Santo Claus; The Gift that Keeps on Giving

This Leafs season has a couple of ties to the Nashville Predators. On November 19th the Preds handed the Leafs a 9-2 loss at the ACC, which proved to be the wakeup call this team needed, going 9-1-1 since the mid November debacle. During this streak, the Leafs have seen improved play from a majority of the team, however, they have been led by an unsuspecting player, who happens to be a former Nashville Predator.

 Mike Santorelli was picked 178th overall in the 6th round of the 04 NHL entry draft by the Predators. Santorelli spent the bulk of his time in Milwaukee with the Preds AHL affiliate, scoring 171Pts (74G, 97A) over 3 seasons with the Preds AHL affiliate. He only ended up playing 32 games with the big club in Nashville, making his NHL debut in the 08/09 season. In 2010/11 Santorelli became a member of the Florida Panthers, and finally experienced his first full 82 game season, where he posted his career highs in goals (20), assists (21) and points (41). Following the success of this season, he would experience a huge drop off, appearing in only 60 games. During the lockout season he played 4 games in Sweden for Tingsryds AIF, and 24 games for the Panthers, before eventually ending up in the AHL once again and closing out the season in Winnipeg. It appeared as though he would end up another journeyman playing in the NHL, bouncing from team to team, never being able to find a home.

 Last season, Santorelli signed with his 4th NHL team, the Vancouver Canucks. In what was a productive season, he played 49 games and finished the season with 10G, 18A for 28Pts, while also earning league wide recognition for his play on the penalty kill. However, the theme of not being able to stick with an NHL club continued as Santorelli did not receive a new contract from the Canucks. Luckily for the Leafs, and Santorelli, this season Dave Nonis and the rest of the Toronto front office realized that depth was something an NHL team needed to do things like win hockey games.

 In an offseason where the Leafs turned their attention to addressing the depth (or lack thereof) on the team, by signing guys such as; Leo Komarov, Daniel Winnik and David Booth. Perhaps the best offseason move the Leafs made came on July 3rd when the signed Mike Santorelli to a 1yr, $1.5 million deal. In the Leafs current 9-1-1 streak, Santorelli leads the team in scoring (3G, 10A, 13 Pts) and seems to have found great chemistry on the Leafs hottest line alongside Kadri and Winnik. For the season, Santorelli has 6G, 16A, 22Pts, which puts him on pace to set career highs in all three categories. Santorelli is 4th overall in team scoring, behind only Kessel, Bozak and JVR, and is tied for 2nd overall in the entire league in +/- (+17). Also, Santorelli (along with Winnik) has been a pivotal piece of the Leafs 10th ranked penalty kill. For a $1.5 million dollar "prove it" contract, so far Santorelli is setting himself up for an "I proved it, now pay me" contract next offseason.

 It has been fun to watch the Leafs on this current streak, and all of us in Leafs nation hope that it continues. The highlight for me personally has been the emergence and consistent play of Mike Santorelli, a journeyman NHLer who is quickly becoming a fan favourite here in Toronto. It's still too early to tell if he will finally be able to land a long term deal to stay with the Maple Leafs, however, if he continues to play at the level he is, this may turn out to be a match made in hockey heaven, and Santorelli may finally have found a place to call home.

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A Chance to Thrive for #45

Early in to the 2014/15 season it was looking like the Leafs would be experiencing another season with a goalie controversy on their hands. As we move into the second quarter of the season it appears Bernier is ready to claim the net. 

Initially , when Dave Nonis made the trade for Bernier last offseason, I was very much bewildered by the move and totally against it, granted, I have always been a huge fan of James Reimer, especially following the lockout shortened season where he dragged the Leafs into the playoffs and single handedly took them to game 7 with the Bruins. 

  The Bernier deal seemed, at the time like a move that was made to address an area the Leafs had no need to address, especially when defense was (and continues to be) a glaring area of need for this team. As soon as the trade was made it was believed Bernier was finally going to be given the chance tp be a number one goalie, an opportunity the entire league felt he deserved. 

  At first it appeared as though Randy Carlyle was going to stick to the 1a, 1b system with the two net minders. Perhaps this philosophy is what created the controversy in the first place, the whole narrative could've been avoided if Carlyle had just named Bernier the number one. Although Carlyle  always seemed more comfortable to use Bernier on a nightly basis. As the season progressed #45 was earning a majority of the starts, ending up with 55 games played, a number that likely would have been higher if not for a late season groin injury. Considering how the Leafs ended last season, it would only seem natural Bernier would be able to come in to this season and be named the outright number one. However, an offseason that saw a 2 year extension for James Reimer, more confusing quotes from the head coachwould lead to more confusion surrounding the Toronto net.

Bernier began the season with a (1-3-0 ) allowing 10 goals in 3 losses, many of which were shaky, making the netminder look very human, especially compared to last season. The lacklustre start combined with what was a solid start for Reimer, had many questioning if Bernier would seize the opportunity and take over the net in Toronto. However, if there is one thing Carlyle should get credit for, continued faith in Bernier appears to be paying off. Recently, Bernier has been given complete control of his destiny and is proving equal to the task. One thing is clear about Jonathan Bernier, when he is on, he is dynamite and can steal you a few games. The one thing Leaf nation need to see from him is consitency. In the last 5 games Bernier is 4-0-1 and has looked solid in each of the starts. We haven't seen Reimer in net since  November 18th against the Preds.

Bernier is set to make his 7th conescutive start tonight, as the Leafs take on the Devils. It appears as if he is ready to claim sole posession of the number one spot on the depth chart. No matter what happens throughout the rest of this season the Leafs will have a crucial decision to make at the end of the season. There is no doubt then when he is playing at the level we all know he is capable of, Bernier is a top 10 goalie in the NHL. The Leafs have a big decision to make at the conclusion of this season; do they go all in on Bernier and sign him to a contract worthy of a number one goalie? or do they dangle him at the deadline and try to get maximum return, the latter would make little to no sense, as Nonis tried for so long to secure the netminder. As long as Bernier keeps up his play of late, I see no reason why the Leafs should not pay him the contract he deserves and allow Toronto to finally have a bonifed number one goalie, not only for this season, but for years to come.

By the numbers;

Jonathan Bernier, G,  Toronto Maple Leafs        17 GP       9W, 5L, 3OTL 2.62GAA, .917 SV%

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Planning the Parade; Next Stop! . . .Mimico?

$5.25 million + 7 years + 71 = David Clarkson falling down.... A lot.

  Whether it was the Wendel Clark comparisons, or the awful "He's coming" commercials , last seasons David Clarkson signing was set up to explode in the Leafs faces right from the get go.

  Clarkson, coming off two solid seasons with the New Jersey devils (128GP, 48G, 25A, 73Pts), one of course highlighted by 30 goals. Although his numbers are solid, they weren't mind blowing, Clarkson was a hot commodity on the free agent market last offseason, drawing interest from multiple teams including the Edmonton Oilers and of course our Toronto Maple Leafs. The Leafs "won" the sweepstakes and gave Clarkson a massive 7yr $5.25 million dollar contract, potentially leading Dave Nonis to receive the prestigious;  "most crippling and horribly crafted contract in the history of paper and pens" award. A contract that if he were still around Brian Burke would have never in his wildest dreams offered a player who over his previous two seasons was a 0.57 point per game player, but apparently Dave Nonis gets distracted by shiny things like one single 30 goal season.

  There is no doubt that some blame has to be placed on the player when they have a train wreck season like Clarkson did in 2013/14 (60GP, 5G, 6A, 11Pts) especially when you decide to take the number, or a variation of the number of the legendary player you are being compared to, and start the season with a shiny new 10 game suspension, earned in meaningless preseason hockey. The contract and player were the laughing stock of the league, and will probably continue to be until the contract ends in the 2019/20 season......oh god.

  Fast forward to this season, Clarkson had been playing on a line alongside Leo Komarov and Mike Santorelli (as well as getting his fair share of PP time) a line which was arguably the most effective and productive in terms of the role the line needed to play. Clarkson is off to a blazing start with 3G 1A and 4Pts in 11 GP this season (yes that scentence is full of sarcasm). Numbers aside Clarkson has looked far more comfortable and effective in his third line checking role, not to mention him and uncle Leo appear to have some great chemistry. Now, it's awesome to see him playing at a higher level, and I want nothing more than to see him succeed and play well, however his 4 points in 11 games has seen some fans acting like Clarkson is going to live up to every penny of his massive contract, which leads to the following statement; David Clarkson will never again score 30 goals in a season, nor will he ever live up to anywhere close to the expectations associated with his massive contract. By all means get excited that he has 4 points in 11 games when it took him 60 to get 11 last year, all I'm saying is let's temper the expectations, a solid season for Clarkson in my mind would see him continue to embrace his checking role and be effective by playing like a pest, and maybe scoring 12-15 goals along with maybe 20 assists, are those $5.25 million dollar worthy stats, not at all, but the expectations placed on this mans shoulders when he signed here last offseason were only setting him up to be a dissapointment in the eyes of Leafs nation.

 Long story short, I want nothing but success for David Clarkson as a fan of this team, and as a fan of underdog stories, but let's not include Mimico on the parade route just yet. Also Dave Nonis is the worst, and his decisions are questionable to say the least. So here is to a great season for David Clarkson, hopefully he keeps up with the play we have seen so far from him this season, one final thing to mention, for the analysts who think the reason behind Clarkson's play is the face shield..... I can't even.

 What would a successful season for David Clarkson be in your eyes? Let us know in the comment section below ! Also don't forget to check out our website thefrancisreport.ca for links to our podcast, Twitter and Facebook !