Reading the Tea Leafs: Dominic Moore

Contract Status (according to NHL Numbers)
$700K salary, $700K cap hit, UFA July 1, 2009

Age (as of October 1, 2008)
28 - August 3, 1980

NHL Seasons
Four

Run of the Mill Biographical Information

Marital Status
If the puck bunnies haven't hunted it down then it's probably because he is single.

Former Leaf he'd have to play like in order to be christened a deity
Who would be the most defensively responsible Leaf ever?

Biggest Question Marks
Will he even make the team?

2007-2008 Summary
Moor was claimed off waivers from the Minnesota Wild on January 11th and became another in a long line of good waiver wire pickups by JFJ. The greatest indictment of JFJ was that he was very good picking up scraps (Moore, Kilger, Battaglia for a year) but so incredibly inept in every other aspect of managing.

Along with Boyd Devereaux he formed a tandem of forwards, generally on the fourth line, that never stopped working. Every shift he used his speed to cause the opposition trouble. The numbers above show that at even strength, while not a point producer per se, he was the team's second best player in terms of not getting scored upon. For a fourth liner, this guy was heaven.

Projected 2008-2009 role/team
Dominic Moore is 28 years old. He's not exactly part of the kiddie corps but he's not exactly getting around the rink with the help of a walker with skis. However, he still has a part to play in the Leafs' future. Guys like Darcy Tucker, Bryan McCabe, Andrew Raycroft, and Kyle Wellwood were jettisoned in an attempt to change the atmosphere in the Leafs' dressing room and to bring in guys like Dominic Moore.

Moore will likely anchor the fourth line without complaint. The amount of penalty killing time he is given will depend largely on who Wilson decides to put on the powerplay. Antropov and Steen will likely see more ice at even strength and on the powerplay so their time on the PK will decline which leaves a nice gap for Moore to fill.

Whether he gets the added responsibility or not you can count on him to continue to do all of the cliched stuff (give 110%, take the game one shift at a time) while some imaginary strawman complains that he's taking ice-time away from Nikolai Kulemin. Moore is the kind of guy that in four years can replace the kind of guy that Boyd Devereaux is right now without having to pay a premium for actual Stanley Cup experience. In four years he'll have been a big part of shepherding the Leafs' youth movement into the NHL and getting them to realize that all of the skill in the world doesn't do you any good if you don't bust your ass.

And when the Leafs' Stanley Cup parade is winding past your window you'll think "Thank God Dominic Moore was counted upon to score goals and we got Tavares because we never would have won the Cup without Johnny".

Will Moore be a valuable part of the club going forward?