Analysis

Tom Awad at Puck Prospectus has been making a habit out of adding interesting statistics to the tool kit with which NHL fans can assess their respective clubs.  GVT is a useful counting stat that gives us an idea of a player's value and contribution to the team

So earlier today I was surfing through some of the fan-posts, and struck upon the one regarding Phil Kessel's production expectations for next year.  The summary basically concluded he'll produce goals, and all will be fine... go Phil.  It was a decent piece of work, but

Between long weekends, the end of the school year, my wedding, the start of summer school, and the general hustle and bustle of life, I haven't had much time to sit down and reflect upon what the Leafs have done over the past week and a bit.  Since

Last off-season I posted an analysis of the Leafs individual players based on Zone Shift.  The concept draws on the information from Gabe Desjardins' behindthenet.ca site, specifically Zone Start and Zone Finish locations, with a couple of modifications. The way that Gabe tabulates Zone Starts is self explanatory

According to a report I read earlier today, the main issue Brian Burke has with paying Nikolai Kulemin $3 million dollars a year is he believes it's too high a dollar mark to commit to for a player of his limited NHL experience. Is that really the way

Much attention has been devoted over the past half season to the UFA market this year.  Names like Kovalchuk, Marleau, and Plekanec have all been tossed around as possible scoring forwards to aid what ails the Leafs - a lack of offensive production. The Leafs do also have some RFAs

Last week our attention was piqued by the story coming out of Chicago that Marian Hossa and his agent, Rich Winter, had selected Chicago on the basis of a regression algorithm that had allowed them to winnow down the respective teams in the NHL that would attain 100 points in

On day three of the IIHF World Championships three games featuring Leaf players took place.  Belarus defeated Kazakhstan 5-2, Russia defeated Slovakia 3-1, and Sweden defeated Norway 5-2.  Leafs featured on the score sheet in all three games so let's check out how they did shall we? Belarus:

Here's some more info/background on the Leafs players and prospects playing at the World Championships.  I will post more as the tournament progresses, so stay tuned. Christian Hanson - USA: So far in 1 game, Hanson fired the shot that was put in by Ryan Carter for

The LG Hockey Games are currently underway and they do a good job of acting as a tune up for the IIHF World Hockey Championships as they conclude 5 days before the larger World Championship begins in Germany.  Participation in the LG games is limited to Sweden, Finland, Russia, and

If you were to ask my opinion, I'd say no... he shouldn't.  Here is my logic: 1) The Leafs lack for scoring depth as things are, and Grabovski is actually one of their most polished offensive players. 2) Despite a lack of size, he is easily

In the words of Freddy Mercury: "another one's gone, another one bites the dust."  The 2009-10 season ended on a partially high note and the Leafs concluded things the way they couldn't begin them by defeating Montreal in OT.  While the game itself didn&

Reports have begun to surface regarding players being asked to join the Canadian contingent at the IIHF World Hockey Championships.  The tournament begins on May 8th in Germany and the Canadian team is being managed by Mark Messier and coached by his ex-Oiler teammate Craig MacTavish. According to a report

Last season in the NHL there were 21 players that broke the 200 hit plateau. The only Leaf to do so was Luke Schenn with 206. Of those 21 players, only 7 were defensemen. More impressive was the fact that Schenn hit that height in only 70 games played, the

Tomas Kaberle's days are numbered with the Toronto Maple Leafs. Perhaps that was true before this season even began but it's become far more evident as yet another non-playoff edition of the Toronto Maple Leafs winds down to a summer of second guessing and rebuilding. Early

Tyler Bozak is the straw that stirs the drink for these Toronto Maple Leafs apparently. Of the current Maple Leafs, Bozak has centred Phil Kessel, Nikolai Kulemin, Viktor Stålberg, Christian Hanson, and Luca Caputi at various points, mainly in the past 16 games. For a 14 game stretch from the

The Leafs have signed their most recent NCAA free agent, Brayden Irwin, to a two year contract. He will remain with the big club for the rest of this NHL season (all 6 games of it) and possibly continue with the AHL's Toronto Marlies if they should make

Ok, so everyone around these parts is in a bit of a mellow state recently. The Leafs are winning games; they're competitive; they aren't letting in as many goals; Phil Kessel is scoring on what looks like a top line; Jonas Gustavsson has won 6 games

Editor's Note: Good news! We've got a new contributor: Steve! For those of you who are unaware, my blog at leafs.hockeyanalysis.com is being taken down in the semi-near-future.  Thus for the foreseeable future, I plan on taking up residency here at Pension Plan Puppets,