Tyler Bozak Promoted
January 11th, 2010 by SteveThe Leafs have promoted Tyler Bozak to centre a line that had Rickard Wallin centring Phil Kessel and Nikolai Kulemin in practice yesterday. With Wallin being taken off that line, it remains to be seen who Wilson will actually be dropping from the Leafs line up.
The Bozak promotion can only be seen as a signal from management to the Leafs incumbent forward corps that the recent offensive production is far from acceptable. 5 power play goals scored in the last 14 games on 44 opportunities for an 11.36% success rate = unacceptable. Phil Kessel has 1 goal in his last 12 games, while Niklas Hagman hasn’t scored in 8 games and Viktor Stålberg hasn’t scored in 9. That’s a tad worrying, but luckily Stajan, Ponikarovsky, Stempniak, Blake, and Kulemin have contributed goals recently.
Unfortunately the idea of there being ANY secondary scoring on the Leafs has completely vanished. John Mitchell, just came back from injury and has provided one goal… and since Wayne Primeau and Mikhail Grabovski are now injured, there isn’t much chance of the secondary production increasing soon.
The Leafs Penalty Kill has received copious amounts of negative attention recently, for good reason. I’m personally of the opinion that the Leafs PK problems stem mainly from personnel decisions. If Hagman, Stajan, Mayers, and Ponikarovsky were the top 4 forwards on the PK, I think the numbers would improve drastically.
It’s hard to verify this until it actually happens, and I don’t think it’s likely to in the immediate future. Hopefully the trend shifts in the positive direction soon. There is slightly more than a month until the Olympic break, and the Leafs have 15 games until then to improve their fortunes for the time being. After February 12th, this team will likely change in a fairly significant fashion, as the trade deadline falls almost immediately after the end of the Olympics.
15 games to turn the ship around, let’s see how it goes, or if it runs aground.
Posted in Announcements, Player Analysis, Prospects, Stat Analysis
6 Responses to “Tyler Bozak Promoted”
By Peter de Chatham
on Jan 12, 2010
I’m going to say this right now. Trading Tlusty for another stone-handed 3rd liner prospect was a boneheaded move.
Tlusty should have been given a solid chance on the top two lines this year, THEN traded if he didn’t work out. Instead he played really well for the Marlies, got two games in the NHL, and was sent packing. Meanwhile, Stalberg sits scoreless in 9 games and gets treated with kid gloves. What a load of crap.
By BCapp
on Jan 12, 2010
Peter there is a lot of validity to what you say (the most important point being that Stahlberg is OLDER than Tlusty).
That being said the flaw in your argument is that Paradis is necessarily a ’stone handed 3rd-liner’. He is part of a long term plan, and Burke picked him up to be a part of this long term team he is building.
Good third liners can be essential to teams a la John Madden.
The other thing it did (which I figure there could have been easier methods to do) is create an extra roster spot in our system, as we were at hte 50 player maximum.
By Marco
on Jan 12, 2010
Thing is…you don’t want to get a “great” third line guy out of a top 30 pick, even though Paradis was a reach at 30.
John Madden as a shrewd UFA signing.
I also believe since Stefanovich and Mitchell were returned to their junior teams they came off our cap of 50 contracts.
By BCapp
on Jan 12, 2010
Marco:
I understand that (about the third line). All I am saying is lets not judge a trade today, that can not/should not be judged for a couple of years.
By Steve
on Jan 12, 2010
“Another Stone-Handed” 3rd liner… might be a bit of a reach.
The Leafs lack in young physical talent. They have a couple of potential “power forward” types that are under the age of 22, but none of them are sure things.
Stefanovich is a skill guy, while Mitchell is perhaps projected as a heart and soul winger with a motor that doesn’t quit… but his size leaves a lot to be desired. Jimmy Hayes has tonnes of potential, but he hasn’t been able to put it all together yet in the NCAA and he might never do so. Jerry D’Amigo and Nazem Kadri are skilled scorer types on the smaller side. Kenny Ryan is another potential physical role player, but he might never develop into a physical sniper.
Paradis fills some of the potential gap. He’s a legit 6′1″ 196 lb player, who is considered one of the best hitters in the Q. He registered the hardest shot at the prospect game, and he was impressive at the scouting combine prior to the draft. He skates very well and has a solid all around defensive game, but his offensive upside is what made him a first round pick.
He was one of only 7 players at the combine to score above average in both the lower AND upper body. He’ll likely develop into a physical 2nd or 3rd line centre, but he’s compared stylistically to the likes of Brendan Morrow.
If that’s his POTENTIAL, I begin to understand why Tlusty was traded… although I liked his offensive game more. Tlusty’s problem was most likely the fact that he didn’t fit into the Burke mindset of a large, physical, skill player.
Let’s remember Burke is the same guy that heaped all his eggs in the basket of Corey Perry, Ryan Getzlaf, and Bobby Ryan in Anaheim. In Vancouver, his favourite player was probably Todd Bertuzzi. He LIKES Power Forwards… and if he could, he’d ice an entire line of them.
He got Phil Kessel to score goals, but he obviously still needs someone to clear some more space for the guy. Paradis is the type of player that clears space for other players. Even if he doesn’t turn into a superstar top end offensive talent, he could be the Leafs version of Milan Lucic in a few years.
As far as Power Forwards go, hopefully things work out, but having more potential in that regard never hurt anyone.
By Marco
on Jan 13, 2010
I agree, it will take a while before we see Paradis up. Power forwards take quite a while to mature as well. We also have Hayes as well, hopefully one of them work out. There is also Kenny Ryan not quite a power forward but a real rough grind type with a little bit of offense, good comparison is maybe Ryan Kesler.
I swear it will be scary in a couple more years to see Kulemin, people are already having a hard time containing him, and Kulemin wins more then his fair share of board battles.