I realize he is in the AHL because of that. But presumably if he is healthy enough to play full speed in the AHL and take hits in the AHL he would be healthy enough to do that in the NHL. A couple of games on a conditioning stint makes sense.... But when will Leafs fans start getting a lot
E concerned not seeing their premier/elite/future Norris trophy winner not playing in the bigs?

There is a big difference in speed between the AHL and the NHL. The worst part of the concussion isn't the concussion. It is the fact that you can't do ANYTHING while you are suffering from the effects. No strenuous physical activity for 1-2 months after essentially doing it every day for years and years to get to the NHL level. That messes with you.

It takes time to get back to form, not just to return from the injury, and since the Leafs have been winning games and we already have too many defensemen, we actually CAN'T call him up until we trade someone, nor do we really need to.

Because we have too many defensemen already, and guys coming back from injury soon. Somebody HAS to be traded.

Gunnarson probably has the most value after Phaneuf and Gardiner (who are not being traded), and we have done well while he has been injured, with other defensive guys stepping up.

Well this makes zero sense. So you basically want to just trade him to make room. Why not trade/re assign a lesser d men, unless you have 6 d men better than gunnarson, in which case that would mean that gunnarson is not nearly as good as some people suggested, which was my original point.

Well this makes zero sense. So you basically want to just trade him to make room. Why not trade/re assign a lesser d men, unless you have 6 d men better than gunnarson, in which case that would mean that gunnarson is not nearly as good as some people suggested, which was my original point.

Actually, it makes perfect sense. You trade the guy who would bring the biggest return, that you could somewhat replace internally.

We have Phaneuf, Gunnarsson, Liles, Gardiner, Franson, Komisarek, Fraser, Holzer, and Kostka that have all showed they can play NHL minutes. That is 9 players. The only person that can go through waivers without being lost is Gardiner. We also may have Rielly and Ranger in the mix next year as well.

I'm always amazed at how poorly people continue to value players vs picks around here. Depending on the time and place Gunnarson can certainly be worth a first round pick. Kyle Quincey, Shane O'Brien, and Keith Ballard are examples of comparable dmen that were traded for first round picks. But I guess players like this aren't worth 1st round picks... except for the time's they're actually traded for 1st round picks.

As for the proposal the key difference is those were playoff teams making the trades and the picks were in the 20-30 range. Edmonton's likely not going to have a top 3 pick this season, but they're also not a safe bet for the playoffs. Edmonton is currently sitting with the #11 overall pick, so with plenty of time for things to go wrong/right the draft pick range is probably somewhere in the #5-20 range, and Gunnarson isn't worth that spread.

But if say Vancouver didn't have Ballard and 1 of our top 4, I'd be okay with the Canucks trading their 1st for Gunnarson.

But to call an AHL player premier when so many other D Guys in his draft class are truly premier is a joke.

Yeah no offense but lots of players in Toronto look like they could become premier players... like I recall a time where it was argued Anton Stralman would be better than Alex Edler. Now I like Gardiner better than most that have come out of TO with some hype, but I don't think anyone outside the Leafs fan base is buying a top 5 pick or bust value on him.

Yeah no offense but lots of players in Toronto look like they could become premier players... like I recall a time where it was argued Anton Stralman would be better than Alex Edler. Now I like Gardiner better than most that have come out of TO with some hype, but I don't think anyone outside the Leafs fan base is buying a top 5 pick or bust value on him.

Stralman never looked anything like Gardiner, and I don't recall any comparisons to Edler, even though Stralman has gone on to a decent career.

The hype Stralman got was from his coach from overseas, not Leaf fans.

Actually, it makes perfect sense. You trade the guy who would bring the biggest return, that you could somewhat replace internally.

We have Phaneuf, Gunnarsson, Liles, Gardiner, Franson, Komisarek, Fraser, Holzer, and Kostka that have all showed they can play NHL minutes. That is 9 players. The only person that can go through waivers without being lost is Gardiner. We also may have Rielly and Ranger in the mix next year as well.

Edmonton hasn't been getting blown out in most games and it's tight despite the lack of scoring on our end most games. So our top 4 D are doing a good job for what's expected of a rebuilding team.

So in our D we have top 4 of Smid-Petry, Schultz-Schultz and no need for Gunnar as the pairings compliment eachother well. On top of that we have Klefbom and Marincin who will be in camp this next year and could likely earn a bottom pairing role; Klefbom possibly more. There's Peckham/Teubert/Plante for a bottom pairing callup and Musil and Gernat developing nicely.

There's no reason for Edmonton to make a knee-jerk trade like this when the position of our 1st is very much in question. It makes sense for Gunnar to be the trade bait in Toronto, but look to a contending team not one like Edmonton.

Edmontons top 4 D is better than Torontos??? Who is kidding who here..

The leafs top 4 is better than Edmonton's in 10/10 polls

Edmonton has the dynamic young Offense no doubt, the Leafs drafted D heavily the last few years and have an amazing D talent pool hence we can deal

Edmonton doesn't need Gunnar more than they need another good prospect. With this being a deep draft and the cahnge in draft lottery it's unlikely any bottom 12 team would move their first for a player like Gunnarson. He's a reasonable D-man, but won't put a team like Edmonton over the top.

Besides...the vast majority Edm fans would take our top 4 over Gunnarson. Simple as that. We won't move a 1st foer a player we expect to play on our bottom pairing.

Either above or below Jason Garrison, depending on the needs of the team at the time. For example, if trying to come back from two goals down, the coach would play Jason Garrison a hell of a lot more than Carl Gunnarsson. But if they're trying to nurse a two goal lead, you'll most certainly give more minutes to Carl Gunnarsson.

Quote:

Originally Posted by TieClark

He's not... he's severely overrated around Leaf land for several reasons... none of which have to do with his actual skill or play.

He'd probably fit in on the 3rd pairing above Ballard for the Canucks but he's soft as a fluffed pillow and has no offence at all.

No he wouldn't he would be our 7th D-man. Ballard has been our best Dman and Ballard-Tanev have been our best pair.