A Thick Coating of Teflon

It was intriguing to watch, hear and read all the flattering things about Kyle Wellwood on the weekend, and to see how he has apparently resuscitated his career in Vancouver.

What nobody seemed inclined to discuss, however, was what the Maple Leafs received from Vancouver in exchange for Wellwood and the name of the Leaf executive who engineered the transaction.

The answers, of course, are nothing and Cliff Fletcher.

Yep, the kid who scored Vancouver's pretty first goal on Saturday night was given away by Fletcher.

If you agree Wellwood looks reborn in Vancouver, then you'd have to say it was a bad deal by Fletcher.

Yet nobody, but nobody, covering the Wellwood story seemed to bring that point up.
It was, really, yet another example of the extra layer of teflon assigned to Fletcher in his second go around with the hockey club. Nothing bad that has happened since he arrived in January is attributed to him, and anything positive is wildly exaggerated.

Even now, with the team having won only seven of 18 games and having lost five of its past seven matches, the tributes to Fletcher's work are just pouring in by people who have been around the game for a long time and should know better.

It's hagiography, basically. It's also a measurement of the enormous circle of friends Fletcher has in the game and in the media that cover the sport.

The truth? Fletcher's done a capable caretaking job. Nothing great, nothing terrible. No strong new direction, no acquisition of major impact players.

He's been a useful caretaker, killing time until the next guy comes along.

But for people to say he's done a superb job, or for some analysts to suggest the Leafs would be wise to bypass Brian Burke and instead keep Fletcher on the job, is both absurd and an exercise in fact-twisting.

It's widely portrayed, for example, that Fletcher has directed a significant improvement with the Leafs.

It's just not true.

Under John Ferguson last year, the Leafs had exactly the same record after 18 games they do now, 7-7-4.

But they're a more exciting offensive team scoring more goals, right?

Wrong. After 18 games they've actually scored one FEWER goal than at this time last year, and allowed one more goal against.

Okay, but stats aside, he's effectively revamped the roster, right?

Well, sort of.

The team's top four scorers, starting goaltender and the majority of the blueline corps were all on the roster when Fletcher took over. Ditto for promising rookies Nikolai Kulemin and John Mitchell.

So the guts of the current team was inherited by Fletcher.

Fletcher has indeed added players of measurable impact in Mikhail Grabovski and Niklas Hagman. Grabovski was acquired for a second round pick, and while that still seems like a hefty price, we'll agree for the point of this discussion that was a good move.

Hagman (four years, $12 million) is overpaid, but he was a strong signing by Fletcher. Ditto for coach Ron Wilson, who will earn between $1.5-2 million this season as one of the league's highest paid coaches.

Fletcher traded three picks to move up and draft Luke Schenn, who appears to have a solid future as a stay-at-home NHL defenceman and possibly a future captain. Everybody likes the kid, and for good reason.

It was a mistake to keep Schenn in the NHL - minus-five on this western road swing - and burn the first year of his entry level contract, but again, we'll give Fletcher this one.
So he gets a big plus for Hagman, Grabovski, Wilson and Schenn.

Fair?

Now let's look at his other moves.

Wellwood was dumped with nothing acquired in return. Ditto for Darcy Tucker and Andrew Raycroft, who were bought out and will cost the Leafs $1.7 million against the salary cap this season, and both are playing for the Colorado Avalanche.

The Leafs paid $2 million just to be able to trade Bryan McCabe to Florida, and in return picked up the capable but wildly overpaid ($3.5 million per season) Mike Van Ryn.
Maybe McCabe had to go. But if that deal has materially benefitted the Leafs, I'd be interested to see the evidence, and McCabe has barely played for the Panthers. Actually, since he returned from injury, he's been a plus player and Florida has won three of five games.

Jonas Frogren was signed for two years at about $2.2 million, and while he seems rugged, Wilson has seen fit to dress him for only nine games. He looks like a fringe NHLer, at best.
Fletcher tried twice to trade Mats Sundin and failed. Now, if Sundin were to come back to the NHL, it seems there's little chance he'd pick Toronto. His former salary, meanwhile, represents basically all of the cap "savings" attributed to Fletcher.

Jeff Finger was signed for four years and $14 million, an amount that seemed outrageous at the time and equally so now that we've had a look at him in action. He's seems reliable and capable, nothing more.

Jamal Mayers was picked up for a third round pick and Ryan Hollweg for a fifth rounder. Value? Doubtful.

Alex Steen was, for some reason, awarded a new two-year contract by Fletcher with a nice raise to $3.4 million. He's been of no consequence at all this season. Mark Bell and Boyd Devereaux were put on waivers and dumped to the minors.

Finally, Curtis Joseph was signed for one-year at $700,000, which made fans happy but sure isn't going to help much with Vesa Toskala's game seemingly going south these days.

So when you add it all up, is this the work of a genius?

Fletcher has made far more moves that have proved to have either a neutral or negative effect that ones that have a significantly positive impact on the Leafs.

And the team is no better, no worse. Just about the same.

Comments

[deeby]

It was only 4 weeks ago that Gillis put Wellwood on waivers. He looks like a genius now, but might just as easily have looked as goat-like as Fletcher, esp. if Wellwood had found his game as quickly elsewhere...

[Todd Buttenham]

OK, two things right off the top Damien. First, Wellwood was let go because (while he was coming back from injury) he was overweight and was doing nothing to fix that or his game. At the point he was let go, he had little value. The Canucks took a flier on him, he showed up to training camp overweight, was sent to the minors, recalled and put on a mandated diet and training program by the team. Despite his recent success, I bet you my next paycheque he's back in the minors by next March.

Second, Tucker, Raycroft and McCabe needed to go for reasons you've outlined in your column in the past - bad influence, selfish, etc. He shipped them out or bought them out and got what he could.

Fletcher is receiving credit now because the current team is playing better than expected, and with heart. He's also not the first GM to overpay, but in spite of this, the Leafs are still well under the cap. Big holes had to be filled to cover their butts in the short term while the team rebuilds and recovers from the mistakes of previous regimes.

Everybody knows this team is long way from real success. Both Fletcher and Wilson acknowledged that before the season even started. Now they have a small base of good players, cap space, and some decent players to move at the trade deadline for the draft picks you keep saying they gave away.

And you know what, that's pretty much exactly what Wayne Embry did before Bryan Colangelo came on board with the Raptors.

[Bill Laidlaw]

The point does need to be made that these Leafs do work hard and never quit. Fletcher has brought in some payers that add to team quickness but he has merely started to assemble parts. The game in Calgary earlier this week showed exactly what happens to this squad if it does not outwork its opponent, it loses, badly. Cliff has done what he needed to do but Brian Burke is twenty years younger, has won a cup we all remember, and will do it again. If trading Moore, Steen, Kronwall, Earl, and a multitude of spare part third and fourth liners is about to begin I say "lead on McDuff".

[Scot Loucks]

Wow... quite the rant.

Where to start? Well... I agree that Burke will be good and Fletcher should not stay.

After that?

Well Van Ryn for McCabe was a great trade. Like the Leafs care it cost them 2m in cash... you know better than that Cox.

Agree on Raycroft.. he should have been sent to the AHL.. not bought out.

The Wellwood dump is still a big question mark.

Not sure why Finger is overpaid but if Frogren works on his footspeed I think he will be a serviceable NHL defenseman. And your numbers on Frogren are way out of line according to nhlnumbers.com

The one thing Fletcher has done is shore up his D. I believe JFJ was working on the same thing.

Sundin? Well maybe the lunch with Bourke was meant to mend some bridges?

I believe Steen got his deal off of JFJ. Comparable with Stajan.

Cujo is a who cares.

Yes Mr. Cox I would like to see Burke here..... but you analysis of the current situation is seriously flawed.

Cheers

[Roberto]

Some good points here. Particularly on Wellwood it would seem to me the guy should at least have been able to fetch a second rounder.
I think the Van Ryb deal looks very good so far, he was our second best defenseman when hurt.
I think it's too early to assess the acquisitions, although Grabovski IMO looks like a fairly skilled guy.
As for the record being the same as last year, with the changes and below average goaltending so far, without Mats and McCabe, I see improvement.
So overall I think it's a positive to have the same record as last year with a much younger lineup that will improve vs a bunch of guys on the downside of their careers ( Sundin, McCabe, Tucker, Deveraux, Bell, Pohl).
I think you've missed the point of the "rebuild", Damien.

[Jason]

Cox this is a historic day as everything you said I agree with. This has never happened before and I doubt it will again.
Fletcher has damaged the Leafs beyond belief and many of his moves are severly bad.
There is one small item that should be mentioned before giving the thumbs up to Grabovski and that is he pouted about ice time and got traded but when the Leafs get some decent first or second liners he will be a 3rd liner and will he be pouting his way out of town once again? 2nd rounder is pretty steep price for someone who may be an issue within a year. Its even steeper when he's on the third line. Fletcher said it himself, they only have one top 6 forward and thats Antropov.
Also, if Leafs fans were complaining about overpaid 2nd line forwards and overpaid 2nd-4th defencemen, wait a year or two when VanRyn and Finger and Frogran are fighting for the 6th defensive spot. Ditto for Steen, Moore and the "Fletcher forwards" When Burke makes trades to bring in new players and draft picks start coming though, all Fletchers pickups will be 3rd to 4th liners or in the AHL

[Canadian_Chief]

While our boy Damien is usually right on, this time he's slipped just a bit. While the Leafs are on paper in the same place as they were last year, goals for and against, points earned all just about the same as last year's squad, this year's team is much younger, meaning they will get better. The older players we had last season were in no way going to get to be better players, being on the downside of their careers. This team will get better and prove that while ol' Trader Cliff may not be the managerial genius he once was, still gives this team a chance to grow and get better as they do.

[nugentmania]

I usually agree with you, and we were on the same page here until you got to Sundin.

In the justice system, they call this "results based" judging. Where the judge works backwards, knowing what he wants the decision to be already, regardless. Throwing the non-trading of Sundin into the mix of failures is unfair. And you know this. If you didn't, you would have counter-balanced the statement with "...even though Mats had a no-trade clause". Likewise for Tucker.

[Rule]

Wellwood was offered up to every NHL GM, twice, for free in October. No interest. So tell me again what Fletcher was supposed to get back in a trade?

[Conn Smythe]

No surprise here from Cox and his dislike of Fletcher's return.

'The truth? Fletcher's done a capable caretaking job. Nothing great, nothing terrible. No strong new direction, no acquisition of major impact players.

He's been a useful caretaker, killing time until the next guy comes along.

But for people to say he's done a superb job, or for some analysts to suggest the Leafs would be wise to bypass Brian Burke and instead keep Fletcher on the job, is both absurd and an exercise in fact-twisting.'

Wasn't Fletcher supposed to be hired till the next GM comes in? Wasn't that his role? And what people are saying he's done a superb job? The media? Which you are a part of?

Wellwood was put on waivers (by the Canucks - I guess you forgot to mention that, right, DC?) and had ample opportunity to prove his worth with the Leafs. Should the Leafs have received something? Maybe, but what do you think a soft player with a history of conditioning issues is worth?

The McCabe deal was a good one for the Leafs, regardless of how much Van Ryn is making - McCabe is a good offensive defenceman, but Van Ryn has/had played very well for the Leafs before he was hurt.

The Grabovski trade was also a good one for the Leafs (13 points in 18 games) so I have no issue with Fletcher trading away a 2nd round pick.

Schenn is minus 6 on the year on a Leafs team that has allowed the most goals against in the Eastern conference. For an 18 year old, and how well he has played, I don't have any concerns on his +/-.

'It's hagiography, basically. It's also a measurement of the enormous circle of friends Fletcher has in the game and in the media that cover the sport.'

With this one sentence, you just come off sounding even more bitter and negative than you usually are. Bravo.

[Clark]

In financial terms, when an asset has no marketable value for resale, and no servicable use in your current operations, it is called a sunk cost. No matter you what you do, you will never recoup your investment at full value. A prudent businessperson accepts this fact, and moves on.

McCabe, Tucker, Raycroft.. these guys were sunk costs. No matter what Cliff did, these guys did not have value in the trade market, and to change the mindset of the locker, these guys had to go. You can't really argue about the return on an asset with no value. I believe last week you were talking about Van Ryn being a pleasant surprise since the trade before he was injured. Now it's Cliff's fault that his face is imprinted into the glass?

To say letting Wellwood go was is a mistake is the ultimate revisionist statement. At what point between the Leafs placing him on waivers and Demitra getting hurt in Vancouver did you anticipate this happening? Somebody nailed it earlier; Gillis put him on waivers, too. Because nobody claimed him, and Wellwood woke up and got serious about his career, that makes it Cliff's fault? The Kyle Wellwood that was waived was not the one playing for Vancouver on Saturday.

I think the comparison to Wayne Embry is apt. Cliff's job wasn't to do a 180 and take the roster from what it was to the Canada Red Wings. It was to clear deadwood, and set the table for the next guy. Cliff's done a pretty good job in that respect.

Damien, please stop the bipolar act. Your mood swings are giving me whiplash. You kicked off the year by saying the Leafs should rebuild slowly, and that this year could likely be long and unsuccessful. You were probably right. But when they got off to a better-than-expected start, and are playing an entertaining, up-tempo style highlighted by some talented young kids who may well represent the future of this club. I think the fans are entitled to be excited at that development.

Yes, they're 7-7-4, so we probably shouldn't be planning the parade for June. But some press gave the impression we'd be 0-18 at this point, so I'd say the start has been promising.

[Conn Smythe]

Here's Fletchers words on the subject...

"I was only here until they could find the person to run the team for the future," said Fletcher. "If it's going to happen in the next short period of time, good, let's get on with it."

Fletcher will hand over the reins to a team that is a bit of an enigma. Its strength was supposed to be defence and goaltending, while goals were expected to be few and far between.

It's been the opposite.

"I'm surprised at the number of goals we're scoring, for sure," said Fletcher. "We thought going into the season that that would be a huge challenge. I don't know if we can keep up scoring at the level we are.

"We're a team that really doesn't have a legitimate No.1 centreman and we don't have a lot of natural firepower. But (Mikhail) Grabovski and (Nikolai) Kulemin and (Niklas) Hagman are leading the way.

"Now we have to look at the area we thought we were real strong, and we've got to keep the puck out of the net."

[Frank E]

By dumping McCabe, Tucker, etc., then hiring a good coach while alienating Sundin to the point that he doesn't want to play for the Leafs anymore - Fletcher did his job which was to change the lack lustre chemistry. Regarding Wellwood - this kid is an enigma and I predict he won't last in Vanouver either as he's too small, fragile and aloof to produce long term.

[William Wallace]

Damian's first really negative column of they year. What took you so long Mr. Cox? You're not getting soft in your old age are you? Love how you just do some Leaf bashing when you have nothing better to write about and then it gets all the Leaf fans up in arms. You're no Don Cherry but you're trying Damian.

[Den]

Fletcher biggest mistake was trying to do too much and to sign Wilson. The proper approach was to tank for a couple of years when the expectation is low, saves the owners a boatlad of money, and grab several early first rounders for his successor to build around like the Pens had done

[victor]

Note to the Cox bashers, he did not say Fletcher was a failure, he said he has done a FAIR job. That is a reasonable conclusion based on the argument presented. One thing you did not mention that should be a plus for flecther is that while the numbers are no better than last year, the age of the team is much younger. The potential for improvement must be acknowleged as much better. I think that was Fletchers modis operandi when doing these changes for the next guy.
I wondered if you thought the same about Schenn going back. I am kind of on the fence on that. I would have been perfectly ok if he went back but if he is proving to be a solid NHLer maybe he belongs here. We will see by March which way was the better way.

[LT73]

Damian, Damian, Damian...

To say that the Leafs are not better this year is ridiculous.

The Leafs have the same record they had last year - WHEN THEY HAD MATS SUNDIN.

[J. Boyd]

Damien, it's the NHL, it's the old boys school, everyone sticks together, says nice things, just in case they get fired, need another job. Everyone keeps their chances of resurfacing after they hve screwed up somewhere.

The league has been and always will be that way. Holy crap, JFJ is now VP or something of scouting or player development somewhere!!

[jason chapman]

While I agree that nothing in return for Wellwood is bad, why did they sign Mayers, keep Moore and stock their blueline with gusy they don't want to play? I am a huge Tucker fan, would it not have made sense to keep him and McCabe, even Wellwood, and see where they could take the Leafs this year. I even feel sorry for Bell and Devereaux. They contribute when they are there, which is more than I can say for Tlusty and Mayers. Blake is finally playing the way he should be.

[weNeedaEnforcer]

What would do you think Cliff should have done instead? It's not like he had real assets to work with. McCabe for Mike Van Ryn could not have gone better. We have the better player for a lower price. What more do you want? Plus he did this trade despite McCabe's no movement clause. Also What kind of value are you assigning to a 2nd rounder? We stole a young talented underused forward from a deep team for a 2nd rounder. I would do that trade every time. Forget about overpaying for Finger and Hagman. They were UFA's every player is basically over paid in that market. The leafs are under the cap and those 2 players can be moved. Coaching is much improved in that they now stick up for each other. Watching Kaberle get creamed by Jansen last year while the rest of the team just stood there made me sick. Finally moving Raycroft as far away as possible is a good move any day of the week. I agree Steen is useless. The team is younger, faster and better. Burke inherits a much better team than Fletcher did.

[Shahriar]

First off, what Wellwood is doing in Vancouver is mere fluke and he will fade fast in the tough Western Conference. Second, Mike Van Ryan makes only 2.9 NOT 3.5 Mill. The key to this years team is not wins, goals against, or goals for. Its about letting a young team a team that if JFJ was around would not be playing because he would be signing losers like Jason Blake just to keep his job. Fletcher has done much to change this teams identity and its one that I like. Under no circumstances does this team give up. If the teams from previous seasons played like the one this season maybe they wouldn't miss the playoffs by one point because they LOST VERY IMPORTANT GAMES BY BEING BLOWN OUT! This years team is over achieving big time and i know that they will end up in the bottom of the NHL standings but what I respect is that rookies and amateurs are showing more poise and determination than Sundin, Tucker, and McCabe ever did.

[fish]

Funny thing is,... I remember Toskala used to be a pretty good goalie back in San Jose... You know, before he came to Toronto...

Just might be something in the air... :p

[bigredbull]

you can paint any picture you want damien, you could just as easily talked about how grabovski was robbery for a 2nd rounder, how moore mayers and hollweg have been one of the most effective checking/forechecking line the leafs have had in years, how the leafs have an abundance of defensemen that are of NHL caliber and put them in a position of strength in the march trade deadline for the first time ever.

that's all the work of fletcher.

even though the "brilliant" toronto media was quick to point out how fletch had very little to do given such a hole JFJ left him.

to save the cap room, lose mats, shed the cancerous players and keep the team at the same level of production is INCREDIBLE WORK

tucker is useless in colorado. in toronto, people would be calling for his head with his play.

wellwood will end up with less than 10 goals and eventualy banished to the minors. he's talented as hell, no passion for the game - the true colours will show again.

mccabe is horrible defensively and again, his true colours will show in time. van ryn is overpaid but playing better than mccabe did last year.

[Ian]

Damien, you failed to mention the fact that Vancouver put Wellwood on waivers as well, and not one single team was interested. Then, Vancouver sent him to the minors. The only reason he was called back up was because of injuries. So, not only did Fletcher give up on him, no other GM thought he could contribute to their team as well.

[Rob]

Cox obviously can't see the forest for the trees.

First, not a single GM in the league would have offered even a used bag of jock straps for Wellwood. Every single GM had the opportunity to get him for nothing... and all passed. Even the 'Nucks GM put him on waivers. So why should Cliff be faulted on this?? Him performing now is a complete fluke that NOBODY predicted.

Second, you seem to proclaim Cliff a failure because they are no better in the standings than last year. But you completely fail to aknowledge - how much cap space do we have now? how many younger players do we have now? how many no-trade contracts do we have now? how flexible is the team now for improving, as compared to last year?

Newsflash. This is a rebuilding year. If you expeted an immediate improvement, you don't know sports.