Those pairings seem right to me for the most part Avro, I'd maybe have Schenn on the first pk unit instead of Dion and I'd certainly try out Franson on the second PP unit over Luke but each es unit seems to have a decent blend of offense and defense, though maybe not ideal. I guess the question comes into the bottom pairings for me a bit but we'll have to see how Franson does and whether Komi regains some form and has a positive impact.

It would be nice if Phaneuf actually turned into the 'stud' dman Burke was hoping to get, he certainly played much better once he got his legs back after the laceration last year.

Re: Franson over Schenn on PP2.  I definitely agree.  Schenn was thrown in as a question because I think we'll see Franson and Komi rotated in and out.  When Franson is in, he's your PP guy, when he's not, Schenn's the next best thing (IMO, anyways).

Got you, I agree with that.

Reimer has to shine for the Leafs to be successful, that, or a more unlikely scenario of Goose or a pick up saving their bacon.

I honestly don't think they've addressed special teams sufficiently though and that could really hurt their chances.

He's RFA, first arbitration on the list.

Those pairings seem right to me for the most part Avro, I'd maybe have Schenn on the first pk unit instead of Dion and I'd certainly try out Franson on the second PP unit over Luke but each es unit seems to have a decent blend of offense and defense, though maybe not ideal. I guess the question comes into the bottom pairings for me a bit but we'll have to see how Franson does and whether Komi regains some form and has a positive impact.

It would be nice if Phaneuf actually turned into the 'stud' dman Burke was hoping to get, he certainly played much better once he got his legs back after the laceration last year.

I think if we see a short-term 3-year deal, it's going to be slightly north of 4 mil. I'll be pleasantly surprised if it's less.

So how do you buy ufa years the way you suggested if that's the case?

Not sure I follow, Tig... but my hope is that Schenn might want some long-term stability. 30-35 mil. over 7/8 years? There may be some appeal to that.

You suggested 8 years 4 mil per, if he's going to opt for more money on a 3 year deal how does he leave the ufa $ on the table in that case? I understand what you're saying about stability but I think his earning potential outweighs that.

He might get north of 4, can't say I really disagree with the possibility.

Not sure either. I mentioned Korpikoski before the corruption, seems like a good fit for the third line lw, perhaps it could help facilitate a trade that included a good 4th line center if they picked him up? He had 35 es points on just under 12 minutes es toi and had the highest pk toi in Phoenix.

I think if we see a short-term 3-year deal, it's going to be slightly north of 4 mil. I'll be pleasantly surprised if it's less.

So how do you buy ufa years the way you suggested if that's the case?

Just get it done already, I really don't see what the holdup could be.  Burke is offering less than what the Schenn camp is asking?

Also, why haven't teams placed an offer sheet for him?

I don't have the details handy but I don't think offer sheets are used very often.

A deal that keeps him rfa at the end of the term with a cap hit between 3.25 to 3.75 suits me.