Last summer Leafs fans saw Brian Burke searching for that center to complement Phil Kessel. Burke and Leafs fans everywhere got their centre when Tim Connolly was signed and Matthew Lombardi was traded to Toronto along with Cody “stud” Franson. As the season moved forward everyone that was watching the leafs could see that Lombardi was playing okay for a guy who missed a full year of hockey, but he was no top 4 forward. And Connolly was playing like a third or fourth liner (not good for a cap hit of $4.75 mil a year).
In the case of Dave Steckel, some like to point out that he is not an offensive threat and does nothing but face offs, but in reality what more do you want from a fourth line center? He fits in perfectly with Mike Brown and gets in front of the net for a tap in or rebound.
Zigomanis. Does that ring a bell? Maybe you heard the name every Saturday on Hockey Night in Canada’s first intermission on the CBC show. Don cherry loves to rant about how he thinks Zigomanis should be the Leafs fourth or third line center, and he has a point. Ziggy gets good point totals in the AHL and his face off numbers are almost as good as Steckel’s as well as his presence on the penalty kill. And he has a Stanley cup under his belt.
Mikhail Grabovski has established himself throughout the NHL as the poster boy for 2nd line centers, he fits in perfectly at 15 to 20 minutes a game. Leafs nation knows that the chemistry between Grabovski and MacAurther is similar to Kessel and Lupul who played phenomenal in 2012.
Last years #1 centre was Tyler Bozak. Is he the #1 this year though? To answer that question he is defiantly not. Bozak is a great third line center and would be a good replacement center just incase the number one center got injured for a week or so. (possibly long term but knock on wood). Bozak is exactly like what Bobby Holik said back when he was in New Jersey: “Play me on the first line and we wont make the playoffs, but play me on the third line and we will win the Stanley Cup”.
Jay McClement is the leafs big summer pick up (thats sad), is he bad player though? No he is a good role player just like Steckel, he wins face offs, fights, and is good on the PK. McClement wins a fare amount of face offs and he gets gritty in the corners. He was a completely useless and uncalled for free agency signing when you have a team with good young centers in their farm system.
Last but not least, James Van Riemsdyk. Picked behind Patrick Kane in the 2008 draft. Van Riemsdyk is a player who in three seasons has not reached his full potential, therefore he was traded for a player with the same value, a young player with a bright future ahead. The worst thing about him is that in his three seasons in the NHL he has never played a full season as center. JVR played center back in college and never got the opportunity of playing center in Philly behind the likes of Mike Richards and Claude Giroux. He looks like he is going to play along with Lupul and Kessel thanks to head coach Randy Carlye who said several weeks ago that he is going to see how Van Riemsdyk does at center during NHL training camp in September.
In conclusion the Leafs have every center except a #1 to go play with a 30 goal scorer (Kessel) and an alternate all star captain (Lupul). What will happen now? Lets hope that like Jeremy Lin, one of the unknown players can break out of their shell and pull a miracle not just for the leafs but for the struggling Toronto sports market.
God Help Us!
-GO LEAFS GO
-Daniel Testa
Inspired by David Testa.
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