The 2nd Annual All Bad Contracts Team

Welcome to the 2nd Annual All-Bad Contracts team. This is a post where I make a team only with players with bad contracts. If you want to see how it turned out last year, click here. There are a few repeats from the previous year, and also a few newcomers, but first the rules:

1.) It has to be contracts that are active for this upcoming (2015-2016) NHL season.
2.) The numbers are based on cap hit, not total salary (length is taken into consideration).
3.) Figures are based on Spotrac.

Let's get started:

LW- Ryane Clowe (New Jersey Devils)

Contract: 5 years/$24.25 million

Cap Hit: $4.85 million

Last Year's "Winner": Benoit Pouliot (Edmonton Oilers)

My Reasoing:

I remember fighting over this one in my head last year, but Pouliot just edged out Clowe for top (bottom) spot. In the lockout shortened 2012-2013 season, Clowe put up just 19 points in 40 games (only 3 goals). New Jersey then curiously gave Clowe (then 30) the deal he has today. Since then, Clowe has dealt with numerous injury troubles playing in just 43 games in 2013-2014 and 13 games in 2014-2015. Clowe, will be 33 heading into this next season, out of his prime. His best season came in 2010-2011 when he put up 62 points in 75 games, but he hasn't been close since. Clowe will be 34 when this contract expires. The Devils will be paying a player in his mid-30s, whose effectiveness is rapidly declining and who's unreliable to stay healthy just shy of $5 million. It was a bad signing at the beginning, it'll be a worse signing at the end. 

Signed Until: 2017-2018

Similar Cap Hits at the Position: Matt Moulson, Mikhail Grabovski, Marian Gaborik, Scott Hartnell, Clarke MacArthur, Max Pacioretty, Teddy Purcell, Brad Marchand

C- Dave Bolland (Florida Panthers)

Contract: 5-Years/$27.5 million

Cap hit: $5.5 million

Last Year's "Winner": Dave Bolland

My Reasoning:

Congratulations to Dave Bolland for being our first repeat winner. My reasoning is pretty well the same from last year: Bolland has never had a 50-point season, has never cracked the 20 goal plateau, and is an inconsistent player. After playing just 23 games for the Leafs in 2013-2014 due to injury, Bolland had another slew of injuries and was limited to just 53 games the following season. In his last full season (2011-2012), Bolland has just 19 goals, not enough to justify a cap hit of $5.5 million to begin with, but over the last 3 seasons combined, Bolland has just 21. 

Bolland just turned 29 so he's right in the middle of his prime. If he stays healthy he could hit the 20 goal mark at some point. But hoping for a player getting paid more than $5 million to score 20+ goals is unacceptable. Unless he manages to turn things around, I expect Bolland to be back on this list next year.

Signed Until: 2018-2019

Similar Cap Hits at the Position: Brandon Dubinsky, Travis Zajac, Tyler Seguin, Patrik Elias, John Tavares

RW- David Clarkson (Columbus Blue Jackets)

Contract: 7 years/$36.75 million

Cap Hit: $5.25 million

Last Year's "Winner": David Clarkson

My Reasoning:

Yet another repeat, only this time he's on a different team from last year. That's because the Leafs did the seemingly impossible task of trading away Clarkson. Arguably the best trade of Nonis' tenure with the Leafs was trading away Clarkson for a player that will probably never play again (Nathan Horton). Like I mentioned last year, Clarkson has never hit the 50 point plateau, hitting 46 in 2011-2012. Clarkson played just 3 games with the Blue Jackets last season, getting injured during a scrum in his 2nd game. 

Signed Until: 2019-2020

Similar Cap Hits at the Position: Jarome Iginla, Shane Doan, Marian Hossa, Joffrey Lupul, Michael Cammalleri, Radim Vrbata, James Neal

D- Jeff Petry (Montreal Canadiens)

Contract: 6 Years/$33 Million

Cap Hit: $5.5 Million

Last Year's "Winner": Brooks Orpik

My Reasoning:

I'll be honest, I originally had Brooks Orpik back on this list but the more I looked at things, the less I could justify it. I looked at other defensemen with similar cap hits, and although Orpik is definitely overpaid in my opinion, Jeff Petry's contract just can't be justified. Now, Petry had more points last season than Orpik and he actually scored (Orpik had 19 assists, no goals). Orpik also has a Stanley Cup and two trips to the Final. Petry played in the playoffs for the first time this season and only because he was traded to Montreal from Edmonton. It's certainly not Petry's fault the Oilers have been abysmal during his tenure, but he is a career -68. Say what you will about the +/- stat, but at the end of the day, Petry has been on the ice for 68 more even strength goals against than for. If you're into fancy stats, Petry's Fenwick dropped from 49.2 with the Oilers to 43.2 with the Habs.

One of my criticisms of Orpik last year was that he was never in the running for a Norris nor named an all-star. Petry has never been considered at all for the Norris nor named an all-star (Orpik finished 18th in Norris voting in the lockout shortened 2012-2013 season). All these things considered is why Petry made this list. However, he has only played 19 games with the Habs, so maybe a change of scenery is all he needs.

Signed Until: 2020-2021

Similar Cap Hits at the Position: Andrej Sekera, Matt Carle, Nick Leddy, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, James Wisniewski, Tyler Myers, Brooks Orpik, Dan Girardi 

D- Dion Phaneuf (Toronto Maple Leafs)

Contract: 7 Years/$49 Million

Cap Hit: $7 Million

Last Year's "Winner": Tyler Myers

A lot has been written about Dion Phaneuf and his tenure with the Maple Leafs, some fairly, some unfairly. But this article isn't to question Dion Phaneuf as captain, it's to point out the terrible contracts in the league. No one will argue that since coming from Calgary, Phaneuf has lost a step, and that may have to do with an injury suffered in 2010 that saw Phaneuf's leg get cut by a skate. After putting up 40+ points in every season with the Flames (except the one he was traded to Toronto), Phaneuf has done so only once during the 2011-2012 season.

In Calgary, Phaneuf was always in the Norris conversation, he never won it (but did finish 2nd in 2008), it hasn't been the same in Toronto, yet Nonis felt the need to sign him to a $49 million contract. Sure, Phaenuf is the captain, sure, you want your captain locked up long term, but there has been nothing in his play since coming to Toronto to justify such a huge contract. Need more proof? Phaneuf's cap hit is the same as Drew Doughty's (and Doughty has 2 Cups to his name).

Signed Until: 2021-2022

Similar Cap Hits at the Position: Kris Letang, Brian Campbell. Drew Doughty, Zdeno Chara, Alex Pietrangelo, Erik Karlsson

G- Cam Ward (Carolina Hurricanes)

Contract: 6 Years/$37.8 Million

Cap Hit: $6.3 Million

Last Year's "Winner": Cam Ward

For the second straight year Cam Ward makes this list. And the reasons for that are all similar from last year. Since leading the Canes to a Cup back in 2006 (while sporting a solid .920 sv% in the playoffs), his team has only made the postseason once. Now, while that's not entirely Cam Ward's fault, his career .910 sv% and 2.73 GAA do very little to justify a $6.3 million cap hit. The following goaltenders have a better sv% and make less: Steve Mason (.9102, $4.1 Mil), Marc-Andre Fleury (.9114, $5.75 Mil), Mike Smith (.9121, $5.66 Mil), etc.

There are only 5 netminders in the league with a bigger cap hit than Ward: Lundqvist, Rinne, Bobrovsky, Rask, and Price. And although only 1 of those goalies has a Cup to his name, when you think of "elite" those are the names that come up (maybe not for Bobrovsky...), Ward's does not. The only plus side of this contract is that it expires at the end of this season; I'm not expecting Ward to be back on this list next year.


Signed Until: 2015-2016

Similar Cap Hits at the Position: Carey Price, Braden Holtby, Cory Schneider, Corey Crawford, Ryan Miller

How Much Should the Leafs Pay Jonathan Bernier?

On Wednesday both the Maple Leafs and Jonathan Bernier submitted their offers to an arbitrator. In a rare move, the Leafs elected to go to arbitration to negotiate a new contract with their number 1 goaltender. According to Elliotte Friedman, the Leafs are offering $2.89 million and Bernier is asking $5.1 million. Last season, Bernier had a salary of $3.4 million but a cap hit of just $2.9 million.

Arbitration takes into account comparables let's take a look at some comparibles and see where we can expect the salary to be. Remember, since the Leafs elected to go to arbitration, once the arbitrator makes his ruling, the Leafs have to take it.

Over his 2 seasons in Toronto, Bernier is 47-47-14 in 104 starts with a 2.78 GAA and a .920 sv%. The most important goaltending stat for me is save percentage. The Leafs gave up an egregious amount of shots over Bernier's tenure, so the fact that he's at .920 is pretty good. There were 2 goalies that had a .920 sv% last season (that played more than 10 games): Ondrej Pavelec and Marc-Andre Fleury. Next season, Pavelec will have a salary of $4.25 million with a cap hit of $3.9 million, whereas Fleury has a salary and cap hit of $5.75 million.

I'm more inclined to compare Bernier to Pavelec because their numbers are closer. Over the last 2 seasons, Pavelec is 44-42-15 in 107 starts with a 2.67 GAA and a .910 sv%. As you can see, Bernier's numbers (except GAA) are slightly better than Pavelec's, but they are relatively close. With that being said, I would expect Bernier to get a slightly higher contract than Pavelec, somewhere around $4.5 million.

Apparently the word is Bernier is looking for a longer term contract, and the Leafs want a similar contract as they gave Kadri. They want Bernier to prove his worth. Obviously, the Leafs are thinking long term here. Bernier will be 27 heading into this season, by the time the Leafs are competitive again Bernier could be 31 or 32. The Leafs don't want to handcuff themselves with long term deals like they did with Kessel, Clarkson, Lupul, and Phaneuf. There is some risk here, after next season, Bernier becomes a UFA, if the Leafs choose to lock up Bernier on a short-term contract, they risk him leaving for nothing, however, if they give him a long-term deal, it could handcuff them in the future.

If I'm Lamoriello, I'm giving Bernier a 3-year deal. Three years isn't a long contract, but it's not a short one either. If Bernier doesn't work out, that's fine, the Leafs are rebuilding and will not be good anyways, if he works out, great, by then the Leafs should be competing for a playoff spot and Bernier can help the Leafs moving forward. The two parties meet with the arbitrator on Friday, we should know the decision by the weekend.

Lou Lamoriello Named Leafs GM: My Take

The Toronto Maple Leafs named 73-year-old Lou Lamoriello, the long time GM of the Devils, as General Manager. Lamoriello was General Manager of the New Jersey Devils from 1987-2015, at the end of this past season, he stepped down as GM to make way for Ray Shero; Lamoriello remained as President. In his first year with the Devils, he helped build the team to its first winning record in its then-14 year history (including the Kansas City Scouts and Colorado Rockies). In his 26 seasons with the Devils, they made the Stanley Cup playoffs 21 times, made the Stanley Cup Final 5 times, and won 3 Cups.

However, since the lockout, the Devils haven't been the powerhouse they were in the 90s and early 2000s. After making the playoffs 6 of the first 7 years since the lockout (including making the final in 2012), the Devils have gone 3 straight seasons missing the playoffs. This is due to an ageing core and a lack of prospects coming up through the pipeline.

This is a move that came out of left field for just about everyone except Brendan Shanahan and Lamoriello. It seemed like most of Leafs Nation believed Shanny would resume most of the responsibilities as GM along with Kyle Dubas. However, the experience in an NHL front office for most of the Leafs front office doesn't extend beyond their time with the Leafs. Lamoriello brings some much needed experience not just in terms being a GM, but in terms of knowing what a team needs to win.

Lamoriello is a GM that wins by building from the net out (it helped that he had Martin Brodeur for years). The Leafs ranked 27th in Goals Against last year (262), and were among the worst in term of puck possession. The Devils have famously played and won using the dreaded trap game under Lamoriello.

The signing, although unexpected, makes sense. As I said above, Lamoriello brings a wealth of experience to a very inexperienced Leafs front office. There are some risks however, Lamoriello was at his most successful in a pre-cap era. The Leafs have a clear plan ahead that they're looking to rebuild, which means they will be awful for at least a couple of years, everyone from Shanahan to Babcock and even the board above Shanny is supposedly on board with this plan. Lamoriello seemed to understand this was the direction the Leafs were taking, but he also apparently has full autonomy. If his famous impatience comes into play, can he derail the Leafs plans? (Cliff Fletcher 2.0 immediately comes to mind).

All that being said, having a mind like Lamoriello in the mix giving his two cents isn't a bad thing. Kyle Dubas now has the opportunity (for the next 3 years, at least) to watch one of the greatest hockey minds at work and learn from him. If they had an all-star team for front office staff, most of the team would be made up from the Leafs' front office. There are so many great minds at work here, if they stay the course and stick with the plan of a rebuild, the Leafs may finally, one day, be a competitive team with a shot to win the Cup.

How the (Original) Phil Kessel Trade Looks Today

Back in 2009 the Toronto Maple Leafs acquired Phil Kessel from the Boston Bruins in exchange for a 2010 1st and 2nd round draft pick, and their 1st round draft pick in 2011. Unfortunately for the Leafs, they finished the 2009-2010 season in 29th and that 1st round pick became the 2nd overall pick. The Bruins selected Tyler Seguin 2nd overall and Jared Knight 32nd overall. In 2011, the Bruins selected Dougie Hamilton 9th overall.

For the first few years of Kessel's tenure in Toronto, the trade was debated. The 2nd overall pick was a high price to pay, but Phil Kessel was/is an elite talent that most teams would dream of having.

With the trade of Phil Kessel on July 1st, all 4 pieces of the original trade are no longer on Boston or Toronto's roster. Let's break down what the trade looks like today:

Tyler Seguin

Following Boston's loss in the Stanley Cup Final of the lockout-shortened 2012-2013 season, Boston shipped Tyler Seguin along with Rich Peverley and Ryan Button to the Dallas Stars for Loui Eriksson, Joe Morrow, Reilly Smith, and Matt Fraser. 

Eriksson and Morrow are still with the team, but Rielly Smith was traded to Florida for Jimmy Hayes (originally a Leafs draft pick) and the Bruins lost Matt Fraser to Edmonton via waivers.

Dougie Hamilton

The morning of this year's NHL Entry Draft, the Bruins traded Dougie Hamilton to the Calgary Flames for their 2015 1st round pick (15th overall), their 2nd round pick (45th overall), and Washington's 2nd round pick (52nd overall). They used the three picks to select Zachary Senyshyn, Jakob Forsbacka-Karlsson, and Jeremy Lauzon respectively.

Jared Knight

The Bruins traded Jared Knight to the Wild for Zach Phillips.

The Original trade now looks something like this:

To Toronto:

Kasperi Kapanen
Scott Harrington
Nick Spaling
Conditional 2016 1st Round Pick
Conditional 2016 3rd Round Pick


To Boston:

Loui Eriksson
Joe Morrow
Jimmy Hayes
Zachary Senyshyn
Jakob Forsbacka-Karlsson
Jeremy Lauzon
Zach Phillips

Did the Leafs get enough for Kessel?

This is a question I've seen answered on many blogs and news stories, here's my take:

The Leafs could have gotten more for Kessel, no doubt. But given where the Leafs and Penguins are, the trade made sense. The Leafs needed to get rid of Kessel for many reasons. For one, the Leafs are in a rebuild, you don't need a 30+ (borderline 40) goal scorer in your lineup if you want to rebuild. Secondly, it was fair to Kessel, an elite talent like him deserves a legitimate shot at trying for the Cup. Thirdly, the Leafs needed to dismantle their core, Kessel was a huge part of that, trading him changes the core completely.

I'll admit, I'm a little disappointed we won't get to see Kessel under Babcock, but it was time to move on. The most unfortunate thing is the Leafs wasted the "Kessel Era," instead of surrounding him with talent, they surrounded him with Tyler Bozak. With Crosby, there is very little doubt in my mind that Kessel will hit 40 goals next season. I wish Kessel nothing but the best in PIttsburgh.

Like the original Kessel trade, we won't know who the clear winner is for a few years. At best, the Leafs broke even with the original trade, in reality, they lost it (imagine how good Seguin, a 1st line centre, and Dougie Hamilton, a top 2 defenseman, would look in a Leafs jersey right now). For the first time in over a decade, the Leafs have a clear path they want to follow, and for now at least, they look like they're sticking to it, with a priority on getting younger and developing prospects to create a new core. I might revisit this one again next year to see where the trade is at following the 2016 NHL Entry Draft.

Not Saluting the Fans: Bad Timing or a "Screw You"?

On Thursday, the Toronto Maple Leafs snapped a three-game slide by defeating the Tampa Bay Lightning 5-2. The previous two games saw the Leafs lose by a combined score of 15-4, losing 6-2 to Buffalo, and a somehow even more embarrassing 9-2 loss to the Nashville Predators. Following those losses everything came under the microscope in Leafs nation: the coach, the GM, the leadership, and the core players. The 9-2 loss was a home game, which meant more jerseys thrown on the ice. A trend this season for Leafs fans. I've already shared my opinion on jersey tossing.

Now the news following the Leafs win over the Lightning was not that they won, it was what they didn't do that made headlines: salute the fans. After every home win this season, the Leafs have been saluting the crowd. To be honest, I was at Thursday's game and it didn't even register with me that they didn't do the salute. So at first, when I realized it, I didn't take it as a snub, I just thought it was interesting that they would decide to do that after the last two embarrassments of games, but I just chalked it up to bad timing. But then I saw this Mark Masters report and I got angry.

"For us as athletes...whenever we can change something up and try to change routine, if it works for us, then that's something we're going to stick to," Captain Dion Phaneuf explains.

Then someone, who I assume is a reporter, asks Phaneuf "how does this help?" Phaneuf cannot answer and abruptly ends the interview after the reporter presses him a couple more times on the issue. Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the Captain of Leafs Nation!

How does saluting the crowd affect how you play in a game? You salute the crowd after the game after you've won! It sounds to me like the players are, for lack of a better word, punishing the fans for tossing jerseys. Of course, this is all speculation.

On Thursday, the Leafs played one of their best games this season. They came out strong, and they played a solid 60 minutes. The Leafs really competed, and they showed the fans what they're capable of against a strong Tampa Bay Lightning team. And you know what? That was one of the best mid-week crowds at the ACC that I've ever been a part of! The crowd backed their team 100%.

We can't say for sure whether the Leafs decided to not salute the crowd because fans tossed their jerseys, all we're doing is speculating. But common sense dictates that if you're going to make a decision like that, you probably shouldn't implement it after your first win after a 9-2 loss.

TSN's Bob McKenzie tweeted out this morning something that sums up this whole situation perfectly:

It's REALLY dumb so many talking about TOR players not saluting fans, but not half as dumb as players picking THAT moment to alter routine.
— Bob McKenzie (@TSNBobMcKenzie) November 21, 2014

If the team really did just want to change their routine for whatever reason, fine, I don't really care about the salute that much. But if you're doing it to send a message to fans because they tossed jerseys, then all you're doing is angering an already pissed off fan base. Why should fans respect an organization where the players don't respect the fans?

Looking at the Bigger Picture: Life is Bigger than the Game

In the totem pole of journalism, sports ranks fairly low in importance. Let me explain why I chose the route of sports journalism. I'll be honest, I find news depressing. Everyday there are murders, defecits, scandals, etc. I just couldn't find myself immersed in that world every day. Whenever I needed an escape, I would turn to sports, it's a great distraction. That's why I decided to follow this path, to give people an escape when they need it.

But then there are times like this morning where a gunman or gunmen shot in three different locations in Ottawa, including killing a soldier. It's times like these that out things into perspective.

During the Boston Marathon bombing, I was still just an intern at TSN and that was one day I will never forget. One of my fellow interns was subclipping the Boston marathon (which was on tape delay), when our producer told him to "look out for explosions." Obviously, we were both confused, why would there be explosions? So we Googled "Boston Marathon explosions" and Twitter pictures popped up showing people with legs literally blown right off. After showing the producer, maybe about 30 seconds after, the whole back of the newsroom was taken over by feeds of CNN, CTV, CBC. That day SportsCentre looked more like CTV. Death and destruction should never lead a sports newscast, because sports is an escape from those terrible things.

All the journalism degrees in the world can't prepare you for something like what happened today. It's absolutely disgusting. Ottawa is a beautiful city, I have been there many times. I extend all my condolences to everyone effected in Ottawa right now. After all this is done, after everyone is detained I urge all Canadians to NOT change what they do day to day. Don't let those who incite fear win, keep going to those games, keep walking out on the streets at night.

The Ottawa Senators next home game is this Saturday against the New Jersey Devils. Everyone in Canada should be cheering for the Senators this weekend. When that national anthem starts, sing it loud and sing it proud! You've got a whole nation behind you.

Defending the Jersey Toss

The Leafs stumbled out of the gate this season with a pair of losses, then followed that up with a pair of wins, followed by another regulation loss and an overtime loss. For those of you keeping score, the Leafs currently sit 2-3-1. That's not a great start, it's not terrible, but it's not great either.

However, already fans are growing impatient, there has been two games where fans have thrown their displeasure by tossing their jerseys on the ice. We're only 6 games in.and fans are already growing restless.
The Leafs have shown flashes of a better team, but more often they have looked like the same team from last season.

Personally, I'm okay with the jersey toss. Now before you react, hear me out. There are a lot worse ways fans can show their displeasure, throwing a jersey on the ice, is a lot better than say, throwing beer on the ice, or waffles.As long as it's thrown during a stoppage in play (and when the Leafs are actually losing badly), it's fine. Now normally I'd agree, 5 games into the season is way too early to start giving up on the team, but the greatest argument I heard for this came from Late Night Game Night on TSN 1050: some Leafs fans don't see it as game 5, but rather they see it as a continuation of the previous season and they're fed up.

It seems that way, Carlyle is still coach, Nonis is still GM, and other than a few depth players, this is the same Leafs team from last season. Fans of most other teams can show their displeasure by not showing up, but let's face it, that's never going to happen in Toronto. For every person that boycotts going to the games, there are at least 1000 people who would gladly go to the game in your place.

With all the being said, there is one thing I do worry about: that this will become too habitual. It's happened twice in 4 home games already, it doesn't need to happen EVERY game the Leafs lose, and it especially does not need to happen if the Leafs are only down 3-2 with 5 minutes to go in the 3rd. With the massive popularity of the Blue and White this is one of the few ways fans can show their displeasure, and it's very visible.

Why I was Reluctant to Accept "Fancy Stats"

This offseason, the Toronto Maple Leafs made headlines by hiring Kyle Dubas, former GM of the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds, and he's only 28! This hiring made the blogosphere happy because Dubas is into the so called "Fancy Stats" and used them with the Greyhounds.

So what are Fancy Stats? For an in-depth look at Corsi and Fenwick, you should go here. The TL;DR version is that Corsi is "the plus/minus of shots directed at the net for (blocked shots, shots high and wide, shots that hit, shots that get tipped, etc.)." If you have a positive Corsi, you are on the ice for more shots for and therefore the team possesses the puck more when you're on the ice. Fenwick is the same thing, except it doesn't take into consideration blocked shots (Fenwick sees blocked shots as a skill, not a random event).

Before this season, Corsi and Fenwick were mostly used by bloggers, and since the lockout shortened 2012-2013 season, bloggers were calling for the Leafs to drop off the face of the earth because of their poor possession numbers. In 2013, we saw the Leafs monumental collapse to the Bruins (I'm not even linking to the video, too many bad memories), and in 2014 we saw the Leafs...fall off the face of the Earth. As a result, you could hear the collective "I TOLD YOU SO!!!" from the bloggers.

So why did I resist? The idea Corsi and Fenwick make sense: the more you control the puck, the better chance you have to score. But my problem was not with the stats themselves. My problem was with the keyboard hero bloggers out there who would gang up on anyone who would even dare to question them. The conversation was never "hey guys, look at these new stats, they might be useful." The conversation was "these are new stats and if you don't think they have any merit, you're an idiot and no nothing about hockey!"

Why would anyone want to agree with people who react that way? When the Leafs finally did hire an analytics team, proponent of Fancy Stats Down Goes Brown had this humble blog post.The TL;DR version: we were right, you were wrong, you're all stupid. 

Now don't get me wrong, I'm a huge fan of Down Goes Brown, I've been a fan of his work for about 4 or 5 years now, I was just thoroughly unimpressed with how even he acted through all of this.

Now I was never berated on Twitter for disparaging Fancy Stats, I kept quiet about it and just observed from the outside. 

So what was the point of this blog post? I just wanted to voice my opinions before the upcoming NHL season now that the "Great Stats War" is over. I'm happy the Leafs have stepped in a new direction and are looking at Corsi and Fenwick. It's a huge step for an old team reluctant to change. I'm just not happy with how we got here.

The Revolving Door of Coaches

Toronto FC announced last Sunday that they were relieving head coach Ryan Nelsen of his duties, and naming Greg Vanney as his replacement. Vanney will be the soccer club's 9th coach in 8 seasons. That's not a good record. but has a professional sports franchise in Toronto ever had this much instability at the position prior to TFC? I decided to look at the history of coaches for the Blue Jays, Leafs, Argos, and Raptors and see which decade had the most coaches:

Toronto St. Patricks/Toronto Maple Leafs

Decade with Most Coaches: 1920s

Number of Coaches: 9

Coaches: Frank Heffernan (1919-1920), Harvey Sproule (1920), Frank Carroll (1920-1921), George O'Donoghue (1921-1923), Charles Querrie (1923-1924, 1926-1927), and Eddie Powers (1926-1927), Mike Rodden (1927), Alex Romeril (1927), Conn Smythe (1927-1930).

What Happened?

Heffernan resigned as coach, he is credited as coaching for 12 games. 

Sproule replaced Heffernan as coach, but was co-owner of the St. Pats franchise. He resigned at the end of the season, and became a referee in the OHA.

Carroll coached the St. Pats to their first berth in the finals, but I was unable to find out why he left the team. He sadly committed suicide in 1938.

O'Donoghue coached the St. Pats to the Stanley Cup, the only Stanley Cup the St. Pats would win. He was fired after 5 games during the 1922-1923 season. 

Querrie had 2 stints as coach of the St. Pats. In his 1st stint he finished with a total record of 21-21-1. In 1926-1927 he coached for 29 games. After finishing 5th in the Canadian division, he resigned.

Powers would bring the St. pats to the finals once again. But after his 2nd season, he would leave the team to coach the Boston Tigers of the CAHL where he won a championship in 1929.

Rodden was fired after only 2 games, he went 0-2-0. 

Romeril coached for 1 season before becoming an NHL referee.

All of the above coaches only coached for the St. Pats/Maple Leafs franchise in the NHL.

Smythe coached the Leafs for 4 seasons before resigning as coach in 1930. He coached on an interim basis for 1 game in 1931. 

Toronto Argonauts

Decade with Most Coaches: 1990s

Number of Coaches: 8

Now we can give CFL teams a little bit of a break, the league isn't nearly as prosperous as any of the "Big 4" leagues and obviously the teams struggle a little more financially. 

The 90s began with "The Don" Don Matthews as head coach. That would be the first of two stints as Argos coach during the 90s (he would of a 3rd sting in the 2000s). He lead the Argonauts to a 10-8 record, and he brought them to the East final where they lost to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

In 1991 the Argos were purchased by Bruce McNall, Wayne Gretzky and John Candy. Adam Rita made his CFL coaching debut with the Argos that year. He won his one and only Grey Cup that year.The following season however, the Argos started 3-8 and he was fired and replaced with Dennis Meyer in 1992.

Meyer finished out the remaining 7 games with a 3-4 record. But after a 1-9 start in 1993 he was also fired. Then GM Bob O'Billovich (who previously coached the Argos from 1982-1989) took over as coach to close out the season.

The next season, O'Billovich hired Mike Faragalli. Faragalli lasted only 9 games before his contract was terminated by O'Billovich, partly due to the Argonauts struggling financially; they were on the verge of folding. O'Billovich took over coaching duties for the rest of the season.

O'Billovich re-hired Don Matthews. In his first 3 seasons he won 2 Grey Cups with the Argos. His third Grey Cup in a row he won 1 Grey Cup coaching the only American team to ever win it: the Baltimore Stallions. Matthew remained as Argos coach until 1998.

Jim Barker replaced Matthews as head coach in 1999, he became the youngest coach in CFL history. The Argos lost in the conference quarter-finals to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. Following the season, Barker went on to become the Offensive Co-ordinator for the XFL's only championship team: The Los Angeles Xtreme.

Toronto Blue Jays

Decade with the Most Coaches Managers: 2000s

Number of Coaches Managers: 7

The Blue Jays have actually done alright in terms of head coaches. In their nearly 40 year history, they've only had 20 total managers, and 15 different ones. The 2000s were a decade of mediocrity. While the 80s held 2 playoff berths, and the 90s held 2 World Series victories, the 2000s contained a team hovering around the .500 mark.

The 2000s started with Jim Fregosi in his 2nd year as manager, but after a 3rd place finish in the AL East for the 2nd consecutive year, the Jays did not renew his contract.

In 2001, the Blue Jays hired former team catcher and current Blue Jays broadcaster Buck Martinez in as manager. Martinez managed for 159 games in 2001, unfortunately Martinez's mother-in-law passed away and Martinez was absent for the seasons final 3 games and replaced on an interim basis with Cookie Rojas.

Martinez returned during the 2002 season, but was fired after 53 games after the Jays went 20-33. Carlos Tosca was then hired to replace Martinez. Under Tosca, the Jays went 58-51 the rest of the way and finished 3rd in the AL East for a 5th consecutive year. The Blue Jays finished 10 games above .500 in 2003 with an 86-76 record but for the 6th consecutive year, the Blue Jays finished 3rd in the AL East. That would all change in 2004.

The Blue Jays had a horrendous start to 2004, only winning 47 of their first 111 games. As a result, Tosca was fired and replaced with John Gibbons. The Blue Jays finished 2004 with a 67-94 record (.416), they're worst winning percentage since 1981. The Jays had above .500 records under Gibby from 2006-2008. 2006 was their best year with Gibbons, after acquiring a number of stars, the Blue Jays finished 2nd in the AL East but 10 games back of the Yankees and 8 games back of the Tigers for the Wild Card spot. After a tough slump in 2008, Gibbons was fired and replaced with former manager Cito Gaston.

Gaston is the only manager in Jays history to being them to a World Series. After replacing Gibbons, the Jays closed out 2008 with a 51-37 record. Gaston retired after the 2010 season but he still remains with the team.

Toronto Raptors

Well, the Raptors haven't even been around for 20 years yet. So we won't count them. They've only had 8 head coaches in their history.

What can we Conclude?

The only Toronto teams that come close to matching that sad number of TFC's head coaches within a decade are the Leafs and Argos who were going through financial difficulties during the time. As far as I know, TFC isn't going through any financial troubles, they're just bad. If you want an example of a team that doesn't know what it's doing, look no further than TFC.

Where are they Now?- Simon Gamache

In this series, we will look at some obscure Leafs players from the past decade and find out where they ended up. 

Simon Gamache was drafted 290th overall in 2000 by the Atlanta Thrashers. He was named CHL player of the year in 2001. After spending 3 seasons with the Val d'Or Foreurs of the QMJHL, Gamache moved up to pro during the 2001-2002 season with the Chicago Wolbes. He made his NHL debut with the Thrashers during the 2002-2003 NHL season where he played 2 games and notched 2 penalty minutes.

During the 2003-2004 season, the Thrashers traded Gamache along with Kirill Safranov to the Nashville Predators for Tomas Kloucek and Ben Simon.With the Predators, he played 18 games over 3 seasons. He scored his first career NHL goal during the 2003-2004 season, that was his only point with the Predators.

The Predators placed Gamache on waivers in November of 2005 where he was claimed by the St. Louis Blues. He played 15 career games with St. Louis registering 3 Goals and 4 Assists. Then, a couple months later in January of 2006, the Blues placed Gamache on waivers where he was re-claimed by the Predators.

In 2007, the Toronto Maple Leafs signed Gamache as a free agent. With the Leafs, Gamache had 2 Goals and 2 Assists in 11 games. In November 2007, the Leafs placed Gamache on waivers for the purpose of assigning him to the Marlies. After clearing waivers, he referred to it as a "sad day" as he thought he had established himself as an NHL regular. In January 2008, the Leafs released Gamache from his contract so that he could play in Europe.

Gamache went on to play with Bern in the Swiss-A league, where he won the Swiss championship in his first season there. He currently plays for the Mannheim Eagles of the DEL in Germany.

Where are They Now? - Aleksander Suglobov

In this series, we will look at some obscure Leafs players from the past decade and find out where they ended up. 

Aleksander Suglobov was drafted 56th overall by the New Jersey Devils in 2000. He got his first taste of North American professional hockey action during the 2003-2004 season with the Albany River Rats and made his NHL debut that season as well.

On March 8th, 2006, Suglobov was traded to Toronto for defenseman Ken Klee. Suglobov played 16 games for Toronto registering 4 penalty minutes and was a combined -7. After being unable to crack an NHL lineup, Suglobov went to play in the KHL.

Since the 2007-2008 season, Suglobov has played for CSKA Moscow, Moscow Spartak, Nizhny Novgorod Torpedo, Novosibirsk Sibir, and Chelyabinsk Traktor. Suglobov did not appear to play during the 2013-2014 season, but I have not been able to find anything saying he has officially retired. In total, Suglobov scored 1 goal in 18 career NHL games.

Ted Kennedy to be First Immortalized in "Legends Row"

The Toronto Maple Leafs announced on Thursday that Ted "Teeder" Kennedy will be the first of 3 Leafs legends inducted into the team's new "Legend's Row." The statue will be unveiled on September 6th as part of the Leafs' Fan Fest.

Legends row is a 30 foot granite bench outside Gate 5 of the Air Canada Centre that will feature statues of the biggest names in Leafs history. The team will unveil new inductees leading into the 2017 centennial season. Two more inductees will be named during Fan Fest in September. The next wave of inductees will be names in 2015.

Ted Kennedy spent his entire 15 year career with the Blue and White, 8 of those seasons he was captain. He won 5 Stanley Cups and the Hart Trophy in 1955.

The All Bad Contracts Team

We know that teams sign some players to some terrible contracts, but has anyone tried to make a team of them? I'm "borrowing" this idea from a Grantland post that did the same thing with NFL contracts. A couple of rules:

1.) It has to be a contract that is active during the 2014-2015 season (so don't expect to see DiPietro here)
2.) We will look at cap hit not total salary.
3.) Figures are based on Capgeek.

Let's get started:

LW- Benoit Pouliot (Edmonton Oilers)

Contract: 5 Years/$20 million

Cap hit: $4 Million

My Reasoning: 

Pouliot was part of the New York Rangers run last season. Obviously the Oilers saw something in him that they liked. He did have a career year. However that was only 36 points in 80 games, which nearly doubled his career points total. He has never cracked the 20 goal mark. Sure, he might be able to crack the 2nd line on a team, but that team probably won't be with the Oilers with Taylor Hall and David Perron ahead of him in the depth chart.

Signed Until: 2018-2019

Similar Cap Hits at the Position: James van Riemsdyk, Loui Eriksson, Nikolai Kulemin, Milan Michalek, P.A. Parenteau

C- Dave Bolland (Florida Panthers)

Contract: 5-Years/$27.5 million

Cap hit: $5.5 million

My Reasoning:

Bolland's claim to fame is he scored the Cup winning goal for the Blackhawks in 2013. From there he was traded to the Maple Leafs where he only played 23 games due to an injury suffered against the Canucks. It was long rumoured that Bolland wanted a long-term deal and Leafs fans were relieved when GM Dave Nonis was saved from himself. Bolland signed a his long-term deal with the Florida Panthers. 

Bolland has never had a 50-point season, he came close in 2008-2009 when he had 47 points, but since then he's been inconsistent. 

Signed Until: 2018-2019

Similar Cap Hits at the Position: Shawn Horcoff, John Tavares, Jeff Skinner, Tyler Seguin, Nathan Horton.

RW- David Clarkson (Toronto Maple Leafs) 

Contract: 7 years/$36.75 million

Cap Hit: $5.25 million

My Reasoning:

There seems to be a pattern emerging here, a lot of 3rd liners get overpaid. Clarkson has never cracked the 50 point plateau. His career high, in 2011-2012, is 46 points. GM Dave Nonis' reasoning for signing Clarkson was that he could provide that grit and he'd bang in those ugly goals. 

His "grit" involved him jumping off the bench to join a fight in a meaningless preseason game (resulting in a 10-game suspension), and defending a water bottle. And those ugly goals he was going to bang in? He had 5 last season.

Signed Until: 2019-2020

Similar Cap Hits at the Position: Joffrey Lupul, Marian Hossa, Bobby Ryan, Shane Doan, Jarome Iginla.

D- Brooks Orpik (Washington Capitals)

Contract: 5 Years/$27.5 Million

Cap Hit: $5.5 Million

My Reasoning:

Orpik has spent his whole career with the Penguins until this offseason when he signed a 5 year deal with the rival Washington Capitals. Orpik is a stay-at-home defenseman, which means you're not going to see him clap in many on the powerplay from the point (he only has 1 career PPG), or at all really. His career high in goals scored is 2, which he's done 5 times, and he only has 13 career goals, which is fine because he's a defenseman, their job is to keep the puck out of the net.

Unfortunately, Orpik has never been a finalist for the Norris. In fact, he's only been considered for it once, in the lockout shortened 2012-2013 season, where he finished 18th. Washington is a team that desperately needs better defense, and Orpik can help the team, but a $5.5 million cap hit might be a little steep.

Signed Until: 2018-2019

Similar Cap Hits at the Position: Duncan Keith, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, James Wisniewski, Dan Girardi, Matt Carle

D- Tyler Myers (Buffalo Sabres)

Contract: 7 Years/$38.5 Million

Cap Hit: $5.5 Million

My Reasoning:

Myers made his NHL debut during the 2009-2010 season. He had a great season logging 48 points in 82 games. He won the Calder and was in the top 20 in Norris voting.He followed that up with another decent season. Then missed 27 games in 2011-2012 due to various injuries and a suspension.Unfortunately, before that 2011-2012 season, the Buffalo Sabres signed Myers to a 7 year contract extension, the contract came into effect in 2012-2013.

Since signing that contract, Myers' numbers have dropped and he's and his share of injury troubles. The Sabres haste in signing Myers before his entry level deal expired might be the downfall. However, if Myers can return to his rookie form, this signing will be a solid one. Hopefully, for the Sabres' sake, that happens soon.

Signed Until: 2018-2019

Similar Cap Hits at the Position: Duncan Keith, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, James Wisniewski, Dan Girardi, Matt Carle (same as Orpik)

G- Cam Ward (Carolina Hurricanes)

Contract: 6 Years/$37.8 Million

Cap Hit: $6.3 Million

My Reasoning:

Cam Ward has spent his entire career with the Carolina Hurricanes. In his rookie season, he lead the Canes to the franchise's first (and so far, only) Stanley Cup. Ward went on to win playoff MVP. But the next season, he could not carry the team to the playoffs. In fact, they became the first team since the 1938-1939 Black Hawks to miss the playoffs the year before and after they won the Cup.

However, since the Cup Victory, Ward has only played in the postseason once more: in 2008-2009 where they made it to the conference finals (and did this in the conference quarter finals) but were swept by the Penguins. Ward has put up some good numbers throughout his career, but when you think about elite goaltenders, Ward doesn't come to mind, yet he's the 5th-highest paid goaltender in the league.

Signed Until: 2015-2016

Similar Cap Hits at the Position: Carey Price, Ryan Miller, Corey Crawford, Semyon Varlamov, Kari Lehtonen