Monday Mailbag: Philling Empty

Phil Kessel’s first game against the Leafs has come and gone, and it was pretty underwhelming. He didn’t score. The Penguins didn’t run up the numbers. Tyler Bozak stayed out of the lineup, presumably to avoid showing up his best friend. But it’s behind us now, and we can focus on the important things, like continuing to lose while looking good doing so. Oh, and answering Mailbag questions, obviously.

My gosh, if that happens, I’m going to laugh so hard. For those who don’t know: The Leafs would receive a second round pick if a team hires Randy Carlyle as their head coach during the season, and a third if they don’t. This is because, despite his firing, he’s still on the Leafs payroll for two more years.

The Leafs would actually get more for Carlyle than they gave up for Mike Babcock.

Mike Babcock preached that he wanted to have tangible, in your face experience with his players before making decisions on them. Corrado wasn’t exactly in Toronto’s plans; they saw a player they kind of liked available for free and pounced. With the Leafs playing not-terribly defensively and Babcock having practices available for him to evaluate, it’s not a huge shocker to see him out of the lineup for now.

If I had to guess, the Leafs will likely swap him and Scott Harrington around soon. If Corrado plays well, Harrington will get sent down.

Why not both? Komarov probably isn’t a 50 goal scorer, but at the same time, his current production isn’t that far out of line from previous years. Last year, he had a higher even strength points per 60 than anybody on the team, including Nazem Kadri (2nd), Phil Kessel (5th), James van Riemsdyk (6th) Joffrey Lupul (7th), and Tyler Bozak (8th). This is despite playing in unfavourable zone situations, no less.

Komarov excels at traits that we consider those of a bottom sixer; hitting, chirping, occasionally fighting. But that doesn’t mean he’s a bad offensive player. Komarov lead Dynamo Moscow in scoring in 2013/14, top 3 in 2010/11 and 2011/12, and when the 2013 lockout happened and he went back to Russia sooner than expected, was quickly placed on a line with Alexander Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom.

Komarov can play top six minutes. Is he a late blooming Jarome Iginla? Probably not. But he can be a 40 point play driver if given the opportunity.

Because he lives in Edmonton and for some reason, always gets the first pick in the TLN joke lottery. He’s also older, wiser, and has more ridiculous stories. One day, I’ll buy his book at the local Oodle Noodle.

That’s a good question. You’ll have to ask them. But seriously, don’t forget to vote today! Take your three hours off work if you need to, but do it.