NEWS OF MAPLE LEAFS
Last Update: Wednesday August 24, 1999 11:25PM EST
Wednesday August 25, 1999 Leafs sign Muzzatti, Shannon
The Toronto Maple Leafs have agreed to terms
with goaltender Jason Muzzatti and left-winger Darrin Shannon, who
missed all of last season because of injury, subject to their recovery and
performance at training camp.
Muzzatti, 29, is a former first-round draft pick of the Calgary Flames. In
62 career games with Calgary, Hartford, the New York Rangers and
San Jose Sharks, the native of Toronto has a 13-25-10 record and one
shutout.
Shannon, 29, was chosen fourth overall by the Pittsburgh Penguins in
1988. The native of Barrie, Ont., has 87 goals and 163 assists in 506
career games with the Buffalo Sabres, Winnipeg Jets and the Phoenix
Coyotes.
Tuesday August 24, 1999 Leafs sign Adams and Mrazek
The Toronto Maple Leafs have signed forwards
Kevyn Adams and Frantisek Mrazek.
Adams will earn $467,500 if he makes the Leafs this season but only
$75,000 if he lands in St. John's of the AHL. He played 80 games with
the Baby Leafs last season, collecting 15 goals and 35 assists. He also
played in seven games with the NHL club during the Stanley Cup
playoffs.
Mrazek, 20, has spent the past two seasons with the Red Deer Rebels
of the Western Hockey League. In 60 regular-season games, the
right-winger scored 34 goals with 42 assists. The Czech native was the
Leafs' third selection, 111th overall in 1997 entry draft.
Thursday August 19, 1999 Leafs sign Waite; Healy could be on the move
The Toronto Maple Leafs have signed
unrestricted free-agent goaltender Jimmy Waite amidst reports the
NHL club is about to peddle backup goalie Glenn Healy to the New
York Rangers.
Waite, 30, played in the NHL, AHL and IHL last season, going
6-5-4 with a 2.74 goals-against average in 16 games with the Phoenix
Coyotes.
The native of Sherbrooke, Que., has been in and out of the NHL,
playing 106 games with Chicago and Phoenix over the past 11 years.
Healy, who will earn $1.3 million US this season, is reportedly on his
way to the Rangers where he played four seasons from 1994 to '97.
Either way, Leafs star goalie Curtis Joseph is expected once again to
handle most of the work this season.
Tuesday August 17, 1999 Hedberg leaves the Leafs
Assistant general manager Anders Hedberg is
leaving the Toronto Maple Leafs, the NHL club said Monday.
Hedberg, who was also the team's director of player development,
had been part of an uneasy troika last season with president and
general manager Ken Dryden and associate general manager Mike
Smith.
Smith, who wanted the GM position for himself, left after a messy
off-season power struggle with Dryden resulted in the team not
renewing his contract.
The Leafs subsequently added the GM duties to head coach Pat
Quinn's portfolio. Hedberg has reportedly been interested in the GM
position.
"Following many good discussions with Ken Dryden during the last
season and more recently with Pat Quinn, I have decided that it makes
sense for me and the Toronto Maple Leafs that we move in different
directions," Hedberg said in a statement.
"It's been an interesting, mostly positive experience, but it's time to
move separately for both parties," he added.
Hedberg, 43, joined the Maple Leafs in 1991, serving as chief
European scout for six seasons before moving into the front office.
Recently there had been speculation that Quinn might rely more on
Nick Beverley, the team's director of pro scouting, than Hedberg.
"Each general manager had a different kind of style and a different
way of organizing people and who they report to and so on," Dryden
explained in an interview Monday with The Fan, an all-sports radio
station.
"Part of it is simply that when changes happen, other changes
happen," he added. "And people end up deciding to work with those
that they know better, are more comfortable with."
Dryden also noted Hedberg's family had remained in Sweden the last
two years.
"Anders leaves the Toronto Maple Leafs with our appreciation for
many contributions," Dryden added. "We are a better team because of
his efforts and we wish him more success in the future."
Hedberg was a star forward with the Winnipeg Jets of the WHA and
the NHL's New York Rangers. After his playing career was over, he
was an assistant to the Rangers GM and managed AIK in Stockholm
before joining the Leafs.
"He never played for the Leafs, but he was a Leaf," Dryden said. "He
knew what the Leafs were, he knew what they represented."
Tuesday August 17, 1999 Leafs, Islanders make minor swap
The Toronto Maple Leafs and New York
Islanders swapped minor-league forwards on Tuesday.
The Leafs get 31-year-old Craig Charron, who had 22 goals and 39
assists with the AHL's Lowell Lock Monsters last year.
The Islanders get Niklas Andersson, 28, who spent last season with
the IHL's Chicago Wolves, where he scored 17 goals and added 47
assists.
Andersson has played 129 games in the NHL, most during the
1995-96 and '96-'97 seasons with the Islanders.
Both players were signed as free agents prior to last season.
Thursday August 12, 1999 Leafs hit the Yanic button
Sometimes the suits in the Maple Leafs front office forget that it is the players, rather than themselves, who are most responsible for a team's success. Maybe this explains management's surprisingly callous regard for
centre Yanic Perreault. The Leafs this week began attempts to trade Perreault, 28, after an arbitrator awarded the soft-but-gifted forward a one-year, $1.05-million US contract for the 1999-2000 season.
While the judgment was $300,000 less than the player was seeking, it
was $275,000 more than what the Leafs deemed was Perreault's
worth.
Though $275,000 is chump change in today's National Hockey
League, the entire package -- $1.05 million -- is a substantial amount
for a club perilously close to budget.
Some inside the Leafs organization feel Perreault's salary might be
better spent on a second-tier free agent -- say Dallas winger Pat
Verbeek or Washington defenceman Mark Tinordi.
But at 35 and 33, respectively, Verbeek and Tinordi are several
seasons past their prime. Tinordi, one of hockey's bigger, meaner
hombres, has been racked by injury in recent years. Verbeek, a
notorious shift-disturber who, in his hey day, regularly scored 30-40
goals, fell into a checking role with the Stars last season.
While signing either free agent would improve Toronto's toughness --
a stated goal of coach/general manager Pat Quinn -- Perreault proved
last spring that he could contribute, too.
A late-season addition from the Los Angeles Kings, Perreault tied for
third in Leafs playoff scoring with three goals -- two of them
game-winners -- and nine points.
He was, as well, one of the Leafs' most competent faceoff men, able
to spell workhorse Mats Sundin in the most critical situations.
But Perreault also spent too many shifts on the periphery during
Toronto's gruelling first-round series against Philadelphia. In Round 2,
he seemed hard-pressed to keep up with the sleek-skating Penguins.
The 28-year-old Sherbrooke native was a non-factor in Toronto's
Eastern Conference final against the Buffalo Sabres, but then every
Leafs forward struggled in that fateful five-game series.
Understandably, the Leafs were quick to dredge up the worst in
Perreault during last Friday's apparently acrimonious arbitration
hearing in Toronto.
Leafs lawyer Larry Bertuzzi portrayed Perreault as, at best, a
fourth-line centre who would have difficulty beating out Sundin, Igor
Korolev, Steve Sullivan, Alyn McCauley, Todd Warriner or Adam
Mair for work.
While league-appointed arbitrator Alan Beattie accepted some of
Bertuzzi's argument, he could hardly ignore Perreault's above-average
offensive numbers, either.
Nor should Perreault's Toronto employers.
The Leafs simply aren't that good, yet, to toss aside a player of
Perreault's ability, even if that player has proved to be less effective in
the playoffs.
Teams don't advance to the post-season without having played
.500-plus hockey during the regular season where less rugged talents
such as Perreault are more in their element.
It also stands to reason that the more a team wins during the 82-game
haul, the more confidence it will enjoy entering the playoffs where new,
unexpected heroes often emerge from the dasherboards.
And, if the past few seasons are any indication, the Leafs would be
wise not to wager too many chips on an injury-prone McCauley or the
enigmatic Warriner having any greater impact this season.
Meanwhile, several teams, including the Montreal Canadiens, are
thought to have interest in Perreault -- for the same reasons Toronto
ought to keep him.
As for Verbeek and Tinordi, if the Leafs really are convinced those
players can help, they'll find the loot somehow -- whether Perreault
stays or not.
Saturday August 7, 1999 Reese leaves crease to be goalie consultant
The Maple Leafs are looking for a third proven netminder in the system after Jeff Reese went into retirement a second time and joined the Tampa Bay Lightning as goaltender consultant.
Among those the Leafs may be targeting to replace Reese are unrestricted free agents Kay Whitmore, Jason Muzzatti, and Sean Gauthier.
Reese and Leafs' assistant to the president Bill Watters had been trying to reach an agreement to keep the 33-year-old in uniform. Reese came out of retirement last season to help the St. John's Maple Leafs and played two games for Toronto. But he's not interested in another year on the Rock, preferring to stay close to his family in this area and ideally back up Curtis Joseph.
"Jeff wanted the job in Tampa and I didn't want to hold him back because he did us a favour last year," said Watters, who also is general manager of St. John's.
But Watters couldn't guarantee Reese would get a shot at Glenn Healy's job and was trying to place him with the IHL Chicago Wolves.
Because they were taking away the Leafs' third netminder, Tampa made a token trade of ninth-round draft picks in 2000. The Lightning have ex-Leaf Daren Puppa battling youngsters Dan Cloutier and Kevin Hodson for the starter's job. Reese also will be responsible for Tampa's farm team and junior prospects.
Thursday August 5, 1999 Sullivan signs with Leafs
Forward Steve Sullivan, who registered career highs in both goals scored and points this season, re-signed with the Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday.
The 25-year-old native of Timmins, Ont., signed a two-year deal worth $1.9 million US. Sullivan will earn $825,000 this season and $1.075 million in 2000-2001.
Sullivan played in 63 games this season with Toronto, registering career highs in goals (20) and points (40). Sullivan was one of six Leafs to score 20 or more goals this year.
Sullivan added three goals and three assists in 13 playoff games as the Leafs surprised many by reaching the Eastern Conference final before losing to the Buffalo Sabres.
Sullivan is entering his sixth NHL season, third with Toronto. The Leafs acquired Sullivan Feb.25, 1997 as part of a five-player deal with New Jersey that saw the Devils acquire former Toronto captain Doug Gilmour.
Thursday August 5, 1999 Capitals' loss won't be Leafs' gain
Brian Bellows will get a chance at 500 career goals this season, but not with the Maple Leafs.
Despite talks between the Leafs and the agent for the unrestricted free-agent left winger, sources say Toronto is not one of the two teams in the final bidding for the 34-year-old.
The St. Catharines native needs 15 goals for 500, having reached 1,000 points and 1,000 games. He was turned loose by the Washington Capitals after getting 17 goals in 76 games last season -- eight on the power play -- and 19 assists.
"I don't want to say who the two teams are," Bellows' agent, Brian Lawton, said yesterday.
Lawton said a decision should be made by next week.
Bill Watters, Leafs assistant to the president, said talks about Bellows had been on and off since the free-agent market opened in July.
"We have a mandate to improve the team," Watters said. "If we see an (older) guy and we think the price is fair, obviously, we'll take a look."
General manager/coach Pat Quinn is working with a $34-million US budget that might require some trimming of players if the Leafs do take a dip in the free-agent market.
Another Capitals free agent, defenceman Mark Tinordi, is rumoured to be headed for the Calgary Flames. The Leafs had some interest in Tinordi.