The Leafs and Waiver Wire Limits

I don’t often agree with Leafs GM Brian Burke.

I find his stance on head shots deplorable, the majority of his UFA signings questionable, and his bluster tiresome.

The one area I do agree with him: the NHL should not limit the number of post-deadline player call-ups to four.

Sadly, with their loss to Tampa Bay, the Leafs’ season has all but come to an end. The Leafs have to win 10 of their next 12 to have a shot at the post-season. Sure, anything is possible but it’s not exactly probable.

And that’s where this call-up limit comes in.

Matt Lashoff has already cleared waivers and will be with the Leafs on their latest road trip. Rumour has it Nazem Kadri has been called-up from the Marlies to fill Colby Armstrong’s roster spot.

I’m sure a lot of Leaf fans, as well as Leafs management, would like to see how a few more of the Leafs prospects look against NHL competition.

But it won’t happen so long as the four call-up limit is in place.

I really hope this is addressed in the next round of the NHL Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA). Even if it means sharing little to no common ground with the GM of my favourite club.

How bad has Colby Armstrong's Season Been?

Colby Armstrong yaps. He agitates. Some claim he's a hitter, but he's just 6th among forwards on his own team in hits per game.

He can supposedly play in all situations but doesn't: he is 10th among Leaf forwards in Power Play TOI per game; 5th among forwards in short-handed TOI per game.

Acquired to play on the 3rd line, Leafs GM Brian Burke said Armstrong's best feature was his ability to contribute, wait for it, on the top 2 lines.* Unfortunately, no matter the line he's played on, Armstrong hasn't made much of a contribution to the 2010-11 Leafs.

How awful has Armstrong's season been? He's on pace for 9 goals and 6 assists, the lowest totals of his pro career. When his performance is ranked among NHL forwards this season Armstrong is, well, he's not so good:

	Total	NHL Rank Among Fs
Goals	3	312th
Assists	2	364th
Points	5	339th
ES GF/60	0.63	216th
ES PTS/60	1.04	334th
PP Goals	0	227th
PP Assists	0	300th
PP Points	0	274th
Hits	34	204th
Hits/Game	1.55	107th
Penalties Drawn/60	1.5	83rd
Penalties Taken/60	1.0	125th
Offensive zone start/finish differential	-2.3	270th
CORSI**	-1.98	376th

Admittedly, Armstrong suffered a serious injury when a ligament detached from his hand in October. That said, for $3M a year (the 129th highest paid forward in the NHL) it would be nice if Armstrong could maybe play in-line with his pay grade. Maybe crack the top 130 in more than one statistical category or even, you know, make the top 200 in a few.

Ideally, Armstrong could agitate other players as much as his complete and total inability to produce any tangible results for the Leafs agitates me.

*with assessments like this, I have to wonder about the performance of the Leafs reconstructed scouting department. In addition to bringing us the $3M wonder that is Colby Armstrong, these scouts are the fine fellows that have also brought Leaf fans 2 years of Brett Lebda, Mike Komisarek's 10 minutes a night at $4.5M and Dion Phaneuf (3 goals in 48GP as a Leaf).

**A positive corsi rate equals more time spent in the offensive zone. A negative rate equals more time spent in the defensive zone. This site has a a much more in-depth explanation of CORSI.