Bozak's Future

[CarltonTheBear]

Dreger today said that the Leafs would be alright with Bozak walking via free agency, and that they would look for a 2nd or 3rd line centre in the summer. People are making a pretty big deal about this, but to me I think he was just talking out loud.

It just doesn't make sense to me. If they're looking for a 2nd or 3rd line centre what does it mean about their C1 position? Is that spot being saved for Kadri? If so, why not just re-sign Bozak anyway and have him centre the 3rd line? That way we have somebody on the team that could centre any of the top-3 lines and not look completely out of place doing so.

I don't think Bozak wants that job.

I bet he wants C2 ice-time.

That's a good point. He'll also probably be a little less likely to give the Leafs any kind of deal on his contract if he knows he's being bumped from the Kessel line.

 

[drummond]

The only thing which is saving Bozak spot on the 1st line is his face-off winning ability. Once Kadri masters that, he follows the road of David Steckel. He becomes redundant.

 

[Strangelove]

I'm finding more and more that Bozak is just awful in the defensive end.  For some bizarre reason he has this tendency to coast around without really skating or picking anyone up, with the result that opposing forwards often have all the time in the world to do what they want with the puck.  Over and over again it results in goals against.  I don't know if he has it in his head that he's a point producer or what, but the coaches should be hammering on the bench.

 

[caver]

That 4 on 4 goal against last night was brutal.

 

[Corn Flake]

That 4 on 4 goal against last night was brutal.

That has as much to do with Gunarsson being out of position as it did Bozak chasing Hodgson around.  Probably more.

 

[Champ Kind]

That 4 on 4 goal against last night was brutal.

That has as much to do with Gunarsson being out of position as it did Bozak chasing Hodgson around.  Probably more.

Maybe the goal itself.  But Hodgson absolutely owned Bozak on that shift.  Like, disturbingly so.  There were multiple instances before the goal where Bozak simply couldn't maintain his check.

 

[cujo4ever]

Another strong game for Bozak tonight. I, for one, hope he is re-signed by the Leafs. Wonder how much he'll end up getting?

 

[ZBBM]

Another strong game for Bozak tonight. I, for one, hope he is re-signed by the Leafs. Wonder how much he'll end up getting?

Defending Bozak is a risky activity on this board. But as the announcers were saying tonight who would we get to replace him? 

I'm with you I hope he stays.

 

[Stickytape]

I also hope he stays. He's a versatile player with a lot to offer: hard working, plays the PP and PK, best man on the faceoff right now, etc.  And from his perspective, it has to feel good to be on the top line with guys like Kessel and JVR.  Maybe it's just me, but I wouldn't want to give that up.

 

[Highlander]

First line has some real chemisty and is dominating, lets keep it together for a while longer...see how it pans out in the playoffs...boy that sounds nice...playoffs...wow

 

[nutman]

I still don't see why them few want to replace Bozak. I think him Kessel and Jvr are a solid line. I guess you just can't please everyone.
once again, a nice solid game from him.

 

[princedpw]

Another strong game for Bozak tonight. I, for one, hope he is re-signed by the Leafs. Wonder how much he'll end up getting?

Defending Bozak is a risky activity on this board. But as the announcers were saying tonight who would we get to replace him? 

I'm with you I hope he stays.

The question is: how much do you hope he stays?  In other words, what is the biggest contract you would give him?  Would you give him a 5-year contract at $4 million/year? $4.5/year?  Or only $3/year?  It sounds like he wants upwards of $4 per year.  Given the lack of UFA centers, he might get that on the free market, but whoever pays that is going to be overpaying a lot.  Matt Stajan seems like a comparable from recent leaf history -- put up some points in a top line role he didn't deserve because we had nobody else; got paid by the flames who instantly regretted it.

The cap will be down next year, but up in future years (most likely).  How does he fit in to the team cap structure?

Right now, he's a great value at $1.5/year. 

Who could we get instead?  Maybe Weiss?  From all I've heard he is a pretty good defender.  He's scored 20 goals and 50-60 points for a number of years without a guy like Kessel on his wing.  Again though, we'll have to massively overpay for him because tons of other teams will want to upgrade at center this year too.

Other than that, a trade?  I'm not sure how our cap space situation will shake out exactly next year.  If we rid ourselves of Komi (buyout) and Liles (buyout/trade?), perhaps we will have room for a bigger contract.  Perhaps the avalanche will see some benefit to a Stastny/Liles exchange.  I'm not sure.  Other teams might bid more for Stastny than we can.  Or we might not have the cap space, depending on the other RFA contracts we'll want to sign.

 

[CoachKirill]

Another strong game for Bozak tonight. I, for one, hope he is re-signed by the Leafs. Wonder how much he'll end up getting?

Defending Bozak is a risky activity on this board. But as the announcers were saying tonight who would we get to replace him? 

I'm with you I hope he stays.

The question is: how much do you hope he stays?  In other words, what is the biggest contract you would give him?  Would you give him a 5-year contract at $4 million/year? $4.5/year?  Or only $3/year?  It sounds like he wants upwards of $4 per year. 

I will be fine with him getting $16 for four years. He is a $4 per year player I think.

 

[Kin]

Defending Bozak is a risky activity on this board. But as the announcers were saying tonight who would we get to replace him? 

Well, I think that depends on what you think Bozak's role is going forward. Is the idea that he's the team's #1 centre and will be for the foreseeable future? Because in that context, you're right, there isn't someone to come in and immediately be the kind of #1 centre you'd ideally want. Still, that leaves the team with Bozak as their #1 centre which isn't ideal.

If the idea is that Kadri or someone is eventually going to graduate into that role then the question of how do you replace a guy who's ideally suited to be a #3 centre isn't really all that tough to answer. If you figure Kadri is going to get a healthy raise then between Kadri/Grabo/Bozak you'll have lots of money invested in a #3 centre and I don't know if that's ideal.

 

[moon111]

It would be hard not to compare his value to at least Connolly's $4,750,000/year.  I'd hope for $4 million/season which would be justified.

 

[Champ Kind]

It would be hard not to compare his value to at least Connolly's $4,750,000/year.  I'd hope for $4 million/season which would be justified.

You know, one thing is for sure, you can't just let this guy go.  I've begrudgingly become a real fan of his, but I've come to see that he's very valuable to this team.

 

[nutman]

It would be hard not to compare his value to at least Connolly's $4,750,000/year.  I'd hope for $4 million/season which would be justified.

You know, one thing is for sure, you can't just let this guy go.  I've begrudgingly become a real fan of his, but I've come to see that he's very valuable to this team.

I agree.

 

[Highlander]

He works well with Kessel and JVR...keep him

 

[Peter D.]

Bozaks' going to get one of those contracts where we think, "HE got THAT much?!", isn't he?  Whether it be from the Leafs or some other team.

 

[BlueWhiteBlood]

Bozaks' going to get one of those contracts where we think, "HE got THAT much?!", isn't he?  Whether it be from the Leafs or some other team.

Maybe, but I also think the Leafs will get him at what he should be, around 3.5-4 million AAV. If he hits the market, I think it will definitely venture into the stupid category a bit.

I want to keep him over Grabovski at the present moment.