-Vintage Canuck- Posted April 3, 2014 Share Posted April 3, 2014 Toronto Sun speculates Dave Bolland could sign with the Panthers, Canadiens or Canucks if he doesn’t return to the Leafs next season: Dave Bolland has played in exactly 21 games for the Maple Leafs. But his teammates have seen enough of the 27-year-old centre to know the kind of value Bolland brings to every shift. “He brings a ton of leadership on and off the ice, he is a guy that has won two Stanley Cups and he knows what it takes,” Tyler Bozak said on Wednesday after a handful of Leafs participated in an optional practice at the MasterCard Centre. “He can help us in the room, as well as on the ice, and show us what we need to do. (He) also adds an element to our team that we were missing for sure. (Bolland has) big shoes (for others to fill), so it’s nice to have him back.” The question remains whether Bolland will be a Leaf past this season. He’s headed for unrestricted free agency this summer and there have been no contract talks between his agent, Anton Thun, and Leafs management, since early February. “Nothing is happening right now,” Thun said. “We exchanged proposals prior to the Olympics and we were significantly apart.” At that time, Bolland was recovering from a lacerated tendon in his ankle, but returned to the Toronto lineup on March 22 after missing 56 games. When negotiations broke off, Bolland reportedly was seeking upward of $40 million over seven or eight years. While that kind of contract is unlikely to happen in Toronto, Bolland isn’t being unreasonable to seek a deal in the neighbourhood of what David Clarkson is getting from the Leafs. In fact, since Clarkson, who has zero Stanley Cup rings to Bolland’s two, is going to have a salary-cap hit of $5.25-million US for the next six seasons — a contract, that for one season at least, has haunted the Leafs — then certainly Bolland should expect as much, if not a shade more. Injury trouble has shadowed Bolland, and his durability likely will continue to be challenged as the seasons pass by. But it’s his heart that makes it that way, as he never has had a problem putting his six-foot, 184-pound body into the fray. The guy’s a gamer and we figure he will be until he skates off an NHL rink for the final time. For Bolland and the rest of the Leafs, there’s a cloud of uncertainty that won’t be cleared up until the days after the regular season, and perhaps not right away. This is assuming there is not a miraculous finish to the regular season, one that would include the Leafs successfully shrugging off an eight-game losing streak and squeezing into the playoffs. It’s a tall order and would require four victories in the last five games, if not wins in each one. Beating the Boston Bruins at the Air Canada Centre on Thursday night will be enough of a test, never mind following that with four victories. No one — whether it’s coach Randy Carlyle or general manager David Nonis and his staff — will be sure of a job if the Leafs wind up missing the playoffs. Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment president Tim Leiweke could decide to start from scratch if the post-season doesn’t happen. All of that might not matter to Bolland. If he doesn’t sign with the Leafs, he’s going to have a line of suitors when free agency begins on July 1. Already, there has been speculation Bolland could be headed for the Florida Panthers, where he would be reunited with Dale Tallon, his one-time GM in Chicago with the Blackhawks. There’s a line that has been drawn to the Montreal Canadiens, whose GM, Marc Bergevin, was in the Hawks’ front office when Bolland played there. The Vancouver Canucks are said to have interest in Bolland based on the impressive competitive nature he displayed in heated post-season tilts with Chicago. Bolland’s grit and guts aren’t easily replaceable. Among the potential free agents at centre include Paul Stastny, David Legwand, Marcel Goc and Derek Roy, but none have Bolland’s cache. Naturally, there is a temptation for Bolland to head to the first of July and see what’s out there. “For sure,” Thun said. “But right now, the plan is very simple. Dave wants to try to help the Leafs make the playoffs and then we will play it by ear. David will play hard — if they make playoffs, great, if they don’t, then we will sit down and assess things at the end of the year.” http://www.torontosun.com/2014/04/02/maple-leafs-coach-laments-bolland-injury Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Burrows 14 Posted April 3, 2014 Share Posted April 3, 2014 No. We don't need him and too expensive Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex the Great Posted April 3, 2014 Share Posted April 3, 2014 As long as it's under 4 million I'd be happy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silfverberg Snipes Posted April 3, 2014 Share Posted April 3, 2014 Do you think he'd want top or bottom bunk? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UFCanuck Posted April 3, 2014 Share Posted April 3, 2014 Garbage thread. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terrible.dee Posted April 3, 2014 Share Posted April 3, 2014 If we were finalizing our line up for a stanley cup push, then yeah... But we're not, we're on the cusp of a re-build, so he makes no sense at all Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cold Hard Truth Posted April 3, 2014 Share Posted April 3, 2014 40 million 7 years ? ummmm no thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MayRayDown Posted April 3, 2014 Share Posted April 3, 2014 Higgins-Bolland-Matthias wouldn't be a bad 3rd line but Bolland isn't worth that contract Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drouin Posted April 3, 2014 Share Posted April 3, 2014 I wouldn't sign him for minimum salary. “Well, they’ll never become Hawks,” Bolland told WGN Radio in Chicago. “I don’t think we’d let them on our team. That’d probably be one thing. We’d be sure not to let them on our team. And, yeah, they probably still would be sisters. I think they might sleep in, like, bunk beds. The older one has the bottom one, the younger one’s got the top.” Bolland said that he and his teammates don’t particularly enjoy their road trips to Vancouver and Rogers Arena. “There’s a lot of weirdos there,” Bolland said. “You don’t want to be out there too long.” Bolland has publicly called out the Canucks in the past and last June told the Chicago Tribune how much he despises their tactics and style of play. “Typical, pulling hair and biting people. Sort of like a little girl,” Bolland told the local Chicago newspaper. “But things happen during games. Stuff like that isn’t meant for hockey. So some of those things have to be taken care of.” Bolland wasn’t the first to call out the Canucks this season after Mark Recchi told a Boston radio station in November that last year’s Canucks were the most arrogant and hated team he ever played against in his 22-year career. The intense rivalry between the Canucks and Blackhawks has become prominent with heated playoff battles the last three seasons. “I hate of all of them,” Bolland said. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blueberries Posted April 3, 2014 Share Posted April 3, 2014 Only reason i see him coming here is because he wants to make up for his mistakes, when he called the Sedins "sisters". Also fans wouldnt welcome him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pears Posted April 3, 2014 Share Posted April 3, 2014 If he will sign for $3.5-$4 million, we trade Kesler and Horvat is ready for top six minutes I'd sign him. Higgins - Bolland - Burrows Sestito - Richardson - Matthias As our bottom six? Yes please. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blueberries Posted April 3, 2014 Share Posted April 3, 2014 I wouldn't sign him for minimum salary. Alot of stuff that players dont mean to say gets said when you have a heated rivalry like the VAN and CHI one was. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JE14 Posted April 3, 2014 Share Posted April 3, 2014 I wouldn't sign him for minimum salary. You do realize that was the one thing he regretted saying in his entire NHL career and apologized for it? Sheesh, what more can the guy do? I guess if Burrows ever goes to FA, half the teams won't want him. I guess St. Louis would not offer for a FA Kesler due to his comments. Also all the Canadian teams wouldn't want Kesler either for what he said in 2010... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Herberts Vasiljevs Posted April 3, 2014 Share Posted April 3, 2014 I just wasted a minute of my life and now I feel like complete **** Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kryten Posted April 3, 2014 Share Posted April 3, 2014 I like Bolland as the intense hockey player he is but the position he would be signed for belongs to our up and comers. Pass. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5Fivehole0 Posted April 3, 2014 Share Posted April 3, 2014 3 players I never want to see dressed as Canucks Brad Marchand Duncan Keith Dave Bolland I don't care what they bring, I will never cheer for them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peaches Posted April 3, 2014 Share Posted April 3, 2014 I hate the dude, but that would not be a bad pickup at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drouin Posted April 3, 2014 Share Posted April 3, 2014 You do realize that was the one thing he regretted saying in his entire NHL career and apologized for it? Sheesh, what more can the guy do? I guess if Burrows ever goes to FA, half the teams won't want him. I guess St. Louis would not offer for a FA Kesler due to his comments. Also all the Canadian teams wouldn't want Kesler either for what he said in 2010... Ok. Where would he play? 3rd line center? I'd rather give that spot to Horvat. The last thing we need is another bottom 6 forward. Even if we were to sign him, he would want close to 4.5M+. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MJDDawg Posted April 3, 2014 Share Posted April 3, 2014 With all the problems our team has right now, the last thing we should be doing is locking up a soon-to-be 28 year old injury prone 2nd/3rd liner long term and to big bucks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zoolander Posted April 4, 2014 Share Posted April 4, 2014 Bolland and Richardson as the bottom 6 centres would be hella fun to watch. We'd be going to back being a skilled team with a bad, trash talking reputation like in 2011! #I<3Haterz #GCG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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