The day after McCabe suffers a long term injury to his hand, the rumours are swirling already in Leafs Nation.
Some thoughts from Eklund in his latest blog at HockeyBuzz.com, he goes over the rumours that the Leafs are in need of a defenseman, and Raycroft is on his way out. I think it is absolutely ridiculous to believe that the Leafs need another defenseman, just to replace McCabe for the next two months. Seeing how we have one of the most expensive blue lines in the league, with about $20 million committed to them this year. Plus they have depth all the way down to the Toronto Marlies, so a move is not needed.
In his blog, he said:
"The word on the street this morning is that McCabe's injury will REALLY further open the trade floodgates....Derek Morris is a guy to look to and it may come at the expense of Raycroft either being moved or placed on waivers.
The team that would pick up Raycroft on re-entry waivers is likely Pittsburgh...."
Come on Ek, stop spewing words out of your ass, nobody wants to pay $2 million dollars to back up Bryzgalov in Phoenix, and you can guarantee he wont take over the #1 job there. Also, the Leafs don't need to make drastic changes because their mistake-making, 30 minute-a-game defenseman is out. Possibly a smart move by Pittsburgh, but you shouldn't worry about the Leafs taking another d-man under their wing. And as Mr. Bone said, you will probably see Kronwall come up to join the big club once again.
But let's keep our fingers crossed that the Leafs put Raycroft on waivers, because he has shown that he is incompetent of coming through when the Leafs REALLY need him, and I think the Leafs have found their #1 goalie already. He comes in the name of Vesa Toskala. The move would clear up some cap room, and then the Leafs could bring up Scott Clemmensen or Justin Pogge to back up Vesku.
Don't expect any moves soon though, Eklund has 10 rumours a day, and it doesn't even say this one is from sources.
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3 comments:
Look to the Leafs leaning on Ian White through this period of time, as they did for the short time Kaberle went down last season.
If Raycroft does leave this team, it will undoubtedly have to be done via the waiver wire. But I wouldn't hold my breath there either.
And since Kronwall is also injured at the moment, look for Stralman to make his return.
Ian White is terrible. Other than Wozniewski he is the Leafs worst defenseman. He has not shown one small spark of offense so far this season, and has been our worst defenseman defensively. They have been putting him on the 2nd powerplay unit with Colaiacovo out and Gill and Woz with the hands of a brick layer, and it seems whenever he gets the puck, he tries to hold on to it for far too long, makes a poor attempt at a pass to the other D man on the ice, and it results in a delayed offside, ruining countless time on the PP.
Just my opinion, but you don't know shit, except that the fact Kronwall is injured, so thanks for that one.
Good point, thenhlarena.com. I don't do a ton of digging into the Marlies and wasn't aware of Kronwall's injury. My post was up long before the media reported that Stralman was indeed called up.
Funny enough, Kronwall's injury is also a broken hand.
It will be interesting to see how McCabe's minutes will be divided. I reckon everyone get bumped up 5 mins per game, as I don't see the coach doing anything too drastic.
Presumably, the 2nd PP unit will be White/Stralman and I am very interested in watching them. Both are quite offensively capable, but haven't been given too many good offensive opportunities.
As for Raycroft, putting him on waivers - which he would almost certainly clear - then re-entry waivers makes a lot of sense. That way, a team must only pay a pro-rated $1M salary (just over 600k for the rest of the season), and that's a bargain for a team with some holes to fill at G (PIT, LA, TB come to mind). The Leafs also benefit by losing half of Raycroft's contract from the books.
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