The Maple Leafs are likely to keep all their options open when it comes to addressing their needs at center and defense in the coming off-season and one potential avenue of improvement may be the developing situation between restricted free agent forward Ryan O’Reilly and the Colorado Avalanche.
The 23-year-old Lady Byng Trophy nominee had a career year in Colorado (28 goals, 36 assists in 80 games) in spite of playing on Matt Duchene’s wing(instead of his natural center position) in the final year of a two-year contract that came about due to an offer sheet from the Calgary Flames in February 2013.
Instead of extending a qualifying offer to O’Reilly, which would have made him the highest paid player on the club, Colorado elected to offer salary arbitration, which buys them some time to deal with their other contract situations.
Many believe that only one of O’Reilly or UFA center Paul Stastny will return next season.
Stastny's representatives and the Avs have been discussing a contract extension prior to the July 1st free agent start date and if the six-time 20 goal scorer re-signs, it is likely that Colorado will shop O’Reilly for help on the blueline, which is an area in much need of upgrading. If Stastny chooses to test the open market, then O’Reilly will be staying put.
The crop of potentially available big name centers, which include Joe Thornton, Jason Spezza, Eric Staal, Brad Richards and Ryan Kesler, may be tempting targets Leafs GM Dave Nonis to address their need to upgrade up the middle, but all are close to or over the age of 30 and have a sizeable price tag.
If the Leafs explore a trade option for O’Reilly, it will likely cost them either Jake Gardiner or Dion Phaneuf as part of a larger package and his contract extension will likely make him the second highest paid player on the club behind Phil Kessel, but unlike the other names listed, O’Reilly is just entering the prime of his career and not near the end of it.
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The Maple Leafs announced on Monday that the 2014 Rookie Tournament will return to the Budweiser Gardens in London, Ontario, with Toronto rookies playing three games from September 13th to 16th against rookie squads from the Ottawa Senators, Pittsburgh Penguins and Chicago Blackhawks.
“London is an excellent hockey town and we’re very excited to return for the annual Rookie Tournament,” Leafs Senior Vice-President and General Manager David Nonis stated in a press release. “It’s a fantastic event for the fans and provides a platform for us to evaluate the players in our system against some of their peers from other NHL clubs.”
Tournament ticket packages will be available for purchase starting June 21st and can be purchased at the Budweiser Gardens Box Office in London or at www.budweisergardens.com.
Full Tournament Schedule:
Saturday Sep 13, 2014
2:00 p.m. Game # 1 – Pittsburgh vs. Ottawa
7:00 p.m. Game #2 – Chicago vs. Toronto
Sunday Sep 14, 2014
2:00 p.m. Game #3 Pittsburgh vs. Chicago
7:00 p.m. Game #4 Toronto vs. Ottawa
Monday Sept 15, 2014
7:00 p.m. Game #5 Ottawa vs. Chicago
Tuesday Sep 16, 2014
2:00 p.m. Game #6 Toronto vs. Pittsburgh
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Former Leafs assistant Greg Cronin has landed on his feet on Long Island, as he has been hired as an assistant to Islanders head coach Jack Capuano. Cronin was hired by Toronto in June 2011 as part of Ron Wilson's staff and remained with the Leafs after Randy Carlyle replaced Wilson in March 2012.
Cronin was dismissed along with former Islanders head coach Scott Gordon and Dave Farrish by the Leafs last month.
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