Electing the Maple Leafs’ top forward

The 2010-11 NHL regular season has officially come and gone, and on the outside of the playoffs looking in for a sixth consecutive season are the Toronto Maple Leafs. Fortunately, however, veiled by the disappointment of a 37-34-11 campaign, lies hope.

In combination with stud goaltender James Reimer’s Broadway-esque debut in the NHL and Luke Schenn’s bounce back performance following a disappointing sophomore campaign was a four-pack of Maple Leafs forwards who each showed legitimate potential to inherit the role of Toronto’s go-to forward.

The aforementioned quartet – Phil Kessel, Clarke MacArthur, Mikhail Grabovski and Nikolai Kulemin – make up Toronto’s present (offensively at least) and most likely their future. While they may not all be top point-getters for the franchise in future campaigns, they’ll certainly contribute their fair share of production as Brian Burke and company continue to revamp the Original Six roster.

Quickly glimpsing at their numbers, there’s little ground for debate over whether they had solid years for Toronto or not – they all performed admirably given the circumstances – so instead, consider a more generic, yet necessary, question: which forward had the, simply put, best season for the Toronto Maple Leafs?

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The Basics

Player	GP	G	A	P	+/-	PPG	SHG	GWG	S	S%	TOI
Phil Kessel	82	32	32	64	-20	12	1	6	325	9.8	19:38
Clarke MacArthur	82	21	41	62	-3	6	0	3	154	13.6	17:06
Mikhail Grabovski	81	29	29	58	14	10	0	4	239	12.1	19:21
Nikolai Kulemin	82	30	27	57	7	5	1	5	173	17.3	17:19

 

Team’s Record When Scoring At Least One Goal

Kessel – 20-11

MacArthur – 14-3

Grabovski – 12-13

Kulemin – 13-13

The Production

Kessel – 34 first-half points, 30 second-half; 10-game point streak, seven-game point-less

MacArthur – 34 first-half points, 28 second-half; Five-game point streak, four-game point-less

Grabovski – 33 first-half points, 25 second-half; Six-game point streak, five-game point-less

Kulemin – 30 first-half points, 27 second-half; Six-game point streak, five-game point-less

The Value

Kessel – Made $5.4 million in 2010-11, which equals $84,375 per point tallied

MacArthur – $1.1 million, $17,741 per point

Grabovski – $2.9 million, $50,000 per point

Kulemin – $2.35 million, $41,228 per point

The Intangibles

Kessel – Positive: Only Leaf to make the All-Star team; Negative: Had his differences with head coach Ron Wilson.

MacArthur – Positive: Showed he deserves a permanent top-six forward spot in the NHL with a consistent first year in Toronto; Negative: Was minus-four and scored eight less points on the road.

Grabovski – Positive: Proved he can be an asset to the dressing room with a trouble-free season; Negative: Had difficulties in the corners due to his non-physical style of play and lack of size.

Kulemin – Positive: Responsible forward who rarely left his teammates hanging; Negative: Missed all four shootout opportunities.

The Verdict

Right off the bat, Kessel is knocked down a few pegs due to his lack of dependability throughout the year, his disconcerting plus-minus rating and a relatively underwhelming value relative to his contract. Even though he potted the most goals and accumulated the most points for the Buds, his overall package was not the benchmark of the Leafs forward clan.

Grabovski and his over-creativity hurt the Leafs at times. His 58 points could have ballooned if he didn’t rely on flashiness as much as he has since becoming a full-time NHLer. To make matters worse, in games when he scored, they weren’t even .500. While he did have a career-year, those types of hindrances are unacceptable when speaking of their most valuable forward.

In terms of Kulemin, it’s tough to relegate the guy. He almost doubled his point total from 2009-10 and has blossomed into a serious sniping threat. However, it may take another year or so for the former second-round pick to be at “most valuable forward level” as his contributions were slighted by another emerging top-sixer in the NHL.

What sets MacArthur apart from his teammates is his ability to not only put up 0.76 points per game but to offer his squad a season’s worth of consistency at both ends of the ice. To boot, he has great playmaking abilities, shown through his team-leading 41 assists – an attribute comparatively absent in the other three candidates’ skill sets.

What cements the former Sabre as the Toronto forward who had the best season is the fact that his goals, while not team-leading, were always meaningful. The Leafs 14-3 record when MacArthur put one past the opposing goalie is impressive to say the least. Most valuable players, whether limited to just forwards or a whole team, impact their team’s overall outcome in a great way. MacArthur did just that, whether he was back checking, setting up line mates or finding the twine himself.

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