comment would garner such a response.