Once again, the Stanley Cup Playoffs have revealed how important it is for teams to get contributions from third and fourth line forwards. The post-season strategy is focused on neutralizing the other team’s stars, which usually results in someone like Brian Boyle, Matt Hendricks, Gabriel Bourque or Antoine Vermette making the difference between victory and defeat.
The Maple Leafs like most teams on the outside looking in come playoff time have lots of room to make improvement, but the answers do not lie solely with an upgrade between the pipes or with the acquisition of a front line center or top six forward like Rick Nash, it also will require the addition of players who contribute secondary offense, penalty killing, physical presence, energy and other intangibles that last year’s club lacked going down the stretch.
Toronto depended heavily on Phil Kessel and Joffrey Lupul(one of the most dynamic scoring duos in the league), Mikhail Grabovski, Clarke MacArthur(who both eclipsed the 20 goal plateau) and Tyler Bozak(who scored a career-high 18 goals) for the bulk of their offense, but got little from the rest of the forwards,
Tim Connolly registered 13 goals and Joey Crabb tallied 11, but both saw some time playing on the top six during the season. Nikolai Kulemin’s goal totals dropped precipitously from 30 goals to seven, while high-priced acquisitions like Matthew Lombardi and Colby Armstrong scored in single digits.
It is obvious to focus on the free agent prizes like Zach Parise or Ryan Suter as an avenue to immediately improve one’s team, but GM Brian Burke must also make little moves to add depth players who are more conducive to Randy Carlyle’s defensive and physical philosophies.
There might be room for the energy of Mike Brown, the speed and tenacity of Matt Frattin and the faceoff winning ability of David Steckel, but the days of soft or injury plagued players like Connolly, Lombardi and Armstrong could be numbered, if Burke can find a home for them in the final year of their contracts.
The free agent pool has a number of players who could be signed for reasonably priced short-term deals and thrive under Carlyle’s system. Boston’s Chris Kelly, Daniel Paille and Gregory Campbell will likely earn multi-year deals on the open market due to their Stanley Cup pedigree, as well as Nashville’s Paul Gaustad, but all could be reasonably priced signings, Other veterans like former Ducks Travis Moen and Sammy Pahlsson, Dallas’s Adam Burish or Nashville’s Jordan Tootoo could also provide aspects that are currently missing from this club.
There no doubt will be significant turnover in the Leafs roster between now and the beginning of training camp in September, with a combination of players being added through trades and promoted through their system, but for this club to improve their chance of making the playoffs next season, Burke may have to hit a few home runs in free agency; a place that he has found little success over his 3 ½ year tenure in Leafland.
If you were to pick one lower level free agent to add, who would it be and why??
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