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2-on-1: Teams Without a Win

Posted: Oct 19th 2009 12:00PM by Adam Gretz (author feed)
Filed under: Islanders, Maple Leafs

Every Monday during the season, two of our hockey writers will debate one topic. It's the 2-on-1. This week, Adam Gretz and Bruce Ciskie talk about the two teams without a win (the New York Islanders and Toronto Maple Leafs) and end up focusing on what's wrong with the Leafs?

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Place Your Bets: Even With Phil Kessel, Oddsmakers Still Don't Like Toronto

Posted: Sep 23rd 2009 12:30PM by Adam Gretz (author feed)
Filed under: Maple Leafs, NHL Gambling

0 COMMENTS

Brian Burke was a busy man this offseason for the Toronto Maple Leafs, upgrading his defense with Mike Komisarek and Francois Beauchemin, finally acquiring Phil Kessel from the Boston Bruins -- a move that should surely improve an offense that was already in the top-10 in goals scored -- and snagging Swedish goaltending prospect Jonas Gustavsson.

Despite the wheeling and dealing, the oddsmakers in sin city -- specifically the Las Vegas Hilton -- are betting on a fifth consecutive non-playoff season for the boys in blue and white, according to Jeff Haney's article for the Las Vegas Sun, which has the over/under point totals for every team in the league.

Continue Reading Place Your Bets: Even With Phil Kessel, Oddsmakers Still Don't Like Toronto

Boston GM Peter Chiarelli Says Phil Kessel Wanted Out

Posted: Sep 19th 2009 12:10PM by Bruce Ciskie (author feed)
Filed under: Bruins, Maple Leafs, Eastern

0 COMMENTS

Now that Phil Kessel is officially a member of the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Boston Bruins can move forward. They knew that Kessel would be tough to bring back, especially given their salary cap issues. What general manager Peter Chiarelli wasn't necessarily prepared to hear was that Kessel didn't want to return under any circumstances.

Enter Toronto general manager Brian Burke, who gave up two first-round picks, along with a second-rounder, for the right to pay Kessel some $27 million for the next five years.

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Phil Kessel Completes Brian Burke's Offseason Overhaul in Toronto

Posted: Sep 18th 2009 10:00PM by Adam Gretz (author feed)
Filed under: Bruins, Maple Leafs

1 COMMENT

After months of rumors and speculation the Boston Bruins finally made a move regarding 21-year-old restricted free agent Phil Kessel, trading the former No. 5 overall pick to the Toronto Maple Leafs for a pile of draft picks, including first and second-round selections in 2010 as well as a first-round pick in 2011.

Continue Reading Phil Kessel Completes Brian Burke's Offseason Overhaul in Toronto

Six Landing Spots for Phil Kessel

Posted: Sep 12th 2009 3:00PM by Christopher Botta (author feed)
Filed under: Bruins, Islanders, Maple Leafs, Oilers, Predators, Rangers, Sharks

11 COMMENTS

Dany Heatley has now been traded, but Phil Kessel is on the market. Here's a look at where the latter could end up by the start of the regular season.

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Report: Phil Kessel No Longer Negotiating With Boston Bruins

Posted: Sep 10th 2009 4:00PM by Bruce Ciskie (author feed)
Filed under: Bruins, Eastern, NHL Rumors

0 COMMENTS

Forward Phil Kessel still doesn't have an NHL contract for 2009-2010.

While fans eagerly await the start of the 2009-2010 NHL season, there is one high-profile player who still doesn't know what team he will spend it with.

Phil Kessel had a breakout season in 2008-2009, scoring 36 goals and picking up an impressive plus-23 rating. He was solid on the power play and dangerous in the clutch, finishing second on his team with six game-winning goals. That team, the Boston Bruins, doesn't have enough cap room to sign Kessel, and it sounds like the fourth-year pro is tired of waiting around.

Continue Reading Report: Phil Kessel No Longer Negotiating With Boston Bruins

Wild Smart to Play Waiting Game

Posted: Aug 29th 2009 3:45PM by Bruce Ciskie (author feed)
Filed under: Lightning, Wild, Western, NHL Free Agency, NHL Economics

0 COMMENTS

News broke Saturday that the Tampa Bay Lightning had agreed to a deal with free-agent forward Alex Tanguay. This means the Minnesota Wild have to look elsewhere if they still hope to add a forward to bolster their top-six depth.

As Michael Russo of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune pointed out, Tanguay wasn't a great fit for the Wild. He's more of a disher than a scorer, and the Wild are in desperate need of people to put the puck in the net. With that in mind, who can the Wild target?

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Bruins Sign Defenseman Derek Morris

Posted: Jul 25th 2009 3:45PM by Bruce Ciskie (author feed)
Filed under: Bruins, Eastern, NHL Free Agency

0 COMMENTS

Former Ranger Derek Morris signed a one-year deal with Boston.

The Boston Bruins traded a veteran defenseman to Carolina Friday. That deal -- involving Aaron Ward -- appeared at the time to be a salary cap maneuver.

While that's not terribly inaccurate, a subsequent signing by the Bruins shows that the deal wasn't about clearing cap space as much as it was about attempting to upgrade the position. Boston moved on from Ward quickly, signing Derek Morris to a one-year deal.

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Aaron Ward, Former Scott Walker Punching Bag, Now His Teammate

Posted: Jul 24th 2009 1:20PM by Bruce Ciskie (author feed)
Filed under: Bruins, Hurricanes, Eastern

1 COMMENT

Veteran defenseman Aaron Ward was dealt by Boston to Carolina Friday.

During the Carolina Hurricanes' run to the Eastern Conference Finals, forward/pest Scott Walker made headlines for the wrong reason.

As the Bruins polished off a win over Carolina to stay alive in Game 5, Walker got mixed up with Boston defenseman Aaron Ward, a skirmish that ended with Walker punching Ward in the face. The incident didn't draw Walker a suspension, but he was forced to try to explain himself. Now, Walker and Ward will be coming face to face a bit more often.

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Offseason Roadmap: Northeast Division

Posted: Jun 19th 2009 2:00PM by Adam Gretz (author feed)
Filed under: Bruins, Canadiens, Maple Leafs, Sabres, Senators

0 COMMENTS

It's officially the offseason, meaning the time is right to look into the future. We begin our division-by-division preview of the potential wheeling and dealing with the Northeast Division.

Brian Burke begins his rebuild of the Toronto Maple Leafs, Dany Heatley wants out of Ottawa and just what is Boston going to do with Phil Kessel and a limited amount of salary cap space?

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