Luke Schenn’s rights will not be dealt, and there will be no offer sheet tendered from a rival club.  Brian Burke and the Toronto Maple Leafs have agreed to a 5-year extension with the young defenseman on a deal that will pay him $3.6 million/season.

With this deal, Burke has strayed from his conventional wisdom of signing free agents to short term deals.  The pact constitutes a long term commitment to Schenn and a statement to the Leafs’ faithful that the 21-year-old will be the anchor of the blue line in the future.  The interesting piece of the contract is that the cap hit correlates to a 21% raise from what he earned on his entry level deal.  That is a fairly modest raise when considering what other players have received in their second NHL contracts (case in point, James van Riemsdyk of the Philadelphia Flyers, whose current contract reflects a 157% increase from his entry level cap hit).  (Note: Both players met bonus incentives which count against the cap.)  Thus far, Schenn has done a nice job using his 6’ 2”, 229-pound frame to keep attackers at bay, but the Leafs are looking for Schenn to develop more offensive prowess.  His career high in points came last season (22).  He will be encouraged to shoot more and to look for streaking forwards.

The core of the current Maple Leafs’ roster will be intact (barring trades or other movement) through the 2013 campaign.  They have a 22-man active roster, and approximately $4.5 million in salary cap space.  They are hoping that Schenn, goaltender James Reimer, defensemen Carl Gunnarsson and Cody Franson (formerly of the Nashville Predators), along with forwards Mikhail Grabovski, Nikolai Kulemin, and Tyler Bozak can make strides in their development in the 2011-2012 season.  These young players, along with goal scorer Phil Kessel, recent acquisition Tim Connolly, and captain Dion Phaneuf will be under the microscope in TO as the team competes to make the playoffs for the first time since the lockout.  If the youngsters excel, the additional $4.55 million in cap space could come in handy for Burke at the trade deadline if he wishes to upgrade.

You can contact the author for cross-checks, high sticks, and other shenanigans on Twitter @Gordsie.

By David Strehle
NHLHS Philadelphia Flyers Correspondent

Philadelphia Flyers’ head coach Peter Laviolette has had to do all kinds of line juggling in recent weeks in an attempt to get his struggling offense untracked.  Thursday night, he found himself juggling again before the contest with the Toronto Maple Leafs – this time because of illness.

Call it what you will – kind of partial to the “Flyer Flu”, myself.

It started with Mike Richards just prior to the Friday night game in Carolina on Rod Brind’Amour night, and has been making it’s way through the Philly lineup.  The latest victims are Dan Carcillo, Darroll Powe, and Jeff Carter, all of whom were scratched from the lineup Thursday.

There is also an issue with a stagnant offensive that has been present long before the illness hit the club – and it continued Thursday, as Philadelphia managed just two goals again tonight on home ice.

By dropping the 3-2 decision to the Leafs, the Flyers have now lost back-to-back games for the first time since December 20th (Florida Panthers at home) and December 28th (Vancouver Canucks) – a pretty remarkable stretch of 26 straight games without consecutive losses.

Excluding empty net goals, the Flyers have not scored more than three goals in regulation in their last 13 consecutive games – dating back to a January 25th contest with the Montreal Canadiens in which they scored five.

Toronto, on the other hand, ran their unbeaten streak to nine games (6-0-3), as they continue their quest for the playoffs.

But there was also a lack of discipline.  The first period saw a steady parade to the penalty box paved in Orange-and-Black.  There were five minors called in all, four of which went against Philadelphia.

The club’s penalty-killing was a perfect 7-7, but defenseman Chris Pronger thought the penalty problems in the first may have set the tone for the night.  ”I think we shot ourselves in the foot with the mistakes that we made and the penalties we took“, Pronger said after the game.  ”I think they had seven or eight power plays.  In the first period they had four alone.  That kind of gave them some momentum.”

Photo courtesy of Getty Images

Kris Versteeg opened the scoring 5:49 into the game, ripping home a Richards pass for his 16th of the season – and his first non-empty net goal as a Flyer.  Verseteeg’s fist pump celebration appeared to be heart-felt, as he has experienced a bit of a tough transition here in Philadelphia.

But the festivities would be short-lived, as Scott Hartnell committed a horrendous giveaway and ended up in the Flyers’ net just 21 seconds later.  Clarke MacArthur had originally been credited with the goal, but was changed to Nikolai Kulemin during the first intermission when video review showed the puck glanced off of the shaft of Kulemin’s stick on the way into the net.

The good news is that Versteeg and Richards are showing an increasing amount of chemistry with each passing contest.  Versteeg’s second goal was something to behold, as Richards’ pass saw the ex-Leaf staring at a wide open net.  Versteeg deposited the puck into the yawning cage before Toronto starter James Reimer could get to the post, and the Flyers led 2-1.

“I think we’ve been playing well over the last six games or so“, Versteeg said of his developing chemistry with Richards.  ”Sometimes it takes a little time to build it and go on but it’s about going out and working hard for each other.”

The captain concurred.  “We have played together for a little bit now“, Richards said.  ”Once you start doing that, you start to feel more comfortable and knowing where each other are.  The two goals were evidence of that.”

Late in the second, Philadelphia took a bench minor for too many men on the ice.  Leafs’ defenseman Dion Phaneuf was able to beat Sergei Bobrovsky off of the ensuing faceoff with just 10.5 seconds left in the middle frame to knot the score heading into the third period.

Richards took responsibility for the gaffe.  “That was my fault“, he said.  ”I actually thought I saw Scott (Hartnell) coming, and just wasn’t paying attention and jumped on the ice.  They ended up scoring on us.  That was my fault.”

Philadelphia came out and took the first four shots of the third period, but couldn’t get anything past Reimer.

Darryl Boyce made a nice move as he was able to beat Bobrovsky with only 4:30 left in regulation for the game-winner.  Carrying the puck in the right wing corner, Boyce appeared that he was going to go around the net – and Bobrovsky bit.  Boyce instead cut out in front and tucked the puck under the Flyers netminder’s right pad and inside the far post.

Toronto had their first lead of the game at the time it counted the most.

The Flyers were able to generate a few more scoring chances, but once again could not finish for reason or another.  Danny Briere, mired in a goal-scoring slump that has seen him with just four goals in his last 19 games, came close in the waning seconds.  Taking a pass in the slot, Briere snapped off a wrist shot that Reimer got a glove on – the puck kicked up in the air, bounced off of the top of the Leafs’ net, out into the crease area, and into Reimer’s glove.

As for losing to yet another team that is fighting for it’s very postseason existence, Pronger pulled no punches.  “We know they’re fighting for their lives and are a desperate team, and we have to play with that same desperation to counter that.”

And perhaps, therein lies part of the problem.  The Flyers have had things go pretty much their way for most of the season, so it’s possible that they had become complacent and have gotten away from doing the little things that got them to the top spot in the Eastern Conference.  Their opponents are playing with a heightened sense of purpose, and Philadelphia has failed to match that effort.

Pronger also said the team cannot use the illness that has depleted their roster as an excuse.  “At this time of year everybody is going to have injuries and what have you.  I don’t think that played a part of it.”

When asked if he was upset with the fact that defenseman Andrej Meszaros took three minors during the game, Laviolette didn’t hesitate.  “Are you asking me if I was unhappy with Meszaros?  Not really.  You know, get punched in the head and you punch somebody back, you expect them both to go.”

One thing is crystal clear – the Flyers are going to have to play a disciplined, desperate game.  They’re coming up against a host of teams that are all in the same position, and they will fight tooth and nail to stay alive.

The Flyers have to do the same thing.

Holmstrom fills in nicely

Laviolette was impressed with the play of Ben Holmstrom, who was called up from the Adirondack Phantoms earlier in the day with several forwards suffering illness.  ”I thought Ben [Holstrom] came up and did a good job for us tonight“, the coach said.  ”He killed a lot of penalties, got some time, and did a good job in his first game.”

Holmstrom played 8:06 – including 4:33 on the penalty kill – and led the Flyers with five hits.

_____________________________________________

If you have any comments or questions, you can email the author at dstrehle@nhlhotstove.com.  You can also follow him on Twitter - @David_Strehle.

The Toronto Maple Leafs traded away Ian White, Jason Blake, Matt Stajan, Jamal Mayers and Niklas Hagman accounting for 38 percent of their offense.  What will the team do to replace the four missing forwards?

When questioned GM Brian Burke mentioned the one forward acquired, Fredrik Sjostrom, as one of the players likely to fill the void.  Known mostly for his penalty killing ability Sjostrom will probably play more than in Calgary, where he found himself a healthy scratch on numerous occasions.

Recent healthy scratch John Mitchell also should be reinserted into the lineup and can hopefully keep his job with a return to his early season form.  The other two players needed most likely will be Viktor Stalberg, Rickard Wallin or Christian Hanson.

Needless to say these four players will not make up the scoring lost.  The Leafs lose their top goal scorer and their fourth, sixth and eighth leading scorers putting a gigantic hole in the offense.  The return of Mikhail Grabovski should help but it will not be the answer.

Burke mentioned the shop being open for business which should mean a forward or two needs to be acquired at some point.  If the Leafs have serious interest in making the playoffs they must also improve their forward core.  Listed below are the expected forward lines after both trades.

Alexei Ponikarovsky – Tyler Bozak – Phil Kessel
Nikolai Kulemin – John Mitchell – Viktor Stalberg
Wayne Primeau – Lee Stempniak – Christian Hanson
Jay Rosehill/Fredrik Sjostrom – Rickard Wallin – Colton Orr

Probably the weakest forward core in the League with a lot of room for improvement.  Nazem Kadri looks like a reasonable candidate to make this roster out of training camp next season at this point.

Alexander Monaghan
NHLHS Editor
amonaghan@nhlhotstove.com
Twitter: @NHLHotStove

Atlantic Division

• Original recipe served the Penguins well on Sunday. Winger Matt Cooke‘s deflection off a point-shot by defenseman Sergei Gonchar provided the Penguins a second power-play goal and a 2-1 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers at Wachovia Center.
• The Flyers’ nationally televised 2-1 loss to the visiting Pittsburgh Penguins Sunday can be explained in two words: special teams. The Flyers were just 1 for 9 on the power play, while Pittsburgh was 2 for 6, including Matt Cooke’s winning goal with 1:47 left. With the loss, the Flyers are 3-1 on the six-game homestand, which also has meetings with Atlanta and the Islanders.
• Sweep away the tumbleweed; Nassau Coliseum isn’t wasteland anymore. It finally is fertile ground again, a space where careers can blossom. Not to get hasty or anything. The Islanders still are not guaranteed a spot in the playoffs and they still have not won a postseason series since 1993. But they have succeeded in allowing players at least to get a foothold.
• The Rangers have 30 games to go in the season and there is a total disconnect within the team itself and between the players and the coaching staff. There is no better way to explain what became yet another blowout and yet another shutout, last night in an embarrassing 6-0 defeat to the Canadiens in which the Rangers competed only sporadically for one another and for head coach John Tortorella.
• Nothing is set in stone, but there is a possibility that the Devils could have center Dainius Zubrus back when they face the Ottawa Senators Tuesday night at Scotiabank Place. Zubrus said he will find out Monday, when his right knee is examined and he speaks with general manager Lou Lamoriello.

Northeast Division

• Despite web traffic that had him getting named as a substitute for the Russian Olympic team, winger Nikolai Kulemin had not heard anything as of Saturday. Tomas Kaberle (Czech Republic), Jonas Gustavsson (Sweden), Niklas Hagman (Finland), Mike Komisarek, (USA) and Phil Kessel (USA) are going. Mikhail Grabovski (Belarus) might not play due to a wrist injury.
• There are benefits to playing against — and losing to — the top team in the NHL. “Yeah, it shows we’ve got to learn,” Buffalo Sabres defenseman Toni Lydman said. The Sabres practiced in Vancouver on Sunday and tried to shake off Saturday’s 5-2 loss to San Jose. Buffalo held down the league’s best for long stretches while dictating play. It didn’t matter. The Sabres made several costly mistakes while the Sharks committed only one.
• Once again Saturday, the Ottawa Senators received the magic touch from the return of a long lost player. This time it was Jason Spezza who stepped off the injury list and into the starring role, scoring the winning goal as the Senators extended their winning streak to six games — their longest since December 2007 — in a sound 2-1 victory over the slumping Boston Bruins.
• The Canadiens appear to have grown tired of waiting for some of their young forwards to turn their season around and took action on Sunday. Early in the day, the team announced that Max Pacioretty had been assigned to the Hamilton Bulldogs of the American Hockey League. The team also assigned Matt D’Agostini on a conditioning assignment.
• If it turns out that yesterday’s game was not rock-bottom for the Bruins this season, it’s frightening to imagine what a worse performance might look like. Facing the last-place team in the NHL entering the game, the B’s accomplished little offensively and were even worse on the defensive side, absorbing a 5-1 thumping at the hands of the Carolina Hurricanes.

Southeast Division

• All Brandon Sutter could do was smile, shake his head and say, “Wow.” Sutter was on the bench, admiring a replay of a nifty move by Ray Whitney that set him up for a goal, but he could just as well have been talking about the Carolina Hurricanes’ play Sunday against the Boston Bruins.
• There’s a clear presumption of excellence, immediate or otherwise, attached to being a first-round pick, and that has been Eric Fehr‘s burden since the Washington Capitals selected him 18th overall in the 2003 draft. From virtually the first time the right wing began skating with the club, Fehr has fielded questions about when he would fulfill that promise and when Washington would be able to look to him as confidently as it does some of its more established players.
• Slava Kozlov‘s franchise record for consecutive games played ended Saturday. It was not a health issue that snapped the Thrashers veteran forward’s streak at 251. Kozlov was a healthy scratch against Tampa Bay.
• Speaking of Tampa Bay, Mike Smith will at least be on the bench Wednesday against the Canadiens after the Lightning on Sunday sent Dustin Tokarksi back to AHL Norfolk. Tokarski backed up Antero Niittymaki while Smith recovered from a neck strain that kept him out of six games. “I’m getting close,” Smith said. “The goal is to be ready for Wednesday.”
• It was the goal Kenndal McArdle had waited for since the Panthers drafted him five years ago. Gregory Campbell grabbed the puck after a Toronto turnover near center ice, streaked toward the net with it on a 3-on-1 rush and slid it over to McArdle, who fired a shot from the inner edge of the right circle into the top right corner. McArdle scored his first NHL goal with 6:55 left in Saturday’s 2-0 win against the Maple Leafs, and he did so against his hometown team.

Hat tip to the now defunct Illegal Curve for their permission in taking over this daily series.

Anthony Curatolo
NHLHS Senior Writer
acuratolo@nhlhotstove.com
Twitter: @HockeyGuy_AC

Earlier this afternoon, Toronto Maple Leafs GM Brian Burke discussed numerous topics on Leafs Lunch – Leafs Nation Edition with Dennis Bayak.  With the Leafs playing much better than their winless start, they may make some noise during the trade deadline or as Burke alluded to before it.

Personally I have always admired Burke’s honesty in discussing his teams.  He usually gives his fans a perspective on what he plans to do while playing his cards close to the chest.  The GM of the 2010 Team USA program also announced he will release the roster on Monday, December 28th.

Lets break down some of the topics discussed.

On the State of the Team

• Thinks the playoffs are realistic and notes the team work ethic has been great to date.
• Reemphasized not winning their first seven games really hurt their chances of climbing the standings.
• Would like to see both goalies healthy and in rhythm.  Wants two weeks with both Jonas Gustavsson and Vesa Toskala healthy so he can assess the situation and rely on one of them down the stretch.
• Thinks the team shows strong character.  He signed and traded for character and therefore did not ship out players during the beginning of the season.

On Specific Player Personnel

• Likes the added offense of Niklas Hagman, noting the Finn already scored 16 goals, a total he did not make until February of last year.
• Feels Nikolai Kulemin will not be a top six forward but makes a great shut down player and “has third line written all over him.”
• Discussed Jason Blake as the hardest working player on the team.  Does not mind the salary owed to the veteran.
• Will honor the NTC of Tomas Kaberle noting he deserves it with his excellent career performance as well as loyalty to the team.
• Thinks Luke Schenn needs to sit out to teach him lessons.  Last year they did not have the dept to do so.
• Disagrees with Rickard Wallin scoring goals at the NHL level.  Believes he is a fine bottom six player capable of winning face offs but is not nearly strong enough on the puck.
• Believes Matt Stajan plays great with Phil Kessel, filling the first line center position admirably.

Trade Talks and Trade Rumors

• During the losing streak, there were two vulture trades which Burke would have entertained had they continued losing.
• Felt Jiri Tlusty would be an NHL player but not in Toronto.  Thinks Philippe Paradis could be a power forward eventually but was taken too high.  There was one more offer for Tlusty but offered significantly less value.
• No contract talks with Gustavsson.  Still unsure what he has with The Monster.  Prefers not to talk during the regular season but understands it may need to happen.
• Spoke with the Philadelphia Flyers numerous times but nothing regarding Jeff Carter.
• Regarding the Kessel trade, noted how he cannot wait for the stars to align just to make a move for a valuable piece.  Clearly will build around the talented right wing.
• Nobody is untouchable but Burke will not trade a young player who is playing hard.
• The Leafs hold an advantage in the ability to take on salary both on their cap and budget. Burke will try to swing something to that effect before the deadline, but otherwise will make according buy or sell moves depending on the team’s playoff positioning.

On Prospects

• Gave us an update on Chris Didomenico, noting he should be back in six weeks.  Burke mentioned that the injury sustained to his femur could be career threatening but not in this case.
• Expressed excitement to see Nazem Kadri at the World Juniors starting this weekend.  How he performs will be crucial to this kid’s projection.  Kadri scored twice in Team Canada’s 16-0 drudging of Latvia today.
• On OHL overager Jacob Muzzin, the GM showed interest but was not nearly as high on him as other teams.  If you are unfamiliar with Muzzin, we discussed his signing with the Los Angeles Kings last week.

That pretty much sums up the variety of topics discussed.  Some interesting talks in the trade rumors section, as Burke seems to feel Carter will stay in Philadelphia.  The Leafs do hold a competitive advantage with some added cap space and this general manager seems willing to use it at his discretion.   Despite the teams record, the building blocks are there with what could be a very solid core down the road.

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-Alexander Monaghan
NHLHS Founder
thehotstove@gmail.com