With the Jay McClement and Matt Frattin contracts something is sticking out for me: the Leafs have too many NHLers. At Center their depth chart (in no particular order) is now something like:
Mikhail Grabovski, Tim Connolly, Tyler Bozak, David Steckel, Jay McClement
Our "top six" wingers are obvious:
Phil Kessel, Joffrey Lupul, James van Riemsdyk (feels weird and fucking awesome to type), Clarke MacArthur
There shouldn't be any argument there. Follow me over the magical dividing line for the mystery.
We already have five centers, so one of those guys is on the move. Here are our bottom six wingers:
Nikolai Kulemin, Leo Komarov, Mike Brown, Nazem Kadri, Matt Frattin, Matthew Lombardi
That's six guys and four spots. Is someone on the move? Is a deal in the works? Is this leverage against Nikolai Kulemin asking for a raise? Could Kadri and Frattin start in the AHL and become injury fill ins this season? Is Tim Connolly or Matthew Lombardi about to be ditched?
We'll find out soon enough I suppose. This has been a confusing day.