toronto, the latest from eklund regarding upcoming tryouts

[COOL MAN]

1. Ehrhoff (Jackets?)
2. Franson (Bruins, Jackets?)
3. Glencross (Leafs)
4. Bergenheim (LA?)
5. Boyes (Buffalo?)

Oh, and the piece today was actually headlined with Gonchar planning to tryout with the Pens.

Meanwhile, I admit I've been a Curtis Glencross fan for a pretty long time. But other than the fact he was a FA (and the Flames obviously had zero interest in re-signing him)......and since it seems clear Washington had little more interest in doing so than Calgary.....why has be fallen all the way to tryout status ??? Maybe he's tailed off over the past couple years way more than I realize. Still, I was hoping you could tell me why this could possibly.....at <$1 million......be a bad deal for a Leafs team which needs legitimate NHL'ers (and which I'd have thought described Glencross.....and frankly, all five of the listed players).

Conversely, I'm not sure how much Gonchar is actually worth to the Pens as Geno and Plotnikov's card-playing buddy. Then again, maybe they want Plotnikov to move in with him......

 

[bEER_Nation13]

Ship Scuderi out and sign Gonchar to 1 year deal worth $800k. Would open up cap space and Gonchar would be far more valuable. Rather have Gonchar for 1 year $800K than Scuderi 2 more years at $3.5 million per year. Let him mentor Pouliot, he could do great things for Pouliot especially help him learn to be the PP quarterback

 

[torontoeers]

I have to admit I'm a bit perplexed with Glencross seeming to be so out of favour? He would certainly end up as a more than serviceable guy for the Leaves at a bargain basement price...
I would also happily take Ehrhoff back or Franson for that matter at a reasonable number on a 2-3 year deal?
And I agree bEER Gonchar would likely be a more valuable asset short term, than Scuds...BUT who are we convincing to take him at that number...we will lose that deal unless GMJR can pull a rabbit out of the hat...

Here's one for you gents....my close friend golfs with Healy every other week (who can tend to rub more than a few the wrong way for various reasons) and verbatim ...' Was talking to Heals just now, he golfed with Gary Roberts yesterday and Roberts was supposed to be training Kessel this offseason who hasn't shown up to training for the last week and in his first two weeks had drank his maximum daily calories for the camp in Coke alone'....this concerns me juuuust a wee bit...Geno , Sid, Letang are really gonna have to put their foot down with this guy I think to get him working toward 50 goals rather than 30...he has it in him...will the work ethic rub off? I am hopeful Phil can develop his speed down the wing further which may actually eliminate the temptation our boys have to float the pass sometimes. ...

 

[COOL MAN]

I have to admit I'm a bit perplexed with Glencross seeming to be so out of favour? He would certainly end up as a more than serviceable guy for the Leaves at a bargain basement price...
I would also happily take Ehrhoff back or Franson for that matter at a reasonable number on a 2-3 year deal?
And I agree bEER Gonchar would likely be a more valuable asset short term, than Scuds...BUT who are we convincing to take him at that number...we will lose that deal unless GMJR can pull a rabbit out of the hat...

Here's one for you gents....my close friend golfs with Healy every other week (who can tend to rub more than a few the wrong way for various reasons) and verbatim ...' Was talking to Heals just now, he golfed with Gary Roberts yesterday and Roberts was supposed to be training Kessel this offseason who hasn't shown up to training for the last week and in his first two weeks had drank his maximum daily calories for the camp in Coke alone'....this concerns me juuuust a wee bit...Geno , Sid, Letang are really gonna have to put their foot down with this guy I think to get him working toward 50 goals rather than 30...he has it in him...will the work ethic rub off? I am hopeful Phil can develop his speed down the wing further which may actually eliminate the temptation our boys have to float the pass sometimes. ...

Let's be candid about one thing; Kessel has likely "earned" whatever reputation he's brings with him......and for that reason, perhaps we can also agree that he and Roberts looked like a kind-of strange couple to begin with. Of course, with Roberts' new partnership with the team in place, hopefully the two are simply a relationship still in it's earliest stages of development. Of course, it'll be sometime before we learn if he can be positively "influenced" by guys like Sid and Letang and (to a lesser extent) Geno.

Speaking only for myself, I've been skeptical we were going to see any kind of "transformed" guy.....certainly early in his new tenure. After all, most leopards find it difficult (if not impossible) to change the color of their spots. And he is, after all, among the League's highest paid players; so I doubt he comes in looking for direction. But more than anything else, I suspect most of us hope the lower lights of the Pittsburgh market at least help him relax to an extent he was never allowed in Toronto.

So, we really won't know much about him until the season starts, and the guys in the Room start relying on one another in the trenches. That said, I don't anticipate Kessel to ever be mistaken with Pascal Dupuis from a work ethic standpoint. But at the end of the day, all I really want is a guy who shows up every night and generally earns the salary he's being paid for the reasons he's earned it......if that happens, I suspect we'll all be happy with Kessel regardless what kind of character he proves to be.

 

[COOL MAN]

Ship Scuderi out and sign Gonchar to 1 year deal worth $800k. Would open up cap space and Gonchar would be far more valuable. Rather have Gonchar for 1 year $800K than Scuderi 2 more years at $3.5 million per year. Let him mentor Pouliot, he could do great things for Pouliot especially help him learn to be the PP quarterback

You've been moaning about Scuderi for months now (as has everyone else in captivity). Since you for some reason apparently think it's so easy, please do the franchise a favor and go make a Scuderi deal with anyone that moves his entire contract......and doesn't simply exchange his bad contract for another.....and GMJR will probably give you a front office job.

And BTW.....beyond being a good guy in the Room.....I truthfully don't know what Gonchar beings to the team at his age. I might feel differently if this were a young/developing team looking for bargain leadership/moxie; but that hardly describe the Penguins.