Hockey Goes Semi-Tough

Gil Scott has long been known as a powerful and influential player agent in the world of football on both sides of the border.

But of late, he's started to build a new empire with a growing stable of prominent NHL executives that includes Ottawa Senators GM John Muckler, Boston GM Peter Chiarelli and Bruins coach Dave Lewis.

One of the latest additions to Scott's clientele list, meanwhile, is Maple Leaf GM John Ferguson, who is expected to receive a contract extension by the end of the month.

After JFJ received the blessing of the MLSE board of directors on May 9th to continue with his building plans despite having the Leafs miss the playoffs for the second straight season, Scott has been in talks with MLSE president Richard Peddie about working out a new deal for Ferguson, whose deal expires at the end of next season.

There have been presistent - if notoriously unreliable - reports that Ferguson's job is less than secure, and certainly it's well-known that MLSE chairman Larry Tanenbaum and board member Dale Lastman are not supporters of the current Leaf GM.

That said, neither Ferguson nor Scott have received any indication that a new contract will not be forthcoming. Ferguson recently signed Euro prospects Nikolai Kulemin and Anton Stralman and is in the process of completing a new two-year contract with captain Mats Sundin.

The NHL salary cap, meanwhile, is expected to rise to at least $48 million from $44 million next season, and possibly go up to as high as $52 million. The Leafs are expected to be a big player when the free agent season opens July 1st - one name already linked to the Leafs is former Pittsburgh forward Alexey Morozov, currently a star in the Russian league - so any campaign to unseat Ferguson now would be based more on politics than getting the team back into the post-season.

That, of course, would hardly be new for the Leafs, a team that has always been known to be knee-deep in internal intrigue. If those sour on Ferguson are successfully able to launch a palace coup now, the respected and experienced Scott would be one of the most surprised people in the room.

Notes: There's been a lot of interest in the Morozov angle since this was first posted. He is now 30 years old and has played three years for Kazan Ak-Bars of the Russian elite league after eight seasons with the Pittsburgh Penguins. In 53 games this year, he scored 34 goals and added 49 assists to lead his team in scoring. He never scored more than 20 goals in an NHL season, but he has also never played in the "new" NHL. However, he also suffered a late season knee injury that might compromise his ability to be ready for training camp next fall. By way of comparison, top Leaf prospect Nikolai Kulemin scored 27 goals in 54 games this year with Magnitogorsk Metallurg.

Comments

[Andrew Barrie]

JFJ was not brought into the Leafs Organization to "rebuild" the team. The team was winning when he came into the organization (well, not play off series, but they were still winning, and had a shot to run deep in the post season) and started losing with him at the helm. He made terrible contract decisions knowing a salary cap was looming and he paid the price (and still is on Belfour's insane contract) and didn't learn from that, grossly overpaying McCabe and Kubina, and now, it appears he will be doing the same with Sundin.

He wasn't brought in for rebuilding, and by the looks of it, doesn't understand the word anyway.

[The Dude]

Morozov? Ugh. Mediocre player during his best days. Why do the Leafs insist on taking these kinds of players over and over and over again?

[A-Mar]

what you'll notice is that the knock on Morozov was never talent, it was desire... so regardless of how you feel about the overall player, his talent level was (is) higher than any Leafs forward not named Sundin... the question would always be whether he wants to play... kind of like another enigma that the Habs have yet to figure out in Alexei Kovalev

[Remi St.Germain]

The MapleLeafs should get rid of Ferguson and hire a real manager.Ferguson is ruining the Leaf team by signing bad players.He is the worst managerthat Toronto ever had.

[Pat]

Damian:
Could you please say, without any ambiguity, what you think should be done with Ferguson?
Should he stay, or be fired?
Leafs fans want to know what you think.
Thank you. And keep up the good work
Pat

[Pat]

Let's not forget Ferguson probably could have gotten Giguere from the Ducks from Rask last summer.
Instead he got Raycroft, hockey's worst starting goalie. Then he tore up his remaining contract and gave him a three-year deal.
Now, with Giguere a UFA, we can't go for him because we're saddled with Raycroft's insane deal. Why why why?

[B. Russell]

"The Dude" is bang on...Morozov had one 20 goal year in seven seasons with the Penguins. If JFJ continues to make deals like that, he should be fired. If the cap does climb all the way to 52 million, which is still very much in doubt, or even 48 million for that matter, the Leafs better be pursuing names which rhyme with Briere, Drury, Kozlov,Gomez etc....I hear Yashin is about to be bought out....please don't tell JFJ!

[keiyan sy]

Unlike many of you that commented, I am really praying that the Lefs DO get Morozov although the price will be steep since he is earning quite a lot in Russia. If they do get him, it will be the 1st time since Mogilny that the Leafs have a legitimate sniper and he will instantly become the Leafs 2nd best forward after Sundin (though thats pretty pathetic).

I don't understand why so many Toronto fans insist the Leafs get grinders and fighters but have no appreciation for guys that can skate and score. Is it because a lot of the scores and skaters are European? If so, why do we have such a complex that Canadian players are better and Europeans are crap? That kind of attitude is one of the reasons why we haven't won the cup since 67.

Lets face it, before Mogilny, the Leafs never had a legitimate scorer for the last 15 years or so. Let me remind everyone that apparently the 1st Leaf to score 50goals is Rick Vaive. nothing agaisnt Vaive but thats pretty pathetic if you ask me for a team with a 80-90 year history.

[Ryan]

JFJ has done what he can from a financial stand point. Given the high expectations of the Leafs Nation I don't blame JFJ for trying to sign well established names in the NHL as Free Agents. The Leafs Nation would go balistic if JFJ signed a "no name" player like Richard Park (no offence to Park, I personally like him. but it's just an example), so my theory is that JFJ has signed names that everyone is familiar with. Morozov is a fairly skilled player who is not even playing in the NHL, and i'm sure JFJ wouldn't let Morozov's agent hike the price. I'm giving JFJ the benefit of the doubt, he's done a good job developing Stajan, Welly, Steen, White & Colliacovo (sp?). So i'll support him for now, but if he gets rid of Peca this summer, or even O'Neill... then my opinion might change.

[J. McCabe]

Someone has to be insane to re-sign Ferguson.

Based on the contracts that he has signed - Balfour, Kubina, McCabe, Raycroft, etc - it is obviuos that he can't identify talent. Add to this the poor drafting and the lack of talent in the minors.

What really tells the story though is a walk through the players that were available over the past years that he didn't get - or refused to come to the mess this guy has created.

[Sandy T.]

Ryan - so you know... not one of those players you named were picked since Ferguson came to the Leafs. They were all Toronto property(for better or worse) before he came along.

The best you can attribute to Ferguson are Chad Kilger and John Pohl, and they're just parts. Useful parts sure, but parts nonetheless and easily interchangeable(Which unfortunately could also be said of the players you mentioned).

Ferguson's signing list includes Allison, Lindros, Khavanov, Kubina, Gill, Raycroft, O'Neill and the useful but unlucky Mike Peca. Hardly a stellar resume, is it? And two of the five(O'Neill and Peca) that at this point remain with the team are unlikely to be here next season, although... I've just read Nik Antropov has been re-signed. And how much do you want to bet for way, way more than he's worth? Here we go again.

[Adam C]

I wonder if the same people who wish Brian Colangelo were running the Leafs are now upset at the idea of bringing over a guy who's tearing up a European league but was a wash-out his first few seasons in North America?

The Raycroft deal should and probably will haunt JFJ for years, but Leaf fans who feel he's the worst GM ever probably weren't around for the Kordic or Kurvers trades...

[DougA]

If you take some time and analyze, on an individual and objective basis, all the decisions JFJ has made since he's been running the Maple Leafs, any sane person would conclude that he is an absolute failure as general manager. If you go through a list, you will see that, on average, eight out of 10 decisions he makes go beyond "questionable" and can actually be considered counter-productive, irresponsible, and, sometimes, bizarre. Further, he is a poor communicator, who has never been able to explain his "plan" or managing strategy to Leaf supporters. Very strange. If you concede that he is "at least doing his best" and what we've seen is simply the best he's got (in other words, he is simply a poor leader, poor manager, and unusually bad at team building and talent assessment), then the real question is ... "How on earth can the MLSE board of directors possibly decide to continue Ferguson's (and Richard Peddie's) employment?" That is the real question. Can anyone possibly answer this? In the words of a number of other contributors, the situation really is insane!