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Toronto Two-Step: Adding Joe, Tangoing with Jonas

Just as soon as the Leafs seem to be doing one thing right, another move falls by the wayside and requires extra attention.

In a move that had been expected since permission to talk to him was disallowed, Joe Nieuwendyk joined the Toronto Maple Leafs front office this past week, as a special assistant to General Manager Cliff Fletcher.

For the one-time Leaf, it’s just another version of a homecoming—this time with possibly a better result.

You may remember the only season Joe donned the Blue and White—he came over to be paired with long-time friend Gary Roberts, just days after a false statement stating Nieuwendyk had signed with the New Jersey Devils in 2003/04.

That season Joe would go on to pot 50 points in 64 games, but the expectations of him winning an unprecedented fourth Stanley Cup with a fourth different team fell by the wayside at the hands of the Philadelphia Flyers.

Following the lockout, Joe and Gary rejected one-year deals from the Leafs for longer-term contracts with the Florida Panthers.

After a season and a half with the Panthers, Joe retired due to a bad back, and took up a position in the Panthers front office until his contract expired this past Canada Day, which paved the way for him to join the Leafs.

Like Al Coates and Doug Gilmour, Joe Nieuwendyk adds a familiar face to the Toronto front office for Cliff Fletcher, as well as an intelligent hockey mind that could realistically be groomed to one day become an NHL General Manager. Whether it’s in Toronto or not we’ll have to wait and see, but at least Joe gets a little more study time in a larger market before making the jump—something I’m sure John Ferguson could have used.

But if Cliff can’t strengthen the team on the ice based on the lack of depth in the Free Agent class, then there’s no problem strengthening your front office and planning for the future instead.

And who knows, maybe that elusive fourth cup may eventually come for Nieuwendyk in Toronto after all—he may just be in a suit when it happens.

Speaking of familiar faces and planning for the future however, the Jonas Frogren signing has taken another strange turn.

Frogren—a player taken during the Al Coates regime in Calgary—has been one of the apples of Toronto’s eye during the offseason.

The big, Swedish, stay-at-home defenseman has been linked to the Leafs for weeks, and it was thought that Wednesday morning a contract was in place.

Not so fast says the NHLPA.

Because of the fact that Frogren had never played an NHL game, or even set foot in North America, it was determined that he needed to be signed to a three-year entry-level contract by the Leafs.

The original contract, based on Jonas’ age and overseas pro experience, was merely a two-year standard pact, while the financial figures were fairly similar on the one-way contract.

I guess a year makes a pretty big difference then doesn’t it?

Needless to say, it’s only a matter of time before Jonas Frogren is wearing Blue and White, which also seems to spell the end to the careers in Toronto for either Bryan McCabe or Pavel Kubina.

But with what Luke Schenn has been showing at rookie camp these past few days, it wouldn’t be surprising to see both beleaguered blue liners on their way out.

If that were to happen, then the defense looks to be rounding into solid shape, with some young players with a lot of room for growth—a vast difference from the old, peaking veterans we’ve been seeing lately.

You wanted change Toronto, and you got it.

I guess we need to see where it takes us.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 9th, 2008 at 10:49 pm and is filed under Cliff Fletcher, Al Coates, Luke Schenn, Doug Gilmour, Joe Nieuwendyk, Gary Roberts, Toronto Maple Leafs, NHL. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.