Gilmour, Nieuwendyk and Belfour called to the Hockey Hall of Fame.

It was a long wait for Gilmour and Belfour but today they got word they will be inducted into the Hockey Hall Of Fame.  Leaf Nation is hoping Pat Burns will get his turn soon.

Brooks Laich Signs With Washington

Brooks Laich

In a surprising turn of events, Brooks Laich declared his commitment to Washington and was not considering testing the free agent market.  In return for his loyalty, Washington rewarded Brooks with a 27 million contract over 6 years (4.5 million avg salary).  It was obvious the demand for his services would be high on July 1st, and with a 4.5 millions salary you could say Washington did not get a home town discount to retain his services.  It appears the cost of second and third line players have reached a new ceiling.  What would Clarke McArthur be awarded in arbitration?  Would Leaf fans be surprised if Burke gave a similar deal to Brooks?  What price tage would Parise, Richards, and Stamkos be labelled as?

What is a player worth?  If you consider the maximum NHL roster size is 23 and the salary cap is $64 million, on average each player would be worth $2.78 mil.  If you consider the minimum NHL roster size of 20 and cap, then on average each player would be worth $3.2 mil.  The average of both figures is $2.99 mil per roster player.  Many would consider Laich an above player for his team since he is a well rounded depth hockey player with offensive upside.

Scott Gomez Toronto Bound?

Montreal recently signed Andrei Markov to a contract with a cap hit of $5.75 mil per season for three years.  The cap payroll currently sits above $49 million leaving approximately 15 million to spend for Montreal.  Montreal still has six UFA and six RFA to sign with some high notable players on that list including James Wisniewski, Josh Gorges, Roman Hamrlik, , Brent Sopel and Benoit Pouliot.  Josh Gorges could easily be in the $4.5 - $5.5 million range and this could go to arbitration.  James Wisniewski was in the $3.25 and will be looking for a raise in the $4 - 4.5 million range.  Assuming these two players take up $10 million leaving only $5 million to sign 10 players, something has to give.

You don't have to look very far to see what pieces can be removed from the roster for cap relief and still not disturb the core of the team.  Scott Gomez has a target on his back with a commanding $+7 million and declining salary.  Toronto is in the fortunate position to absorb the cap hit for two more years.

Leafs Acquire John-Michael Liles

Tomas Kaberle was traded to Boston for prospect Joe Colborne, 1st round draft pick (30th overall), and Boston's 2nd round pick in 2012.  Burke has managed to turn the conditional pick into John Michael Liles.

Trade now breaks down to this:

Toronto Acquired:

1. Joe Colborne (2008 1st round, 16th overall)
2. 2011 1st round pick, 30th overall
3. John-Michael Liles (2000 159th overall)

Boston Acquired:

1. Tomas Kaberle (1996 204th overall)

Colorado Acquired:

1. Boston 2012 2nd round pick

John-Michael Liles is on the last year of his contract and was battling a concussion, he will be looking to perform well in a contract year.  Despite the shortened season, Liles put up good numbers for an offensive defenseman with 76-6-40.  JML adds more than offense to the back-end for the Leafs, he could be a big boon to the Leafs by adding the offensive presence on the back end and his quick puck moving skills.  His speed will allow the team to utilize their speed and skill.  The passing skill on the blueline jumped up exponentially.  The power play will improve greatly now that JML can quarterback.

Rick Dudley Added To Leafs Management Team

Wow!  Rick Dudley was recently let go from his job with Atlanta when the team was relocated to Winnipeg.  The "Jets" loss is the Leafs gain!  Dudley was the chief architect in creating the Tampa Bay team that won the cup in 2004.  When he landed in Chicago, he was instrumental in building up the Blackhawks to make their cup run in 2010.  With Atlanta, the team is already starting to look like a cup contender with many pieces in place.  I certainly hope the Leafs scouting staff, Nonis and Burke use Dudley to help them with the 2011 NHL entry draft!

Richards And Carter Traded Away!

They were the trades heard around NHL circles that took everyone by surprise.  It was no secret that the Flyers were in a cap crunch and desperately wanted to sign newly acquired Ilya Bryzgalov.  It was expected that either Jeff Carter or Mike Richards would be dealt to provide the cap relief.   When the Flyers announced they traded both star players, that sent shock waves around the NHL.  It may come as a shock to most fans but the Flyers are a better team now and in the future.

Flyers captain Mike Richards single-handedly took the team deep into the playoffs previously and had a bit of an off-season this past season.  Carter had solid year last season and was starting to play a more dominant role with the Flyers.

Flyers Acquire:

1. future NHL star Brayden Schenn (2009 1st round, 5th overall)
2. top six NHL forward Wayne Simmonds (2007 2nd round, 61st overall)
3. and additional second-round pick 

Kings Acquire:

1. Mike Richards (2003 1st round pick, 24th overall).

The Kings needed to get better now and were willing to gamble on Schenn and Simmonds for the immediate help from Richards.   The Kings are now better team and can make a deep run into the playoffs having a solid group of top six forwards.

The Flyers needed the cap relief and are a better team now since they have goaltending that could win a playoff round for the team in Ilya Bryzgalov.  With the departures of Richards and Carter, the Flyers can allow JVR, Leino and others to develop further and take more ownership for the success/failure.  Simonds is a RFA and will potentially earn a higher salary.

Flyers Acquire:  

1. future NHL star Jakub Voracek (2007 1st round, 7th overall)
2. 2011 1st round, Columbus, 8th overall
3. 2011 3rd round, Columbus, 68 overall

Blue Jackets Acquire:

1. Jeff Carter (2003 1st round pick, 11th overall).

The Blue Jackets need a center to play with Nash and acquired Carter.  Carter is known as a scorer rather than a puck distributor so this pairing may not be ideal for both players.

The Flyers replace Carter for a younger, and potentially more talented Jakub Voracek, along with the 8th pick and high 3rd round pick.  The 8th pick could become Ryan Strome or Sean Couturier.  Voracek will help the Flyers immediately and at much easier cap hit.

The Flyers had one big area in need in goal and have addressed it with Bryzgalov.  They also moved established star players in Richards and Carter for unknown potential star players and also getting younger.  The future is looking good for the Flyers and now they have cap spaced to added more depth if needed.

You may be asking how does this tie in with the Maple Leafs?  The Flyers have echoed the asking price for a relatively young star player will cost approximately two 1st round picks and 2nd round give or take.  The Flyers trade closely resembles the Leafs trade for Kessel if you consider that Kessel is not locked into a long term contract and was younger when traded to the Maple Leafs and Boston acquired only picks and no players.

Star Reporter Kevin McGran Calling Into Question Brian Burke Drafting Success

Prior to reading the article "Burke's NHL draft record: feast or famine", I was hoping something useful could be taken away for reflection.  Instead, it appears to be another anti Brian Burke article from Toronto sports media.  I tend to dislike articles that attempt to add substance by adding statistics but forget to add impartiality.  Essentially, the article says Burke's drafting record is under .500, and previous GM JFJ had better results drafting.  Nowhere was mentioned how other GM's compared against Burke so the reader must assume .500 mark is the standard.  What about teams that prefer to tank for five years and then make a run for the cup?  Should a Detroit or NJ GM's have a better record than .500 if they continually finish in the top of the league standings?

Kevin McGran seems to think

0.5*[Quality GM] + 0.5*[High Draft Pick] = [NHL Player]


I would argue the formula is not so simple.

0.5*[Player Development] + 0.25*[Quality Scouting Staff] +  0.15*[High Draft Pick] + 0.1*[Quality GM] +  = [NHL Player]


Player Development has many components and singularly the most important to ensure a draft pick reaches the NHL.