Are the Leafs making a run at John Tavares?
July 8th, 2008 Posted in LeafsNews.com | 
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Gone: Mats Sundin, Darcy Tucker, Kyle Wellwood, John Pohl, Andrew Raycroft.
Replaced by: Niklas Hagman, Jeff Finger, Jamal Myers, Curtis Joseph.
While the team has relieved itself of salary cap worries, point production is now their big worry. Cliff Fletcher is a hockey veteran and knows that the team that appears to be shaping up for this coming season is not a better team than what was fielded last year. Is this part of a plan that he and the executive team that he is surrounded by feel is the right way to go about it?
Clearly, when you lose as much offensive output as you do when you get rid of Mats Sundin, Darcy Tucker, Kyle Wellwood - regardless of how poorly or well they played the previous season, players have to be brought in to bring the point production back up to what it was previously.
SKATERS: GP G A +/- Pts
M. Sundin 74 32 46 17 78
D. Tucker 74 18 16 -8 34
K. Wellwood 59 8 13 -12 21
J. Pohl 33 1 4 -4 5
——————
138pts.
SKATERS: GP G A +/- Pts
Niklas Hagman 82 27 14 4 41
Jeff Finger 72 8 11 12 19
Jamal Mayers 80 12 15 -19 27
——————–
87pts.
Granted, the Leafs will have call ups and certain players will get more ice time than they received before. They will account for increased point production. Barring a big trade that will unload players, the Leafs have a full team right now.
Nik Antropov, if healthy and playing center - could get as much as 65 points in the season. As we saw this season, he will trail off towards the end of the season. This is all, of course, hypothetical. He has never had a full season before and is unlikely to. His injuries will affect the Leafs greatly, as he is touted to be the top offensive weapon the Leafs have. He finished the season with 56 pts. 3 more than defenceman Tomas Kaberle.
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