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Michalek waived. Leafs claim Ben Smith from Colorado.

Interesting move. Michalek wasn't accomplishing much, and I imagine he'll go unclaimed. Smith makes for a reasonable 4th liner, I suppose. Frees up ~$275K cap.
 
Way for Michalek!

The Smith thing is very surprising though. Really don't see the need for him on the roster. Especially since now the Leafs will still need to send somebody down once Leivo becomes healthy (which should be pretty soon).
 
I wonder if they think they can put Smith through waivers and have him as a vet on the Marlies.

I hope he's not Bab's "Hunwick" on the forward group.

By most measures, he is not an NHL'er and especially not on our depth chart.
 
WhatIfGodWasALeaf said:
I wonder if they think they can put Smith through waivers and have him as a vet on the Marlies.

I hope he's not Bab's "Hunwick" on the forward group.

By most measures, he is not an NHL'er and especially not on our depth chart.
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I seem to remember liking him enough on the 4th line in the games he played last year. But that was obviously under different circumstances. We absolutely can't have both him and Martin on the 4th line.
 
Me thinks Connor Brown just got moved up the lineup (well deserved IMO).

Komarov - Kadri - Brown
JvR - Bozak - Marner
Hyman - Matthews - Nylander
Martin - Holland - Smith/Griffith
 
WhatIfGodWasALeaf said:
Michalek-Laich-Greening

That's $11.125 million dollars worth of AHL talent.

lol
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Insane when you add up all the player NOT playing for Leafs:

                                 
Horton, Nathan                       $5,300,000
Lupul, Joffrey                       $5,250,000
Michalek, Milan                       $4,000,000
Robidas, Stephane               $3,000,000
Kessel, Phil               $1,200,000
Gleason, Tim               $1,333,333
Laich, Brooks                       $4,500,000
Greening, Colin           $2,650,000
Cowen, Jared   $4,500,000
Total   $31,733,333
 
I'm a bit surprised, as Michalek isn't that far removed from being a productive player. I guess he's declined too much to give any more leash.

The Smith thing is a bit odd. Why not just throw Gauthier or rotate from the marlies in the bottom hole?
 
Terry Koshan ‏@koshtorontosun  7 minutes ago
Babcock: "Adding Smith today gives us a right-hand faceoff guy who can penalty kill too. That was a concern for us." #Leafs
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Babs has been insistent on having guys take face-offs on their strong side when possible this season. This has led to Komarov and Hyman mostly splitting the PK draws. Hyman's 4 for 12 there on the right side. Smith is pretty good on face-offs admittedly, but I'm not sure how big of a deal that is. The Leafs PK is at 88.9%, and have only surrounded 2 goals this season.

Also, I feel like pointing out that Babcock would rather employ a 4th line scrub than give Bozak more penalty-killing minutes.
 
CarltonTheBear said:
Also, I feel like pointing out that Babcock would rather employ a 4th line scrub than give Bozak more penalty-killing minutes.
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Bozak leaks scoring chances against on the PK at a much higher rate than he should.  His usefulness on the PK is only in the face-off circle.  I'd much rather have a true PKer taking the draw in case of a loss. 
 
Well, I didn't quite call it, but I did certainly ask for it.

I think Carlton's observation about the faceoffs is on the nose.

Martin - Holland - Smith gives draws on either side, + PK option to keep Bozak's numbers up.
 
Are there any rules in the CBA about what you can do with a claimed player?  Like can you waive them again, do you have to wait a certain amount of time, etc.?
 
CarltonTheBear said:
Babs has been insistent on having guys take face-offs on their strong side when possible this season. This has led to Komarov and Hyman mostly splitting the PK draws. Hyman's 4 for 12 there on the right side. Smith is pretty good on face-offs admittedly, but I'm not sure how big of a deal that is. The Leafs PK is at 88.9%, and have only surrounded 2 goals this season.

Also, I feel like pointing out that Babcock would rather employ a 4th line scrub than give Bozak more penalty-killing minutes.
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I feel like winning faceoffs is more important on the PK than other defensive situations. Winning the draw and icing the puck can easily kill 20-25 seconds at a time. Probably not enough to be worthy of a roster spot, but enough to make an adjustment if you have those pieces on your roster.
 
Potvin29 said:
Are there any rules in the CBA about what you can do with a claimed player?  Like can you waive them again, do you have to wait a certain amount of time, etc.?
Click to expand...

You can basically waive them the next day, and, if only their original team puts in a claim, for the next 30 days, they get the right to send him the the AHL without waivers.
 
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