Leafs Injury Updates
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Zigomanis had a window for waiver protection because he'd cleared but I think that window has expired. I think they can bring him up under emergency recall but I'm not sure he can return without having to clear waivers first.
To me, he's a logical replacement for Steckel if Steckel is going to be out. He's great at faceoffs - just not as big. Neither are great skaters.
It's going to be an interesting day or two while they try to sort this out. We'll probably have some indication today because as LK points out, Zigomanis is in St. John's for the second of a back-to-back a game today.
I agree that Holzer will fill in as a 6th if needed. According to Eakins, Aulie's game is coming around and Eakins defended his plus/minus. Eakins felt Aulie didn't stick coming out of camp not because he played poorly but because Gardiner played incredibly. Eakins felt Holzer had started to play well late last season and had an edge on Aulie for the callup.
To me, he's a logical replacement for Steckel if Steckel is going to be out. He's great at faceoffs - just not as big. Neither are great skaters.
It's going to be an interesting day or two while they try to sort this out. We'll probably have some indication today because as LK points out, Zigomanis is in St. John's for the second of a back-to-back a game today.
I agree that Holzer will fill in as a 6th if needed. According to Eakins, Aulie's game is coming around and Eakins defended his plus/minus. Eakins felt Aulie didn't stick coming out of camp not because he played poorly but because Gardiner played incredibly. Eakins felt Holzer had started to play well late last season and had an edge on Aulie for the callup.
Heroic Shrimp
New member
cw said:
I'm sure it must have its plusses, but I hate aspects of the waiver structure. It punishes teams for having injuries, and can punish a number of borderline NHLers who may not get called up purely because of it.
bustaheims
Active member
I doubt they do anything for tomorrow's game - against Anaheim, with the way the Ducks are playing, they can probably afford to be a little patient and it's probably one where Orr and Rosehill would have dressed any ways. They have a couple days off after tomorrow, and, if Steckel's injury will keep him out of the line-up, they'll probably wait to see if Grabovski will be ready by then, maybe making a decision on Tuesday.
cw said:
There's a clause in the CBA that allows veteran minor-league players to be exempt from re-entry waivers, and I'm fairly certain Ziggy falls under that category. For skaters they have to have played 320 or more professional games in North America, and not spent more than 80 NHL games on a teams roster over the past 2 seasons OR 40 NHL games in the prior season.
Getting him back down now might be a problem if he plays well, and since it's almost certain he'll be returned when Steckel comes back that might not be a risk I want to take as he's a great influence on the younger players for the Marlies.
Heroic Shrimp said:
And it punishes some players like Souray or Redden for example who I cannot blame for accepting big bucks - I'd do the same thing.
Souray this season is top 3 in NHL dmen +/- and inside the top 20 NHL dmen in scoring. But NHL fans had no option to watch him last year when he was stuck in the AHL.
Redden isn't worth $6+ mil/yr but on ability, he could still win a spot in a NHL team's top 6 D. For the next three years, he'll toil in the AHL collecting his money while an inferior player plays in the NHL in his place.
Hopefully, they can improve these waiver issues with the next CBA.
CarltonTheBear said:
I think you and I agreed last season that at times, he was the Marlies best forward. Last season, I thought he would have been a better choice than Boyce or Brent because I think he could have helped them with secondary scoring and faceoffs without giving up tons defensively.
Had a look at the injury list:
http://forecaster.faceoff.com/faceoff/hockey/injuries.cgi
He might slide through waivers - not too many injuries to centers right now. That ignores some who might be under performing to trigger a team to try him.
cw said:
That's mostly what I'm worried about. We often seee players that pass through waivers that surprise us. But most of these guys are young-ish players with potential to be scorers in this league. These guys need ice-time to succeed and there aren't many teams that would be willing to replace somebody on their 2nd or 3rd line to put a claim in. But with Zigomanis, all a team needs to do is replace their 4th line centre, and for some that player is a dime-a-dozen (not saying Ziggy isn't necessarily that). Anybody who is struggling on face-offs could put a claim in with the hope that he could do to them what Steckel did for us.
CarltonTheBear said:
Yep.
If a bottom six is sucking at faceoffs and they have a piece of meat enforcer playing five minutes per night, it wouldn't take a rocket scientist to figure Ziggy could do a lot more for that team with five minutes of ice time taking draws. - particularly this season with fighting apparently in some sort of decline.
Naturally, as you say, he could replace some other slug or rookie who has hit a wall.
With all the media coverage Steckel has received in this market, coupled with the team's improvement, I also wonder if other teams might have elevated their priority on winning draws. So often we see teams in sports trying to clone success ...
cw said:
If they call up another forward then I'm really starting to question why both Rosehill and Orr are on the roster at the same time. I'm assuming they won't be calling up a defencemen until they return from their road trip, as they brought Holzer along for this very reason. So why have both of those guys taking up a spot if Wilson won't play them on a line together (the second part I understand, the first I don't). I'd rather see somebody like Boyce or Crabb sitting in the pressbox when we're healthy then both of the goons.
Heroic Shrimp
New member
cw said:
For sure that's the other obvious issue with the cap and waiver system. Nobody's going to cry for the multi-millionaires for having to ride a bus, but it's still a lousy way to potentially spend several years and/or the remaining years of one's life as a player while still potentially in their prime.
Nobody's likely to ask the question, but I'd love to know how much less (if at all) some guys like Redden or Finger would be willing to accept if they could go back and rewrite their deals, if it assured them they would have remained in the NHL.
Kin
New member
Heroic Shrimp said:
I don't know. I think I'd have to see it happen to a player who'd be a clear cut NHL'er before I think you'd get a real answer there. Redden's last stretch of NHL time was where he scored 14 points in 75 games and, if reports are to be believed, was hardly a defensive stalwart. Likewise, Jeff Finger was a guy who legitimately played himself out of the lineup. He was a 6/7 guy at his best on a team without a top notch defensive group.
Both guys might get teams willing to take a flyer on them for very little money but neither guy would be a sure thing to find a spot.
maplesyrup
New member
Army is what now 3/4 weeks away?
maplesyrup
New member
Fanatic said:
Cheers.