well here we go.

@ Carolina
The drive for 5.

2 things Im thinking about - take it away

1) Ben Scrivens. I think were going to get a clear picture of what to expect from him now. Personally Ive never really been a fan of his but must say I enjoyed his last performance. The balls ion your court now ben.

2) I believe this was addressed a bit in another forum too. But who goes when JG & gunner return. I think Kostka may be an obvious considering his game. Id hate to see Frasor go as the other(really BEEN HAPPY with the journey man) but I really think Korbian deserves a long look. Hes really impressed me.

Guess were safe to assume top 4-5 include:
Phaneuf, Gardiner, Liles, Gunner & Franson

X - Leaving Holzer, Frasor, Kotstka & Komy(Would they consider sending him to the farm? Precedent with Connolly and trade of lombardi may be consideration. If they did it would mean atleast 2 could stay).

Ahhh just me thinking out loud.

Logistically they could keep Gardiner down the rest of the year, and buy-out someone this summer.

Chances are they'll lose one of Kostka or Fraser to the waiver wire (if they don't make a trade somehow).

__________________
UDL
16 Team H2H - Dynasty

Start 3 C/LW/RW each, 5 D, 1 Util, 2 G (IR)

G/A/P/PIM/PPP/SHP/(+/-)/SOG
W/L/GAA/SV%/SHO

C - Berglund, Little, Ott
LW - EKane, Foligno, Kulemin
RW - Kessel, Backes
D - Weber, Green, Yandle, Meszaros, Voynob, Spurgeon, Stralman, Beauch
G - Lundqvist, Rask
Farm : Markstrom, MikGranlund, Tatar, Brodin, Orlov, Merrill, Stalock, Kabanov, Moore

I dont see Gardiner lasting much longer on the farm.

Nonis: Leafs still looking to acquire experienced goalie
Mike Halford Feb 18, 2013, 7:33 PM EST

Toronto Maple Leafs GM Dave Nonis says his club is still looking to add a veteran presence between the pipes.

“Yes,” Nonis replied, when asked by TSN1050′s Dave Naylor if Toronto was still looking to acquire an experienced goalie. “Both our goalies are aware of it, it’s not that we don’t think we have NHL-calibre goaltenders, or goalies with the ability to become very good starting goaltenders.

“But if we could add someone to help them along, a veteran that would help them grow, then we would do it.”

Toronto’s goaltending is awfully green right now with starting netminder James Reimer sidelined (MCL strain), leaving backup Ben Scrivens — he of the 19 career NHL appearances — to handle the load.

Third-stringer Jussi Rynnas has just two games of NHL experience, so he’s an emergency option at best.

The issue isn’t how well that group has handled things so far — Reimer has been solid, Scrivens outstanding in relief — but rather how they’ll react when things heat up.

The Leafs looked to be postseason-bound in 2011-12 but collapsed badly down the stretch, missing the playoffs for the seventh straight year.

The weight of that collapse was shouldered largely by Reimer (23 then, now 24) and partly by Scrivens (25 then, 26 now), leading many to suggest an older, more experienced goalie would prove crucial when the pressure rises.

Count Nonis among them — assuming he can find such a guy.

“At this point, there hasn’t been a veteran available, at least not at a price that makes any sense for us,” Nonis explained. “To the credit of both our goaltenders, they’ve stepped up and played very, very well.

“It hasn’t changed — we’d like to give them some help, some guidance along the way. But if that’s not available at a reasonable price, we’re content to go with the two we have.”

So…no Luongo, then?

Hmmmm while I love Reimer and think hes thew guy its quite intriguing to think about the possibilities come off season.

Victor Fasth
Nik Backstrom

Nice Kadri article:

From prospect to player, Nazem Kadri is making the most of his time in Toronto

The key moment for Nazem Kadri came not with the Toronto Maple Leafs, but with the Toronto Marlies, their minor-league affiliate. It came in a meeting with Dallas Eakins, the kind of meeting coaches often have with skilled players about the other side of the game.

The Leafs have given Nazem Kadri a chance, and he's responded by leading the team in scoring. (USA Today)
Simply telling Kadri what to do wasn't working, so Eakins started asking questions: "If you were your opponent in this situation, what would you want Nazem Kadri to do? What would you not want Nazem Kadri to do?" Kadri discovered that he knew the answers – where to go when you don't have the puck, how to manage the puck when you have it, and why.
"I would say to Naz, 'You should be the best defensive player on our team, because you know every offensive trick there is,' " Eakins said. "Then suddenly it started to click. We just had to teach him a different way."
So when was this epiphany? When Kadri played for the Marlies during the lockout? Is that why the seventh overall pick in the 2009 draft looks like he's now in the NHL to stay at 22 years old, leading the Leafs in scoring and playing a more complete game a quarter of the way through the season? Not exactly.
"It was a couple years ago," Eakins said.
This is a story about development. Every player is different, every situation is different and the path to the NHL is not necessarily a straight line even for a top-10 pick. Players have to learn how to fit in. Coaches have to learn how to fit them in. It has been a particularly delicate dance in Toronto for Kadri.
The Leafs love having their AHL affiliate in the same city. It's great for logistics. It's great for marketing. It's great for motivating players. As the Marlies' slogan goes: "Every game is a tryout." Problem is, when a player goes from the Leafs to the Marlies, he goes from Toronto to Toronto. He cannot lick his wounds in obscurity in, say, Binghamton. He suffers his embarrassment in the same fishbowl from whence he came. Every demotion is dissected.
"Boy, it's wonderful when you get called up," Eakins said. "But when you get sent down, it's not like you're out of there."
Now consider Kadri. He was born in London, Ontario. He starred for the London Knights of the Ontario Hockey League. He became the top prospect for a team lacking top-end talent that hadn't made the playoffs since 2004 and hadn't won the Stanley Cup since 1967 in the Center of the Hockey Universe – a perfect storm of pressure. When he had three goals and five points in six preseason games in 2009, just before he turned 19 and returned to junior, it only raised expectations.
But Kadri struggled in the preseason in 2010 and went to the Marlies, and he spent two seasons shuttling up and down. Ron Wilson, the Leafs' coach most of that time, didn't mince words about Kadri's deficiencies in public or in private. Randy Carlyle, who replaced Wilson late last season, said he knew all about the Kadri drama – while he was coaching the Ducks out in Anaheim. If you paid attention to hockey, you couldn't help but hear about it.

Leafs coach Randy Carlyle has shown confidence in Kadri, and that faith has been rewarded. (USA Today)
Kadri couldn't help but think about the Leafs whenever he was with the Marlies – at home, out to eat, about town. He'd watch Leafs games or see Leafs jerseys on the street, and he'd feel both motivation and disappointment. He felt Wilson didn't put him in position to succeed. Wilson divided his forwards into top-six and bottom-six roles. He stuck Kadri in a bottom-six role on the wing when Kadri was supposed to develop into a top-six centerman.
"Some of the staff my first two years, I guess we butted heads a little bit," said Kadri, not naming names. "They didn't have the same confidence that Randy has in me. ... If you ask me if I thought I could do this my first year, the answer would probably be yes because I believe in myself."
But why does Carlyle have more confidence in Kadri than Wilson did? And was Kadri really ready to play in the top-six his first year or even his second? It might be easier to give Kadri some honey now because he was fed vinegar before. Kadri had to be humbled, and he had to break bad habits and develop good habits to be put in this position. He was the classic case of a talented prospect that didn't need to worry about the details while in junior, but had to mature as an athlete, as a person, and as a player.
"He never had to be fit," Eakins said. "He never had to be strong. He had so much skill it didn't matter. He did what he wanted on the ice. He was so relied on offensively that I think sometimes they looked the other way on his defensive liabilities."
Kadri improved his eating and training, going from about 167 pounds to about 185. Eakins taught him to play the complete game by coming back to skill. To show your skill, you have to possess the puck, right? So play defense to get the puck back and limit turnovers to keep it on your stick. But Eakins also taught Kadri when not to use his skill – to chip in the puck at the right time, to eat pucks down low at the right time, to be aware of the score and the clock and not get cute at the wrong time.
The lockout was a benefit. Kadri had more time to develop in the AHL, and he could do it without the pressure and distraction of the NHL. No one could ask why he was in the minors. He couldn't long for what he was missing. The Leafs weren't playing.
Carlyle said his assessment was that Kadri was more effective at center than the wing because "he wasn't as vulnerable to some of the things I thought wouldn't allow him to play." He said the Leafs "couldn't put him in a checking role and expect him to flourish in that capacity." Kadri is still the third-line center, but under Carlyle, that's usually a "top-nine role" with skilled players, not a "bottom-six" role with grinders. Kadri is also getting power-play time.
"I get the feeling that he likes me and he likes me as a player," Kadri said. "That helps me out a lot when I know my coach actually can believe in me and have faith in me. That makes me want to work that much harder for him.
"Did I feel that way before? Absolutely not. Not even close. I felt left out. I felt like ... Even though I never, ever once stopped believing in myself, I didn't think other people believed in me. It's a whole different thing putting me with guys that actually can play on the same page as I can offensively. He gives me an opportunity to make myself known and to succeed, whereas before it didn't really seem that way."
Kadri said he has "matured" as a player and that he has "fixed everything they've wanted me to."
He is still maturing, still fixing, of course. Though he leads the Leafs in scoring – pretty good for a third-liner who lost a red-hot wingman in Matt Frattin to injury – Phil Kessel started slowly and Joffrey Lupul got hurt. Kadri has 12 points in 15 games. He needs to keep producing while working on his faceoffs and the other details he has been working on for the last three years. He cannot afford to slip back into bad habits.
But he reached this point by learning to look at the game differently in the minors, and now he looks at the minors differently, too.
"Dallas Eakins and me really beared down, and he stuck with me the whole way, and that's what you get – results," Kadri said. "It may have taken a couple years – a long couple years – but it's worth it in the end."

Hey Leafs experts,
C.Franson got another assist tonight and logged good minutes. He is available on the wire and I'm thinking about using one of my only two waiver picks to grab him.
What can you tell me about him?
Should I be afraid of a Gardiner's comeback soon?
R.Diaz and P.Martin are the other guys on top of the wire.
Would you recommand to grab Franson in that situation?
For the league in my sig.
Thank you.

__________________
11 teams, 6 keepers (+ team)
Points only = 1G 1A 2W 1OTL 2SO
Weekly line-up 1Team 9Forwards 4Dmen 1Goalie
0 FA pickup left for the season
2012-13 roster:
T- Montreal
F- Stamkos, Malkin, Neal, Elias, EKane, Marchand, MKoivu, Eriksson, Parenteau, Huberdeau, Berglund, Atkinson
D- Yandle, Markov, JJohnson, Wisniewski, Goligoski, Nikitin
G- Price, Ward, Fasth, Luongo

some injury notes from twitter:

__________________
ASKL - 10 Team dynasty,G/A=1,PIM=.1,+/- =.2 SOG=.05 (W=2,SO=3) Keep 12F 6D 2G 8BN + farm
F-Perry,Ryan,Giroux,Stastny,Ribeiro,Krejci,Plekanec, JvR,Bergeron,Fleischmann,Grabovski,Cammalleri
D-Letang,Chara,Edler,Boyle,Giordano,Gardiner,
G-Rinne,Crawford
Bench-Bernier,Reimer,Parenteau,Callahan,Downie,Kulemin, Meszaros,Nikitin
Farm- Namestnikov,Khoklachev,Rundblad,Despres,Jensen, L.Adam,Barberio,Galiev,Telegin,Hertl,Aberg

The fact you have only 2 WW picks would make me hesitant ..... I would save those for injuries etc. Franson has been playing the first PP with Phaneuf lately and has looked pretty comfortable, he makes smart offensive plays and is quite adept at getting pucks on the net through traffic.

I prefer him to both Diaz and martin going forward (They benefited from Subban and Letang being absent for periods) however your concern about Gardiner is justified, as the next time the leafs call him up will likely be the end of his AHL career, once he plays 3 more NHL games he will have to clear waivers to be sent back down meaning once he is up it will be to play and not sit in the press box.

The leafs have a bit of a log jam right now on the back-end (9 dmen once gardiner gets called up) and its very hard to predict how this will shake out.

__________________
ASKL - 10 Team dynasty,G/A=1,PIM=.1,+/- =.2 SOG=.05 (W=2,SO=3) Keep 12F 6D 2G 8BN + farm
F-Perry,Ryan,Giroux,Stastny,Ribeiro,Krejci,Plekanec, JvR,Bergeron,Fleischmann,Grabovski,Cammalleri
D-Letang,Chara,Edler,Boyle,Giordano,Gardiner,
G-Rinne,Crawford
Bench-Bernier,Reimer,Parenteau,Callahan,Downie,Kulemin, Meszaros,Nikitin
Farm- Namestnikov,Khoklachev,Rundblad,Despres,Jensen, L.Adam,Barberio,Galiev,Telegin,Hertl,Aberg

I think Franson is perhaps the most underrated offensive d-man in the NHL.

The biggest problem with him, and others like him, is that coaches really seem to dislike big bodied d-men who aren't very physical. Franson, for someone as big as he is, is pretty soft and (rightly or wrongly) this seems to lands him in the doghouse, regardless of who is coaching him.

If I was betting man, when Gardiner makes his way back, I think Carlyle will find any reason to make Franson his whipping boy once again.