CarltonTheBear said:
Probably ditto for Rosen and Holl too to be honest (even though I liked Holl's play in his 2 games, I just don't ever see him getting an extended opportunity).
I wrote off Holl last season, but given the weakness on the right side, I can't ever say there's no chance on that side, unless we're talking about Corrado.
Rosen has been pretty good with the Marlies since he got adjusted (i.e. better than Borgman, but not as good as Dermott, Marincin). If they're willing to entertain him on the right side (after 3+ catastrophic injuries), he's got value. Unfortunately, his value is greater on a team that's not the Leafs.
Unless the Leafs drastically change in style on the backend, there is little hope for Rosen, Borgman. I hope the Marlies go on a hellacious long run here both for #TeamDubas and to give Babcock a really long look at what our player pool can look like if he lets go of a few hard-set ideas (boring 4th line, big-strong D requirement on PK, line reacting vs line dictating).
Guilt Trip said:
I don't watch the Marlies, that's why I asked. Is that Igor Ozhiganov an option? He's a right hand shot? I've read where Kucherov was lobbying Tampa to bring him over and Babs and Lou went over to see him last summer...Maybe we go after John Carlson? Going to be interesting. Either way I think we need a top shut down guy so that Hainsey/Zaitsev can move down the depth chart.
Ozhiganov is a bit worse (numbers-wise) than the free player we released to join his team in the KHL (Marchenko), but he does offer a different flavour of defense to what we've got. Not sure what his shot metrics look like, but he's less offensively gifted than Zaisev if that paints a picture. He has given commitment to the Leafs.
John Carlson is not likely the answer. He plays the semi-sheltered offensive D-man role. Unless Babcock suddenly decides that the new NHL is all about them goals and just goes hog-wild on offense-first-and-always, Carlson doesn't fit the niche we need filled. He's a points-getter too, so he'll be expensive and probably dreadful after the first 2 years of the new deal, especially if he gets pushed into the shutdown minutes he never played before.
