Monday, September 21, 2009

Leafs Camp Cuts: And then there were 33?

The Globe and the Sun are reporting that the Leafs have made another round of cuts at training camp, paring the roster down to 34 33 players.

Forwards
1. Allison, Jason
2. Blake, Jason
Boyce, Darryl
3. Bozak, Tyler
4. Brent, Tim
Champagne, Joel
Devane, Jamie
Deveaux, Andre
Foster, Alex
Giliati, Stefano
5. Grabovski, Mikhail
Greenop, Richard
6. Hagman, Niklas
Hamilton, Ryan
7. Hanson, Christian
8. Kadri, Nazem
9. Kulemin, Nikolai
10. Kurtz, John
11. Mayers, Jamal
Mitchell, Dale
12. Mitchell, John
Ondrus, Ben
13. Orr, Colton
14. Ponikarovsky, Alexei
15. Primeau, Wayne
Rogers, Kyle
Rosehill, Jay
Scott, Greg
Slaney, Robert
16. Stalberg, Viktor
17. Stajan, Matt
Stefanovich, Mikhail
18. Stempniak, Lee
19. Tlusty, Jiri
20. Wallin, Rickard

Defence
21. Beauchemin, Francois
Blacker, Jesse
Engel, Josh
22. Exelby, Garnet
23. Finger, Jeff
24. Frogren, Jonas
25. Gunnarsson, Carl
26. Kaberle, Tomas
27. Komisarek, Mike
Manning, Brandon
Mikus, Juraj
Oreskovic, Phil
Perry, Todd
Rogers, Andy
Ryan, Joe
28. Schenn, Luke
Smith, Barron
Uotila, Juha
29. Van Ryn, Mike
30. White, Ian

Goaltenders
Engelage, Andrew
Erickson, Beau
31. Gustavsson, Jonas
32. MacDonald, Joey
Reimer, James
33. Toskala, Vesa

The only player that seems quite out of place on this roster is John Kurtz, an over-ager from the OHL's Sudbury Wolves (who's apparently injured). Mike Van Ryn is also on the IR (I know, I know - I'm shocked too).

The CBA dictates that teams have to be down to a 23 man active roster the day before the first game of the season, which means the Leafs have until September 30th to make their final cuts.

Coach Wilson has said he plans on carrying 13 forwards, eight Defence and two goalies. If that is the case, the team will need to cut seven guys up front (Kurtz and Brent are no-brainers, Kadri is heading back to junior, which means four more guys have to go); 2 more D-men (or Van Ryn stays on the IR and Gunnarsson goes back to the Marlies) and 1 goalie (safe money is on Joey Mac).

8 comments:

  1. If Gustavsson doesn't get into any pre-season action, does he start with the big club?

    Four more forwards: Allison's a goner. Stalberg? Some time with the Marlies wouldn't be a bad thing. Tlusty? If he gets sent down, I'd be disappointed. Primeau? Do they really need him and Mayers? And what's the deal with Wallin? Interesting decisions needs to be made.

    As for Van Ryn, he really is useless.

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  2. would really like too see stalberg and bozak start the season. same with tlusty and mitchell, and i expect tlusty to make it.

    would also like too see mayers gone, same with tim brent, allison, mabye primeau or hanson?


    i would only keep two of either bozak, stalberg and hanson, so i think hanson is the odd one out.

    then again they played great as a line, but that was against kids, and they were 23yr olds.

    also, check out my new blog if you dont mind:

    www.TrucuLeafs.Blogspot.com

    tell your friends!

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  3. what makes you think "Brent is a no-brainer"?

    I completely disagree with you - it's time this kid played in the NHL on a regular basis. He's a smart player, is not afraid to dig in the corners with the bigger guys, wins the majority of his face-offs, is an excellent penalty killer, and can find the back of the net or set up his linemates....give the kid a break already!

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  4. Leaf in Habland10:10 am

    If Allison does not make the team that means at least one of Tlusty, Bozak, Stalberg and Hanson will stay.

    Wilson said in the paper today that Mayers is in. He also said that he figures the team will go with the lineup he would have predicted at the start of camp, which to me means no surprises. The only question really is going to be Allison. Will the veteran presence put him over the top?

    I would really like to see the college line dominate in the AHL for a while. Tlusty starts with the big club and hopefully makes it hard to send him down once Kessel is ready.

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  5. Maine - Thanks for the comment. I think Brent's a no brainer because he hasn't been given much of a look.

    He played 8 minutes in a single pre-season game. Compare that to the other bubble boys have seen action in 2 if not 3 games so far and are getting more ice time per game too.

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  6. Leaf in Habland - Thanks for the update about Mayers.

    The Leafs need to be careful with Tlusty's GP totals. By my reading of the CBA, if Tlusty plays 13 more games in the NHL, he'll have to clear waivers.

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  7. Anonymous10:06 pm

    I agree with Maine....why isnt Brent being looked at??or maybe he is....His Ahl stats are a point a game....Burke drafted him twice in Aneheim.....hmmmmm...we will see

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  8. Anonymous and Maine - Why is Brent not getting any game action? He didn't play tonight against the Penguins yet he hasn't been shipped off to the Marlies camp. Is he injured? If he's as promising as you suggest, shouldn't he be getting a look? I don't get it...

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