Dave Bolland on Twitter

[showtime8]

I get I'm not a very sympathetic voice - the Hawks are my fave team and the Leafs are my #2..but i'm from Toronto, etc.

...but what's Bolland going to do as your captain?

I know this remark might not be well received - but why not leave Dion w/ the C and stop *****ing? Just my opinion, but the whining about captaincy just seems so stupid...if nothing else - you've got Rielly, Bernier, JVR, Gardiner, Kadri, Kessel, Phaneuf (i get hating Phil/Dion is popular...as is trading Gardiner/Kadri)...but that's really not as bad as you guys make it sound. imo, more than anything else, you have a problem with depth at forward which shoves all the pressure onto your top 6 (but mainly kessel).

the leafs really aren't as bad as you guys think...they're not great. but they're not garbage either. imo.

It's easy to pin failures of a season on the leader. It's not the right thing to do, but it is the easiest scapegoat.

Bolland won't change anything.

The Leafs problem isn't with depth at forward. They had 4 guys that scored 20 goals or more and 2 guys with 19, and that was spread over 3 lines.

The problem they had was with team defence and people competing.

 

[Purity*]

The Bolland to start the season, I sign that guy immediately.

I was calling it a top priority at the time, I was so impressed by him and how he elevated the team. He was flourishing in the Toronto environment looked like a stroke of genius from Nonis. Then, the skate cut.

But it was more than just buzzwords with him. He actually DID bring leadership. The guy made almost no bad decisions with the puck. He was the veteran accomplished centre we were lacking. Was a big face-off guy and minute eater.

"IF HEALTHY, like proven by medical staff" I would have no problem resigning him to a 2-3 year deal 4-4.5 max.

Signing Bolland doesn't mean we trade Kadri either. This is a depth move. Injuries prove you will need a deep squad anyway to sustain consistency in and not only make the playoffs but possibly get home ice. Which for once in my life would be good to see!!

Career high 47 points with a ton of injury problems. Yeah, great player when he's healthy, but look at all the time he's missed due to injury. You want to sign him based on 15 good games? Not a good idea at all.

He's not going to settle for any less than a payout-style contract, and if we're not giving it to him he's going to go to Florida and get it.

Marlies are the ones who need the bottom-6 roles, we don't need any more ****ing stupid contracts, it's horrible enough with the ones we have already.

 

[Stats01]

No. It takes a long time to heal, but once it does, there shouldn't be any risk of re-aggravating it. Just keep it away from skate blades.

Kind of weird for him to re-tweet so many times. Wonder if someone got a hold of his account.

Or he could be just retweeting the love that he's getting. He grew up a huge Leaf fan so he knows what's going on here. He appreciates the love and is just showing it back by RT it out. I think he wants to be back. I remember when we first got him and he did an interview, and he said if was going to get traded, he preferred if it was Toronto and look what happened. I really have a hard time believing that after his extremely short season he's just going up and walk.

 

[Stats01]

Career high 47 points with a ton of injury problems. Yeah, great player when he's healthy, but look at all the time he's missed due to injury. You want to sign him based on 15 good games? Not a good idea at all.

He's not going to settle for any less than a payout-style contract, and if we're not giving it to him he's going to go to Florida and get it.

Marlies are the ones who need the bottom-6 roles, we don't need any more ****ing stupid contracts, it's horrible enough with the ones we have already.

Last year's injury was a huge fluke. He got stepped on for crying out loud, how does that make him injury prone?

 

[ErnieLeafs]

I think Bolland has had his fair share of injuries.

I honestly wouldn't sign him a shade over 4m, for 2 years.

Would rather trade his rights for a pick in the 3rd or 4th round.

 

[The_Chosen_One]

He can work, but it'll have to be a shorter-term contract. I am having hard times seeing where Bozak's contract fits seeing that Kadri is stronger offensively and our top line needs a two-way, preferably big centre. If things go sour, we can consider signing David Legwand. He's a big centre who can win critical face-offs, capable of playing a shut down role and is still a strong offensive producer.

JVR - X - Kessel
Komarov - Legwand - Clarkson could be a legitimate shut down line.
LW - C - RW
D'Amigo - Carrick - Bodie

Looking at that, I'd be willing to move Kadri/ Lupul/ Gardiner/ Franson for that two-way centre. There is Pavelski, J. Staal ( most preferred due to age, upside), Couturier ( underrated IMO) who may be potentially available. We also need to tighten up the defence as well which a potential Gunnarsson - RHD shut down pairing. It is possible that Granberg can do it, but he's still quite young. Instead, I'd try making a trade for Ladislav Smid involving Lupul and/or consider Orpik ( shut down D/ veteran) who would take Gunnarsson's place.

Rielly/ Gardiner - Phaneuf ( Top pairing/ two-way)
Gunnarsson -Smid ( Shut down pairing)
Gardiner/ Rielly - Granberg ( Bottom pairing)
Ranger

 

[613Leafer]

Last year's injury was a huge fluke. He got stepped on for crying out loud, how does that make him injury prone?

Seriously?

He missed 70+ games over the previous four seasons (prior to this one), missing time in every single season. He's only had one season in the past five where he played more than 75% of the season

 

[Cor]

At the end of the season Bolland said this was the only place he wants to play and was upset at how the season went down.

With a full summer of rehab/training, his leg should be 100% come October.

As long as its not a stupid deal (3.75M MAX, 3 or 4 years) I would welcome him back. Try and move Holland for a winger or in a bigger deal or something

 

[LeafsFIO*]

I don't think it's trolling I think he just doesn't know how to use Twitter properly. He's tweeted some things in the past that just don't make sense. He probably thinks it's no more than a sign of respect to RT or something.

 

[ShaneFalco]

The Leafs have to be smarter going forward. Unless he agrees to a "show me you can stay healthy for a year or 2", let him go.

 

[Cor]

It's not giving up on Lupul, it's realizing we need to improve the defensive side of our top 6. Dealing him for a guy like Korpikoski would add that element to the top 6. A guy that is defensively reliable, but can still add that scoring touch as well.

I think PHX is my main trade target for a Lupul deal and Korpikoski is my main target. A PHX fan offered Korpikoski and 2 2nd's for Lupul a few weeks ago.

 

[thewave]

It's not giving up on Lupul, it's realizing we need to improve the defensive side of our top 6. Dealing him for a guy like Korpikoski would add that element to the top 6. A guy that is defensively reliable, but can still add that scoring touch as well.

I think PHX is my main trade target for a Lupul deal and Korpikoski is my main target. A PHX fan offered Korpikoski and 2 2nd's for Lupul a few weeks ago.

The whole top 6 is crap defensively. I could single any one of them out and say the same crap. Is it the system or the players? That's the real question.

 

[Mess]

Davey Bolland is certainly a serviceable player that has use to the Maple Leafs based on previous cup winning experience.

I can see why Shanahan (price permitting) is wanting him re-signed and returning to the Leafs as one of its leaders.

 

[Ricky Bobby]

I think the Hawks cut him loose because they valued Bickell more at 4 mil, and have two fairly important fellas to resign after next year. It doesn't mean that Bolland isn't a good role player and that the Hawks didn't think he was a useful player.

The situation more compares that they valued Bickell at 4 million + having a 2nd + 4th + 4th more then losing Bickell for nothing to UFA status well only having 1 year of Bolland.

As a long as the term isn't too long I don't see why people are so worried about bringing back Bolland.

We badly needed him this year and his injury really did us in. People can balk at his offensive numbers but part of the reason why he doesn't post higher numbers is because he doesn't score at the cost of defensive play (similar to how Boston, LA forwards score less but the team wins). Meanwhile guys like Kadri (-11) or Lupul (-15) but don't have nearly the affect people think on winning or losing because it's done at the cost of defensive play.

Bolland also doesn't get gravy PP time because instead he's busy doing things that actually win games like taking defensive zone faceoffs or killing penalties.

If July 1st hits and we don't have anywhere else to spend the money year 1 of the contract is a non-factor which people always seem to overlook. So we're then dealing with whatever years are put on after that which is the biggest issue with Bolland.

It's great to say lets have lots of cap space before the season but to spend where because after free agency deals don't really happen till near the deadline.

With Gauthier at least 2 but more likely 3 to 4 years away I'd say we badly need Bolland for a few years. A 3 year deal for Bolland would be ideal but he'll likely want 4 or even 5 years which is where it gets risky with his injury history.

 

[HoweHullOrr]

bolland has never played a full season - and most seasons he has missed significant time. say what you want about the tendon being a "fluke" injury, but injury-prone players tend to get injured, flukey or otherwise. if we sign bolland, we can count on him for only 75% of the season, on average

Well, think of it this way. If he signs and gets injured, it will make it easy to use the "injury excuse" when we bomb.