The Toronto Maple Leafs continue on their winless streak after losing yesterdays game to the Vancouver Canucks and setting the all time team mark for worst start in franchise history. Lets hope as fans that this is the only negative mark that we are part of this season but i wouldn't hold my breathe on this matter. The big question now is would the Maple Leafs be better off if they had kept Bryan McCabe and Pavel Kubina? The Leafs would then not have had to go out an sign Francois Beauchemin and Mike Komisarek this off season. Bryan McCabe had become the whipping boy of the franchise and his move before the start of last season for the brittle Mike Van Ryn was seen as a no brainer, now just over a year later are Leaf fans wondering if this was a smart trade? Then Pavel Kubina was sent packing in the summer in a trade that brought Toronto Garnet Exelby, a player who is rotating in and out of the lineup. The Leafs moved to dump some high salaries and by moving McCabe and Kubina got rid of $10.75 million off the books and the cap. The signings of Beauchemin & Komisarek brough back $8.3 million dollars to the Maple Leafs cap. We gave up a Stanley Cup winner in Kubina and got one back in Beauchemin.
Legend to Numbers GP= Games Played, G= Goals, A= Assists, PTS= Points, PIM= Penalty Minutes, SH= Shots on goal, P/M= Plus/Minus
Bryan McCabe stats
2009-10 GP 9 G 0 A 3 PTS 3 PIM 4 SH 16 P/M +3
2008-09 GP 69 G 15 A 24 PTS 39 PIM 41 SH 153 P/M -1
Pavel Kubina stats
2009-10 GP 8 G 0 A 5 PTS 5 PIM 6 SH 8 P/M +4
2008-09 GP 82 G 14 A 26 PTS 40 PIM 94 P/M -15
Mike Komisarek stats
2009-10 GP 8 G 0 A 0 PTS 0 PIM 23 SH 7 P/M -4
2008-09 GP 66 G 2 A 9 PTS 11 PIM 121 SH 56 P/M 0
Francois Beauchemin stats
2009-10 GP 8 G 1 A 2 PTS 3 PIM 0 SH 19 P/M -5
2008-09 GP 20 G 4 A 1 PTS 5 PIM 12 SH 45 P/M -3
This season all four defensemen have averaged over 21:00 minutes a game of total ice time, the main difference the seperates these two players it seems is their ages with McCabe and Kubina at 34 and 32 years of age while Beauchemin and Komisarek are 29 and 27. The big question for Maple Leaf fans is. Would you want to have McCabe and Kubina in the back end right now or do you prefer Beauchemin and Komisarek that is a question that seems to be going through quite a few fans minds especially with the Leafs yet to win with the latter.
I really liked McCabe, and will always think of him fondly. However, I feel the change of scenery really helped his game. Sometimes players just have to move on to be successful. Pavel Kubina, on the other hand, was sold off at a rediculously low price and I'll miss him all season.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, did you call him "Randy Exelby" on purpose? His play HAS been entirely forgetable.
Hell, I'd swap them for Staffan Kronwall and Anton Stralman right now. Ask me again in a few months when we can see if they pull themselves together.
ReplyDeleteI think trading Kubina for crap was ridiculous and unnecessary.
ReplyDeleteComparing Beauch and Kubina I find them seem pretty comparable... (and Kubina actually had chemistry with LEafs...but hopefully time will fix that)
In regards to Komi and McCabe, they are complete opposites AND definitely can't be compared by stats. McCabe is a puck mover and Komi is a shut down. And as you pointed out McCabe HAD to be moved. He was our whipping boy, no one wanted him here, and the pressure was not making him better, it was making him make stupid mistakes.
I really think if we give this D time (and we have some luck and they can f****** gel) we have a really solid D
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ReplyDeleteThanks for spotting the error it is Garnet Exelby, not former Habs goalie Randy Exelby who i wonder what he is doing, we do need a goaltendeer
ReplyDeleteKind of depends what you're looking for McCabe/ Kubina had lots of offensive ability but not much defense ... opposite is true for Komisarek and Beauchemin. Based on what I've seen so far think McCabe and Kubina was a better fit. They would have looked better in Toronto if they had a couple of good stay homers to play with them as well.
ReplyDeleteTC
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