Early Pain

Pre-season injuries are always a drag. But when they strike at the most vulnerable part of your lineup, the pain is doubled.

That's the case for two Eastern Conference teams expected to be in a dogfight to make the playoffs this season, the Maple Leafs and Tampa Lightning, after both were struck by troubling injuries over the past few days.

For the Leafs, it was the news that No. 2 centre Kyle Wellwood would be lost with another round of sports hernia surgery. The team's spin was to play down the problem, but it's something that has troubled Wellwood since last season and obviously isn't just going away.

The worst part for Paul Maurice is that his team is already thin down the middle. Even with Wellwood, the Leafs' lack of punch and size at the centre ice position had to be a major concern. Rather than address that through free agency - Chris Drury, Scott Gomez - or a trade, Leaf GM John Ferguson added wingers in Jason Blake and the suspended Mark Bell.

Now he's got to hope that shifting a winger to the middle, either Chad Kilger or Alex Steen, will patch the hole until Wellwood returns. Kilger has the size and shot, but Steen offers at least the possibility of replacing the offence lost with Wellwood out.

Tampa Bay, meanwhile, suffered an even more serious blow when defenceman Dan Boyle sliced the tendons in his left wrist in a freak dressing room incident on the weekend. Boyle, who is looking to a big payday either during this season or as an unrestricted free agent next summer, was talking to teammate Doug Janik when a skate fell off a hook and cut him deeply, sending him to hospital.

The prognosis after surgery is that Boyle will be lost for 4-6 weeks. Like Wellwood, however, you have to wonder how long it will take the talented Lightning blueliner, a 20-goal shooter a year ago, to get back up to full strength.

While the Leafs have Tomas Kaberle should, say, Bryan McCabe go down, the Bolts have no defenceman who offers anywhere close to the offensive package that Boyle does. That, of course, is in part because the Bolts have so much money tied up in three superb forwards - Martin St. Louis, Vinny Lecavalier and Brad Richards - and haven't been able to afford to spend on another blueliner.

So the Leafs lose a key player at centre when they're thin, and the Bolts lose their best defenceman off a relatively thin blueline. In a similar way, another Eastern Conference playoff hopeful, Atlanta, has to be terribly worried about early season groin problems being experienced by No. 1 goaltender Kari Lehtonen. If Lehtonen's out, only Johan Hedberg stands between the opposition and big-time trouble.

The salary cap, of course, dictates that every team has to make decisions where to spend and where not to spend, leaving most teams with a part of their roster they just have to hope and pray won't be hit by injuries. It's a judgment call, but right now, for example, the Senators are looking pretty smart for hanging on to goalie Martin Gerber, with starter Ray Emery's immediate future still cloudy due to ongoing post-surgical wrist issues.

For the Leafs, Bolts and Thrashers, meanwhile, the 82-game hunt for a playoff spot is off to a challenging start. 

Comments

[Guido]

Is there any quality FA centre's still out there? How about Lindros for a quick fix ?

[dusche Nkbagge]

so...richards for mccabe?

[mark]

Lindros? Are you nuts Guido? Bring up one of the young guys and see what happens. No more retreads please!

[Dave Stacey]

Last time I looked Eric Lindros was a pretty decent center iceman and a free agent that could probably be signed for a very modest fee. I think he is actually healthy at the moment as well. He could come in very handy until Wellwood gets back. In fact if Eric plays up to his potential, Wellwood might even come back to find his spot taken.

[Newton]

If the Leafs can use their relative depth at Defence to land Brad Richards, fire away.

Perhaps the Lightning would take Kubina back, or be interested in Raycroft.

We'd likely need to take on an overpriced contract to balance out the deal.

Richards would eventually inherit Sundin's mantle as the face of the team but, as a true playmaker, would likely require more support than Mats in order to put up solid numbers.

The Leafs haven't acquired a player of Richard's calibre since they nabbed Mats from the Nords.

[Doc U]

TB wouldn't trade Richards for Kubina. It would have to be Kubina for Prospal and another 4th liner TB wants to clear off the books.

What about Raycrof to Atlanta?

With the amount of injuries in the NHL the leafs could create a demand for their depth in Dmen and a decent starting goalie in Raycroft.

Hold tight JFJ, a sweet deal will come along.

[Derek Wilcox]

"the Senators are looking pretty smart for hanging on to goalie Martin Gerber, with starter Ray Emery's immediate future still cloudy due to ongoing post-surgical wrist issues."

Smart, or lucky? From what I understand, Gerber would have been traded long ago, but the Sens were not able to find a team willing to take on his salary.

[Julian]

Smart because they are the senators. If it was the Leafs they would have first been stupid to not have traded him and then lucky to have him despite their stupidity.

[Adam C]

...last I looked Lindros was scoring 5 goals in 50 games...

[Guido]

After Raycroft's game last night .. I think his days are numbered in Toronto and I'm actually one of his few fans. So maybe he can be used for some bait.

I'm not a fan of Richards at all. Everytime I've watched him, he's done nothing of value. Toronto needs an impact player, they have enough of the role players (but granted Richards is a probably the best role player in the league)

[Hendrick Kempenaar]

In a time of the so called "new NHL" I would think that a team would like to create an environment of youth, speed, and cheaper talent. This being said, I fail to understand why the Leafs leave all this so called talent on the bench or in the Marlie's dressing room.

I for one have watched this team trade away youth for retread talent. I have watched them pick up players for the "brand name" to sell tickets and increase tv revenue. I am tired of waiting for the young folks to make an impact on a team that will not give them a chance.

i say lets move on the youth movement now. I could care less if the youngsters miss the playoffs for the next couple of years. Find suiters for Mcabe, Kubina, and Gill, and put in Wozniewski, White, Stralman and Kronwall. Keep Kaberle of course, and hope Colaicovo can pull it together for a season.

There is value up front that can also be trained at the NHL level. Jiri Tlutsy seems to be going alright. Keep the young guys like Wellwood, Steen and Stajen as well as a few vets like Blake, Tucker, Antropov, and Ponikarovsky and maybe Bell, and dump the rest off for whatever youth and draft picks that can be got. Sundin, has got to worth something to someone.

The real question here is does this organization want to win a Stanley Cup or are they on the hunt for an American League championship? Play the kids for goodness sakes!