Leafs Get Kubina

[Adam91 0]

4yrs/20M

Edit - the Score claimed this but have know changed it to a "report"

but there reports almosts always become finalized

[kosydar 0]

Whoa, something right. This is awesome.

[Adam91 0]

Do they even have the cap space?

[kosydar 0]

Yes, they had a bunch of cap space. I think this still leaves them with something like $10 million, too.

[theone96 0]

Now Kabina and Kaberle can keep passing the puck to each other with neither shooting.

Kaberle is the better player of the too, but gets paid less. Wonder if is reconsidering his decision to sign so early.

[Chara3 0]

I personally think $5 million a year is a bit much for Kubina. But the Leafs seem to really need a guy like him, so its a pretty good signing.

[kosydar 0]

Ive always thought Kaberle was better with the puck and Kubina was better without it. I hope they arent put on the same line. I would rather see McCabe play with Kubina and Kaberle play with the other UFA d we sign (latest I heard is Hal Gill).

[Adam91 0]

Kubina was the best tier 2 dman available in my opinion

[kosydar 0]

They did officially get Gill, 3 yrs $6.3 million. This gives Toronto a damn good defense.

McCabe-Kubina

Kaberle-Cola

Gill-Harrison

White

The fact that we signed two solid defensive defenseman blows my mind. Including the buyouts of Belfour and Domi, this gives the Leafs ~$10 million to work with the forwards. They still need to sign Stajan, Wellwood, and Antropov. I can't see those guys combined making over $4 million. $6 million? Elias?

[kosydar 0]

I know Gil isn't great, but hopefully he can use his size effectively. If we stick him with somebody mobile, we'll just need him to move bodies in front of the net. I heard he is physical, too. Thats always a plus. My way of looking at it is that no matter what, he is an instant improvement over Aki Berg.

[Eazy_b97 1]

Kaberle and Kubina will almost certainly play together. It wouldn't surprise me if Kaberle signed for cheap so we could get his Czech buddy. They played alot together internationally. Kubina's a shooter, Kaberle's a passer. Ones a skater, ones a puckhandler.

I'm a little iffy on Gill, but it gives Harrison another year to develop (even if it's as the 7th D-man) and White/Bell are both fast enough to make up for Gills speed. Also both aren't physically strong enough to handle alot of forwards, which is where Gill comes in.

Both of these D-men can do exactly what the Leafs have been lacking. Move big forwards out of position. It'll be fun when the Leafs play Boston, the two giants can collide, and hopefully Gill will be pumped for his ex-team.

It's likely Stajan/Welly will sign for under a mill. Antropov might not even be on the team. Infact I doubt he will be. The Leafs have alot of cap space, even now at least considering the holes in their line-up.

Tucker - Sundin - UFA

Poni - Welly - O'Neill

Kilger - Stajan - Steen

Ondrus - Pohl - Williams/Battaglia/Belak/Newburry

D looks pretty well set. Goaltending is a surpluse and will likely be moved. If Roberts comes, I can see him knocking Kilger down a line.

Elias is apperantly looking for the max... so unlikely to be a Leaf.

[kosydar 0]

In looking over the roster now, we really need another #2 center. We have Sundin, but then it drops to Stajan and Wellwood. I'd rather get a big name winger for Mats than an overrated/overpaid center. I just don't know if Welly or Stajan are ready for a consistant #2 job.

[kosydar 0]

Eazy, you feel confident in Welly, Stajan, and Pohl going 2, 3, 4? I

[kosydar 0]

In looking over the roster now, we really need another #2 center.  We have Sundin, but then it drops to Stajan and Wellwood.  I'd rather get a big name winger for Mats than an overrated/overpaid center.  I just don't know if Welly or Stajan are ready for a consistant #2 job.

Arnott?

I would love to have Arnott, but I think he might cost too much.

[Eazy_b97 1]

In looking over the roster now, we really need another #2 center.  We have Sundin, but then it drops to Stajan and Wellwood.  I'd rather get a big name winger for Mats than an overrated/overpaid center.  I just don't know if Welly or Stajan are ready for a consistant #2 job.

I'd like to get one as well. If they add Roberts and Lindros for a combined 3 mill, that's not bad at all (which is the rumoured prices). Then they can have Pohl as the 4th line center, and Ondrus/Belak as the extra forwards.

I'm wondering how important a 2nd line will be after Maurice hinted at Sundin play 21+ minutes a game.

Not confident, but not scared in those 3. If you make Steen the second line center, and put Welly on the 3rd line, does that make things more impressive?

[kosydar 0]

I think the second line's importance will all depend on who the UFA winger they bring in is. If they sign an Elias (I wish), Samsonov, other 30 goal scorer, not very important. But the weaker the UFA they bring in, the more important their role will be. I wouldn't mind having Roberts come back, just not in a 1st or 2nd line role.

I personally like Wellwood>Stajan>Steen, so that doesn't change things for me too much. The fact of the matter is with those three, they're all young, soft, relatively unproven guys.

[TBLfan 25]

I'm gonna miss Kubie :(

[kosydar 0]

Even though I really want Elias, I don't think that'll happen. If we signed Arnott and either Recchi (which it seems like he wants to go back to the Pens) or Shanny, I'd be happy. That would still leave us with ~$4 mil, assuming Arnott signs for $2.5-3, and Shanny signs for $2.

[Eazy_b97 1]

Recchi sucks!

I'd ideally want Parrish, if not then I'd settle for Shanny. I'd love Arnott, but he'll make some serious cash. I couldn't have been pissed if we grabbed Savard for the deal Boston got, but I think he wants to be the #1 guy.

[McCabe24 0]

Savard would have been a nice fit but he got overpaid because of the assists playing with Kovalchuk and Hossa brought. Maybe eye Arnott and Parrish to complete the balanced attack. Also, Roberts may be coming so that is another $2 mil or so up front minus who we give up.

[TBLfan 25]

Recchi said he wants to end his career in Pittsburg. I think he will sign for cheap with the Penguins pretty soon.

[willy0314 0]

As a Sabres fan, I am very happy that toronto signed Gill, awesome waste of cap space.

[Hockeyman9621 0]

As a Sabres fan, I am very happy that toronto signed Gill, awesome waste of cap space.

He's not as bad as you'd think. As said before, at the VERY least, it's an improvment from Aki Berg.

[TML4LIFE 0]

What kind of cash is Brandon Witt looking for?

[fastmiele 59]

As a Sabres fan, I am very happy that toronto signed Gill, awesome waste of cap space.

He's not as bad as you'd think. As said before, at the VERY least, it's an improvment from Aki Berg.

at least Aki Berg was cheap, only 1 million $ per year. He was kind of a weird player. If you watch him in practice his skating was great for a person of his size and had pretty good vision. For some reason he didn't play too good in games. Too soft and made too many mistakes. If Aki Berg was no good they would of got rid of him many years ago like Larry Murphy. I personally think he needed to play on another team and another system. I bet if he played in Detroit he would be a lot better. If you notice in the Olympics he played on the first line for defence and won a silver medal.