EDI-Flyer

The one plus I suppose is that tix will be cheaper than the regular season games at the inaffordable Rogers Arena

I wouldn't bet on that...

For anyone interested in learning more about the early origins of the Flyers and their evolution under Shero I can thoroughly recommend Score! by Gene Hart. http://www.amazon.com/Score-Twenty-Five-Years-Street-Bullies/dp/0929387171/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1373450754&sr=8-1&keywords=Score%21+Gene+Hart

A tremendous read and well worth the $.

Fantastic to see him finally get the recognition he deserved...

I've seen first hand the physical punishment that Clarkson takes in front of the net...he's not a huge guy, I'm thinking his body breaks down after 3 or 4 more years of pounding. Love his tenacious play and win at all costs attidtude, but this will come back to haunt them before it's all said and done.

Yeah, this would be my main concern too jammer. Like you say if this was for four years then fine, but 7? Pass! That 30 goal season looked great but I personally think that was his career high and not likely to hit it again. 20-25 goals tops IMO tailing off in a few years time. Maybe I'll be proved wrong, the Leafs are certainly more offensively minded than the Devils so perhaps that will boost his numbers to a degree...

I still think a trade can be made with the Avelanche. Stasney would solve a lot of problems and it does not look like he will have a center slot this coming year, assuming McKinnon makes the team (which is a given IMHO). Tons of defensive prospects in the TO org, so that could work out well for both squads.

I would agree that a trade could be made with the Avs but given that Stastny's cap hit is $6.6 million I'm not sure TO could fit him in... Next year when he is UFA possibly...

From the article in the Globe and Mail:

The Clarkson and Bozak contracts leave the Leafs with only $14-million in cap space and needing to still re-sign restricted free agents Jonathan Bernier, Nazem Kadri, Carl Gunnarsson, Cody Franson and Mark Fraser. Those five players should eat the majority of that room.

Per the Globe and Mail:

The Toronto Maple Leafs continue to look more and more like a Randy Carlyle team.

And they made a big splash into free agency in doing so.

The Leafs signed winger David Clarkson to a seven-year contract for $5.25-million a year and re-signed centre Tyler Bozak on a five-year deal for $4.2-million a year on Friday afternoon, filling out two top six forward spots.

A Toronto native, Clarkson has spent his entire career with the New Jersey Devils. Now 29, he is coming off his two best seasons, including a career high 30 goals and 46 points in 80 games in 2011-12.

Bozak, meanwhile, played big minutes under Coach Carlyle as the Leafs returned to the postseason for the first time in nine years and had 28 points in 46 games playing alongside close friend Phil Kessel.

(If there’s a silver lining to Bozak’s re-signing it’s that it makes Kessel signing an extension much more likely. His contract is up at the end of next season, and he will be due a new eight-year deal in the near future.)

The Clarkson and Bozak contracts leave the Leafs with only $14-million in cap space and needing to still re-sign restricted free agents Jonathan Bernier, Nazem Kadri, Carl Gunnarsson, Cody Franson and Mark Fraser. Those five players should eat the majority of that room.

The addition of Clarkson, meanwhile, helps fill out a lineup that lost Mikhail Grabovski (buyout), Clarke MacArthur (signed in Ottawa), Matt Frattin (trade to Los Angeles) and Leo Komarov (returned to Russia) all in recent weeks.

What Toronto will miss, however, is the speed and finesse Grabovski, MacArthur and Frattin provided, even if they didn’t quite fit into Carlyle’s vision of a rough and tumble team.

They also lose a little bit of offence, but that shouldn’t be fatal. Clarkson’s career high of 30 goals and 46 points came in 2011-12, but it was also with a shooting percentage well out of the ordinary and isn’t likely He probably pencils in as more of a 20-goal, 45-point contributor but could be a solid fit with Joffrey Lupul and Kadri on a very offence-first second line. He has only averaged about 14 minutes playing time a game in his career, but that spiked up into the 17 minute range last season playing with Patrik Elias and Travis Zajac.

It’s a lot of cake (and term) for a complimentary player, but Clarkson certainly brings the type of hard-hitting game Carlyle covets.

Throughout the roster, in fact, Nonis has remade the team much more in Carlyle’s image than previous coach Ron Wilson, who loved players like Grabovski, MacArthur, Jake Gardiner and even Liles during his time with the team.

To date, where the Leafs haven’t made any additions is on their blueline, which was a key weakness at even strength as they were outshot heavily on many nights, especially late in the year.

Whilst I like Clarkson as a player I don't like the term length on this deal, especially not if his scoring drops off majorly. The Bozak deal is slightly more palatable in terms of length but $4.2 million seems reasonable, albeit for what most people would regard as a fairly second tier centre. At least the Leafs had the sense not to give him the 8 year contract he was apparently seeking...

@jammer2 I could also see him ending up in Dallas too. They signed Gonchar and hopefully have Nichushkin coming onto their team too. Jim Nill has made some nice moves IMO, and he has the experience with the Wings to appreciate a guy like this.

This just in from TSN: All I can say is wow... He is really pissed, sounds like his relationship (or lack of) with Carlyle is what pushed him out the door. I still think he will go on to do well with another team.

Only hours after his five-year tenure in Toronto had come to an end,Mikhail Grabovski was still trying to sort out the emotions of what had just occurred.

"I'm [expletive] happy right now," he told TSN.ca exclusively early on Thursday evening, shortly after the Maple Leafs announced that they had exercised their second compliance buyout on the 29-year-old.

With the sting of the wound being realized, Grabovski changed tune considerably in a frustrating diatribe that took aim most poignantly at Leafs head coach Randy Carlyle.

"Of course I feel [expletive] sad," he continued in a lengthy conversation, minutes later, "I played [expletive] five years here. I'm supposed to feel upset about that. I loved it [here]. Toronto fans are one of the best fans in the world."

Grabovski finished a disappointing and altogether uninspired 2013 with poor numbers, compiling just nine goals and 16 points in 48 games, used almost exclusively in a checking role under Carlyle. While he performed with renewed fire and urgency in the playoffs, Grabovski ultimately finished goalless against the Bruins, adding just two assists in seven games.

Unwilling to rock the boat throughout the season, which saw the Leafs reach the playoffs for the first time since 2004, Grabovski kept silent, but held nothing back in his feelings toward Carlyle after ties with the organization were effectively cut.

"I play in the [expletive] Russian KHL, I make lots of [expletive] points and what's going to happen? He make me [expletive] play on the fourth line and he put me in the playoffs on the fourth line and third line again," Grabovski spewed. "Yeah, I don't score goals. I need to work more about that. I know that. But if you feel support from your coach [you'll find success]. I don't feel any support from this [expletive] idiot."

Grabovski found a favourite in Ron Wilson, from whom Carlyle took over in the latter stages of the 2011-2012 season, scoring 20 goals three times upon being acquired from Montreal. Inked to a hefty five-year, $27.5 million extension just three days after Wilson was fired in March of 2012, Grabovski never found a similar connection or rapport with Carlyle.

Communication – or lack thereof – was in some ways at the crux of the matter. Grabovski and the head coach rarely spoke, most of the conversation instead streaming through assistant coaches Greg Cronin and Scott Gordon.

"Wilson [expletive] pushed me same hard as this," Grabovski said, months of frustration finally bubbling to the surface, "but don't be an [expletive] with me. If you don't like something tell [expletive] right away, don't put me on the bench, healthy scratch [me] or something. Don't put me on a [expletive] third line and then [expletive] play me six minutes in a game."

Due to be married to his long-time girlfriend on Friday, the news unquestionably took Grabovski by surprise. Initially he called the buyout – which will offer the Leafs a boost in cap space with free agency looming on Friday – a "good present" from the organization and looked ahead to the opportunity he would find elsewhere.

He added that he'd find motivation from the dismissal, just as he had upon being traded from the Canadiens five years – almost to the day – earlier.

"People always in life motivate me," he said.

According to Leafs general manager Dave Nonis, the Leafs desired "cap flexibility" in parting ways with Grabovski and ultimately they chose that flexibility – be it with Tyler Bozak, Stephen Weiss or whomover they manage to acquire – over Grabovski. After buying out Mike Komisarek a day earlier, the organization projects to have upwards of $24 million available heading into free agency period, though they have the likes ofNazem Kadri, Cody Franson, Carl Gunnarsson, Jonathan Bernier andMark Fraser still to sign.

Grabovski spent the early months of the most recent lockout in the KHL with CKSA Moscow and wouldn't rule out the league as an option for his next opportunity, though there figures to be NHL interest with a dearth of quality centremen available.

"I need to work harder," he concluded, taking time to thank his teammates, equipment managers and fans, "I need to be smarter, I need to play harder, need to play better and score a lot of goals and do what I do the best.

@arcticicehockey 2h Grabovski has scored more goals than Kopitar, Richards, Duchene, Datsyuk, Lecavalier, Berglund, Bergeron, Seguin, Eberle over last 3 yrs.

That is some good company to be keeping... Hopefully a change of scenery will do him good.

@jammer2

I agree re the offensive production, certainly last season anyway but in general he puts up reasonable numbers. That said if they are letting him go in order to pay Bozak 8 million a year then they do indeed need their heads examined. Or given a hefty slap, maybe both.

He is expensive at 5.5 but some other team is gonna pick up a good player for no outlay and pay him 3.5 to 4 million, which in my view is a reasonable price. No wonder the Leafs fans are pissed.

The Toronto Maple Leafs are poised to buy outMikhail Grabovski after putting the veteran forward on unconditional waivers Thursday.

The buyout will make Grabovski an unrestricted free agent as of Friday at noon ET. The Leafs have already used their other non-compliance buyout on defenceman Mike Komisarek.

Grabovski, 29, had four years remaining on his $27.5-million contract, which he signed in March 2012. Acquired in 2008 from Montreal, the Leafs had high hopes for Grabovski. But he struggled this season, recording just nine goals and seven assists in 48 games.

"This was not an easy decision to make as Mikhail made numerous contributions to our hockey club," Leafs general manager Dave Nonis said in a statement. "This is a roster move that will give us salary cap flexibility moving forward."

The move will free up $5.5 million of cap space for the Leafs.

In 367 career games, Grabovski has 94 goals and 123 assists.

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=426933

It wasn't that long ago that they were offered a decent pick for him and turned it down. Now he costs them $14.6 million to buy out. Almost Homeresque in term, except Grabo didn't get a NMC

Best of luck to Danny B in Montreal.

Having said that 4 million doesn't seem to get you much in today's NHL. Seems a lot of $ unless he undergoes some of scoring renaissance next year with the Habs.

Whilst it may not be the best move from a financial standpoint I personally like the loyalty shown by the organisation. I hope it isn't but worst case scenario and his career is over 600k (even after tax) will certainly give him a good shot at life outside of hockey.

You don't really need guys like him now in the NHL. Guys like him, Barnaby and Domi does nothing for you in the playoffs except become liabilities for taking bad penalties. The Flyers seriously need to stop drafting these knuckleheads so high. I wouldn't have a problem if they were 7th rd picks.

I beg to differ.

Last year in particular Rinaldo showed that he has the tools to be a hard hitting energy line player. He works hard, is not a liability in his own end and skates extremely well. Oh, and he was a 6th round pick.

I do agree that there was no need to draft Goulbourne in the 3rd and would prefer to have taken a player with a potentially higher career ceiling. Take him in the 6th by all means though.

Well it appears they followed the path they said they would.

Last night they took 4 players from the OHL and 1 from the W. They did take a Euro too though, but not until the 5th round.

Wouldn't surprise me if it's Goulbourne just by the Flyers calling him Z2, after Rinaldo, and their in love with Rinaldo. He's the player now he's going to be in 5 years IMO

If Goulbourne plays first that is more of an indictment on the Flyers than on the other two prospects... Much as I love Rinaldo you don't really need more than one of that kind of player on your team.

Hagg

They always seem to play better for Sweden than Vancouver....

This much is true, this year at the worlds is just one example.

Trade these two, somehow, someway...get it done and take the return for them and start over.

I think they have one more shot and then there window is well and truly closed. Actually I don't even believe they realistically have one shot but maybe you give it one more year under Torts and then take it from there. If things aren't working then trade them and take what you can get.

The problem is that unless the reworked draft system starts to produce significant results their hopes of rebuilding through the draft are slim...

An interesting article in today's Vancouver Sun on the Canucks issues with drafting players over the last few years. It's actually quite frightening to read that none of draft picks by Mike Gillis are playing regularly for the Canucks, albeit Cody Hodgson is now doing so for Buffalo.

NEW YORK — It has been 12 years since the Vancouver Giants moved into the Vancouver Canucks’ backyard, and in all this time the city’s National Hockey League team has never drafted a player from the city’s Western Hockey League team.

“Yeah, it is a little strange,” Giants coach Don Hay said this week. “Sometimes being in someone’s backyard, maybe they see your players too much. I don’t know.” Kelowna Rockets owner and general manager Bruce Hamilton doesn’t know, either. His team, one of the most successful in major junior hockey and among the most prolific at cultivating NHL draft picks, hasn’t had a player selected by the Canucks since 1999.

The last time the Canucks chose anyone from one of the WHL’s six teams in British Columbia was 2006, when Vancouver took Prince George Cougar Evan Fuller in the final round. Since then, the province’s WHL teams have had 48 players drafted into NHL organizations — and numerous others signed as free agents — and the Canucks haven’t taken any of them.

“I’m disappointed,” Hamilton said. “All the B.C. teams are frustrated when you see (the Canucks) bypass our guys when there are lots of them playing in the NHL. We’ve been developing players for 20 years (in Kelowna) and we must be doing a pretty good job because there are a lot of them in the NHL. I’m in the development business, but I guess we’re not good enough at developing players for them. “I don’t know if they have a bias against the WHL, but it seems easier for them to pick college players and players from Europe than the guys who are sitting right here.” Hamilton has no issue with Canuck scouts, but wonders about management’s decisions at the draft table.

And if the Canucks were winning championships or loaded with superior NHL prospects, none of this would matter. If there’s ever a Stanley Cup parade in B.C., no one is going to be checking passports. But Vancouver’s collection of prospects is ranked 29th among 30 NHL organizations by the Hockey News while the Canucks, eliminated in the first round of the playoffs the last two seasons, have tilted at the draft even farther away from the WHL and its powerhouse sibling, the Ontario Hockey League, since Mike Gillis became general manager in 2008.

Heading into Sunday’s NHL talent lottery in New Jersey, the Canucks have drafted 30 players in Gillis’ first five years. Only five of these players were from the OHL and just two from the WHL — both chosen in 2008. The Canucks also went four years without drafting any B.C.-born player before choosing Victoria Tier-2 junior Wesley Myron in the sixth round last year.

“I surely understand the frustration level,” Canuck player personnel director Eric Crawford said when asked about the lack of B.C. players, by birth or junior team, drafted by B.C.’s NHL franchise. “The NHL has become more and more about recruiting, than maintaining the players you have. To do that, you want to have homegrown talent that will want to stay, so it makes sense to draft players from there. “We did a pretty comprehensive scouting overview last summer. We did a couple of studies on where those guys in the last five drafts came from and how it translated into (making the NHL). We did some analytics on where they came from and where it was best to get players. There were some pretty noticeable trends that we’ve taken strong command of.”

The trends were so compelling the Canucks quietly reorganized their amateur scouting division and changed methodology. They built a new chain of command based on regions, established clearer priorities and focused resources on three key areas: Western Canada, Ontario and the United States.

Crawford, who had overseen the Canucks’ pro scouting department, was put in charge of amateur scouting. Chief scout Ron Delorme retained his title but was returned to the WHL because, as assistant general manager Laurence Gilman explained, the team needed its best scout back in the West. WHL scout Harold Snepsts was redeployed to help senior adviser Stan Smyl assess undrafted college and junior players, and the Canucks bulked up their scouting staff in Ontario.

“Even with the greater influence we’ve placed on Ontario, the United States and Western Canada, it doesn’t mean we won’t still pick players from Quebec and Europe,” Gilman said. “But we’re placing greater emphasis on the other three regions.” Under Gillis, the Canucks have leaned heavily on the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League and Europe for draft picks, devoting 14 of their 30 selections to those areas the last five years. Obviously, there are excellent NHL players from Quebec and Europe. Canucks Alex Burrows and Roberto Luongo, for example, are from Montreal, and stars Daniel and Henrik Sedin arrived in Vancouver through the Canucks’ historic pipeline from Sweden.

But the makeup of recent Stanley Cup-winning rosters is starkly different from the Canucks’ draft composition. Last season, the champion Los Angeles Kings’ 24-man roster included 11 players from the OHL and WHL and another five drafted from leagues in the U.S. Fifteen of their 24 players were Canadian. The 2011 Boston Bruins had 16 Canadians, and 12 of their 22 players were drafted from the OHL and WHL. The 2010 Chicago Blackhawks were also Canadian-heavy, with 15 of 23 players born in Canada. Those Hawks had drafted 12 of their players from the OHL and WHL, and selected another four from the U.S. The 2013 Blackhawks, who won the Stanley Cup last Monday, counter the current trend slightly because their roster was rebuilt and bolstered with several Europeans after a salary-cap crisis three years ago. But even with Canadian content reduced to 11 players, 13 of 24 on the playoff roster were drafted from the OHL, WHL and U.S.

Gillis, who spoke briefly about his draft record after naming John Tortorella the Canucks’ new coach on Tuesday, said the composition of recent Stanley Cup rosters was a factor in restructuring his amateur scouting. Not one player drafted by Gillis has become a Canuck regular, although 2008 first-rounder Cody Hodgson is on the Buffalo Sabres’ first line, and prospects Jordan Schroeder, Frankie Corrado, Nicklas Jensen and even 2012 first-rounder Brendan Gaunce could challenge for playing time in Vancouver next season. Gillis’ trade choices have been as responsible as his draft decisions for the Canucks’ shortage of elite NHL prospects.

Like Canuck GMs before him, Dave Nonis and Brian Burke, Gillis has squandered annually at the trade deadline draft choices in rounds 2-4 to acquire an extra player or two for the playoffs. Three months ago, he sacrificed a second-round pick and blue-line prospect Kevin Connauton to “rent” Dallas Stars centre Derek Roy. Roy will leave the Canucks next week as an unrestricted free agent; the draft pick is gone forever. In the last seven years alone, Gillis and Nonis traded away 12 draft picks from the second, third and fourth rounds. Gillis also gave his 2010 first-round pick to Florida in the terrible trade for Keith Ballard. “It’s a practice I don’t like, haven’t liked, and I’m not sure we’ll continue it,” Gillis said. “Trading draft picks is a practice I don’t like, but we’ve felt our team was close to pushing for a Stanley Cup and there were players available who could help. This new CBA dictates that it’s not a wise practice, anyway.” Gilman said: “The analogy you can use is baseball: when you lose at-bats, you decrease your chances of hitting home runs. We know that there has been a cumulative effect of trading away those picks over time. That has been part of the cost of our success as a team.”

Ron Toigo, the Vancouver Giants’ owner, said most people don’t understand the impact of trading away picks.

“People say to me: ‘I can’t believe they didn’t draft Milan Lucic,” Toigo said, referring to the East Vancouver winger who became an NHL star after the Bruins drafted him from the Giants in 2006’s second round. “But the problem is (the Canucks) had no picks in the second round that year. They’d traded them all, so they had no way to get Lucic.”

Gillis and Gilman said another factor that has hurt is the Canucks’ lack of ownership, until now, of their own American Hockey League farm team. In April, the Canucks purchased the Peoria Rivermen from the St. Louis Blues and subsequently moved the team to Utica, N.Y. For the first time in a decade, the Canucks will have full control of player development and an entire AHL roster for their prospects. The scouting reorganization and new draft priorities will help, Gilman said.

The Canucks pick 24th in the first round on Sunday and, because of the Roy trade, won’t select again until the 85th spot, late in the third round.

As a consequence of the NHL lockout, the league is squeezing the seven-round draft into one day. The 2013 draft class is considered the strongest in a decade. “Our problem was systemic, not individual,” Gilman said of the Canucks’ draft history. “We’ve made changes in the last year to address that. Can we do better? Absolutely. We do have to do better.”

Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/sports/Canucks+roll+into+draft+without+homegrown+talent/8595402/story.html#ixzz2Xd3dC7Ci

@jammer2

Whilst I agree with you re the fact thar he lost a step last year I don't know for sure that this was entirely age related. Allegedly he turned up in poor condition and hadn't been looking after himself during the lockout. I do think he likely gets bought out next year but why not at least see if you can get one more productive year out of him...

@pilldoc It did look that way...

Instead it looks like they are blaming Torts for his poor performance and giving Richards another bite at the cherry under Alain Vigneault to see if his game reignites.

If not he can always be bought out next summer instead...

So Homer could have damaged 5 British Airways aircraft

In fairness I think baggage handler would suit Homer perfectly, no difficult decisions to make, not too much thinking involved...

I don't think the plan was for Briere to play these two seasons - they were essentially option years.

You might be right but even so with Danny B the way the deal was structured with 3 mill and 2 mill for the last two years would mean that if he was a worthwhile asset they would still have him under contract with no need to buy him out. If it wasn't for his cap hit I would keep him on the team for the wages he would be paid.

This was a cap circumvention deal from the jump.

Absolutely right, no dispute from me there!

Where else could you cost your company $23MILLION and still keep your job? It's always sunny in Philadelphia!

Well it ain't quite $23 million but this is a pretty good effort. Dude hasn't been sacked yet!

Baggage handler causes £4million damage to British Airways jet

A British Airways plane had to abort take-off after a baggage handler left a tool on the engine cover and it was sucked into the plane.

The error is said to have caused £4 million in damage to the Airbus A320, which was due to fly from Heathrow to Bucharest in Romania when a loud bang was heard.

The 150 passengers on board were taken off the plane and reportedly left to wait three hours for another flight.

The incident is understood to have happened after the baggage handler left his luggage-scanner gun on the cowling and forgot to remove it.

You would like to think when you cost your company Brieres buyout AND Bryzgalovs...you gotta be on a short leash. Or you're just saving face for Snider.

edit: Oh and awesome thread title.

To be fair I don't think the Briere buyout is a huge issue... 3.3 million paid out over 4 years ain't a large sum. And at least you can argue that Danny earned the vast majority of his contract, unlike sieve-galov. Danny would still be a Flyer if the cap hadn't dropped so drastically as a result of the new CBA.

@jammer2 My point was not so much that I don't think Bob is worth the 4 million a year, just that he might not get it from Columbus.

That said, having looked on Capgeek they do seem to be willing to pay for talent (Gaborik at 7.5, Wisniewski at 5.5 etc) so he may succeed in getting the bucks from them. Given his talent they would be wise to lock him up for quite a few years IMO.

As we know to our cost you can have all the other pieces but if you don't have great goal-tending you ain't gonna get too far (actually never mind great, if we had even had mediocre goal-tending in 2010 we would probably have won the damn cup...)