Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Traffic in Toronto?

The Leafs are in a good spot right now. They're ninth right now in the Eastern Conference and look like they can make the surge into the playoffs after early offseasons for the past few years. With the recent signing of Liles, their defensive corps is loaded for the next few while. They have like 5 defensive prospects coming up so some of them have to go. With the Leafs in need for some better quality at certain positions (goaltending), they could make some trades in the near future.

Also, there seems to be traffic down centre too Tim Connolly hasn't been playing up to par (he's on the third line) and they still need to sign Grabo. Steckel is playing great as a checking forward and Lombardi might have actually been the steal in that Nashville trade with some timely goals. Burke is still in love with Kadri so one of thems gonna go

Comment below on who do you think is staying in T.O. and whose taking the next flight out







Antero Niittymaki Re-Entry Waivers

Antero Niitymaki has been put on re-entry waivers. It's been the second time this year. He has not been in any games this season. Sources tell me that there's a pretty good chance that he gets claimed.

Update:
5:00 A recent interview with Niittymaki has this appearing,


"I'm on waivers? Nobody told me anything or called me."
"It's not a surprise. There was some talk yesterday. I'm glad they did it and are trying to do something."
"I don't want to be in this organization at all anymore, nothing wrong with city. Glad they did it, hope somebody picks me up."
"I'm not the hottest name in market and my salary isn't on my side either. $2 million is big money for someone who hasn't played much."

John Michael Liles signs a four year extension.

The Toronto Maple Leafs are expected to announce the re-signing of defenseman John Michael Liles. He is currently out with a concussion. I expect the amount of money to be a bit lower than it is right now ($4.2 Million). The risk is that after a concussion it's just really unpredictable (See Sidney Crosby). Another worry is the abundance of defenseman the Leafs have (Percy, Blacker, Franson, Holzer, Gardiner). What will they be doing? Last worry. It is widely believed that if Liles was re-signed Mikhail Grabovski would not be re-signed. The trade market for him is going to insane for him.

Our bias: Not a good trade.

Update:
12:19: Annouced, 4 year $15.5Million
12:44 $3.875 Million per year.