JFJ Strikes Again

So this is why the GM needs an advisor. I joked about the Leafs being charged with crimes before but I didn't think Mark Bell would get convicted. Too bad he's a hockey player in California. They treated him like a normal citizen.

I'd like to think that the Leafs were aware of this considering some sens fans at the BoO (Damn you Notch!) were aware of this at the time of the trade. Needless to say, the denizens of Leafs Nation are up in arms and with good reason. The sentence might not start until after the season but as one friend put it "you think Bell will be able to concentrate on hockey with his new cellmate Tito weighing on his mind?"

Now, there are a couple of ways to look at it:

1. JFJ knew about the pending case and decided that either the odds were good that Bell would not be sentenced to jail time or that he wouldn't convicted. In either case, getting Toskala was worth it in his eyes.
   
   
2. JFJ was completely caught off guard and had no clue that Bell has both a drinking and a driving problem.

Either scenario is pretty grim and this quotation seems to indicate that the truth is closer to the latter scenario:

Leafs' GM John Ferguson had little to say when reached by Sportsnet."I will reserve comment until I can more fully review the situation," he said.

If the team knew then they should have been prepared to deal with any result.

Bell is far from the first NHL player to get in trouble with drinking and driving and some have been able to recover from their mistake to have productive careers (Heatley, McTavish). Sadly, Bell won't even be the first Leaf to have had problems. That article cites Rob Ramage, Jamie Macoun, Tim Horton, and Miroslav Frycer as other alumni that have distinguished themselves as morons.

Hopefully, Bell learns from his mistake as does JFJ although I'd like to imagine that he will be doing his learning in the unemployment office.

Mirtle's take here.

Update: In all of the smug self-satisfaction we should all keep in mind that Bell has yet to be sentenced. Mirtle noted that Bill Watters brought this up on Leafs Lunch. Maybe there is a deal in place that we are not aware of and the MSM jumped on the 6 months in the clink angle too quickly. He could just get community service and a fine.

Leafs' Logic Strikes Again

What's wrong with this train of thought? When the Leafs have a player like the 28 year old John Pohl (who I like but is unbelievably expendable) why would they think about trading 23 year old Matt Stajan just so that they can sign the 33 year old Mike Peca who is coming off of a major knee injury?

Here's a look at the players that are currently on one-way deals with the Leafs: (Note: Eddie's figure represents the last installment of the buyout)

The Leafs aren't really that close to the cap because one forward and one defenceman will start the season with the Marlies. What kills me about the article is this BS:

There's only one problem. With more than $48 million (all figures U.S.) committed in salary to 23 players for the 2007-08 season, Toronto has pushed itself as far up to the $50.3 million cap as it would like. Short of dumping a one-way contract into the minors, there is no room in the vault or on the roster for Peca.

These are the Maple Leafs!! They have money to burn! They can sit a couple of million dollars in Ricoh Coliseum without batting an eye. It is the Leafs' easiest way to get around the salary cap.

That does not even bring up the idea that if they have roughly $2M in cap space why do they need to clear any more room? Is Peca going to be making close to what he made last season? He just came off his second major knee/leg injury and was not that effective last season. Yes, he would improve the PK but Blake also contributes greatly to an improved PK and the upgrade in net will play a big part in shoring up a PK unit that went downhill fast after Peca's injury.

My main problem with this deal is that after JFJ has held off trading actual young players (unlike picks who are only theoretically young players) he is now potentially going to let a Toronto drafted player that has improved every season. The marginal benefit gained between a healthy Peca and the Stajan of last season is not enough to justify letting Stajan's potential go.

I cannot wait until we trade Steen in order to sign Lindros!