Andrew Boehmer’s Grade
Grade: B
In order to give a proper evaluation of the Leafs activity this past trade deadline, I need to define each grade. I picked my grade out of the following options: A, B, C, D or F. I chose not to include (+/-) because I feel as though I’d be splitting hairs at that point.
F = Traded away any part of the Leafs future such as a good prospect, valuable pick or current player that’s a core component of the team moving forward.
D = Made a move to speed up the rebuild, otherwise known as a short-term solution.
C = Moved a player filling a roster spot currently for next to nothing. I want something beneficial in return.
B = Made some moves that will benefit the club short-term without jeopardizing long-term goals.
A = Managed to get a good prospect, valuable pick or a top pairing defensman without giving up too much.
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Great, now that we have that out of the way, my answer won’t need to be too long. I would like to call what I wrote above, my passive aggressive approach to answering the question posed. In all seriousness, the Leafs didn’t do anything stupid or over-the-top good.
They were just average at the deadline and that’s alright. Sure, I would have liked to see a return on the guys that will be a UFA at the end of the season. I just didn’t really see anything that jumped at me as far as trading Hunwick, Polak or Smith went.
Hunwick and Polak are better then they appear on paper. They have been apart of this team all season and I’d like to point out that the Leafs are in a playoff position, with the likes of those two on the roster. So, don’t just assume they’re detrimental to the team. At the very least, we get two veteran guys on our blue line for the rest of the season.
Nobody expected the Leafs to be where they sit at this point in the season anyways. They just need to push forward, make the playoffs and do their best. Let’s not count those two guys as a miss chance or a loss. As for Smith, I would have taken a seventh-round pick for him or even, future considerations.
Now, we have the acquisition of Brian Boyle to discuss. Had Lou not pulled the trigger on this one, I wouldn’t have given them a B. Boyle, as I wrote in my article, is a depth, versatile, grit, grinning, power forward. He is a glue guy, a leader on a young team.
He will serve as a role model towards the younger guys at the very least. His resume speaks for itself as far as playoff experience goes. We have to look beyond the names here. Management sent a message to the Leafs roster that basically said, “we believe in you, here’s a little token of our appreciation.”
This was a moral trade and a smart move for the Leafs. I liked Byron Froese, but at best, he’s a great AHL’er. An argument could be made for the fact that we gave up a second-round pick for him. Andrew, isn’t that giving up too much for their future, long-term? Their future being a few years away?
Glad you asked. I would argue against that because the future is not five years from now. It’s really only about one or two years away. The Leafs have drafted well, are developing well and are icing a playoff contending team this season. Losing a second-rounder will not kill us long-term, trust me.
Lastly, I don’t really need to get into the Corrado trade, do I? They set him free and in return, the Leafs received some more veteran presence a draft pick. That’s about all there is to that one.
There was really only one major deal that Leafs fans were thinking about. And that was if they were going to trade a van Riemsdyk or Nylander for a top-pairing defensman. You all know what my thoughts are on that, don’t need to reiterate. But, we know that didn’t happen, making hypotheticals null. However, if a deal like that had gone down, my grade could very well be any of the above.
To summarize, the Leafs really didn’t do anything too bad or too good. They didn’t hurt themselves, long-term or short-term. If anything, they added a depth center for the remainder of the season. My reasoning above should be sufficient enough. If you would like to discuss any of my opinions, feel free to Tweet me, @ACBoehmer or comment below.