Leafs Re-Sign Nik Antropov

[Thrillhouse]

John Ferguson, vice-president and general manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs, announced Monday that the club has signed restricted free agent forward Nik Antropov to a one year contract. In keeping with club policy, terms of the contract were not disclosed.

Antropov, 26, played 57 games for Maple Leafs last season collecting 31 points (12 goals, 19 assists) with 56 penalty minutes. He ranked second on the team in plus/minus (+15) and recorded six multi-point games. Antropov was selected to play for Team Kazakhstan in the 2006 Winter Olympics Games registering one point (one goal) with four penalty minutes in five games.

The native of Ust-Kamenogorsk, Kazakhstan has played 320 career NHL games for Toronto collecting 156 points (60 goals, 96 assists) with 317 penalty minutes. He was Toronto’s first choice, 10th overall in the 1998 Entry Draft.

[Thrillhouse]

Sigh

[rock'emsock'em]

Trade bait maybe?

[Jensen]

I can't believe they re-signed him.

[rock'emsock'em]

His numbers are actually pretty decent, but he is injured so damn often and he just doesn't have as much upside as the Leafs organization seems to think he does. Oh well, we'll see what happens on details of the contract.

[phenom]

leafs dont need this guy why do they resign im

[2,5,10GameMatch]

Originally Posted by phenom

leafs dont need this guy why do they resign im

He swallows.

[phenom]

Originally Posted by 2,5,10GameMatch

He swallows.

lol

[BROKEN*ORBITAL]

Paul Maurice apparently tried to get Carolina to acquire Antropov from the Leafs a few years ago. Anyone who has followed him knows that Maurice has a habit of turning ordinaries into somethings. He said he saw something in Antropov and that he wanted to work with him.

Nik Antropov's biggest hurdle is the fact that he is f*cken brittle. If you stare at his leg long enough you'll break it and give Eric Lindros a concussion at the same time. A guy his size who has had surgery on both knees is a problem waiting to happen. He generally plays about 60 games a year and averages 30 - 35 points.

For a guy his size there is no question that he should be more physical, but he does get in there and use his size more than a lot of NHLers. If he was 6'0 203 we wouldn't be complaining about his physical play. Too many people expect more from him because he's 6'6 235. As big as he is, always remember that he's European. No matter their size, Euro's aren't exactly the rowdiest of hockey players. For every Evgeny Arthukin and Andrei Nazarov theres a Bobby Holik and a Nik Antropov.

Offensively he makes me want to introduce him to my 12 guage. He sometimes displays great skill, especially with his size along the boards. On occassions he shows us that he has quite the pair of hands with some impressive stickhandling. But then other times he looks like an assistant captain on a men's 50 and up beer league team. He makes some flat out dumb decisions sometimes. As I stated earlier he's good for 30 - 35 points a year which is a 40 - 45 ish plateau if healthy for the entire schedule.

His defensive game I don't mind. His mistakes always look worse because they are always COMPLETE f*ck ups. Overall I don't think he's worse than anyone else on the team though. He led the team in plus minus last year (+13) and has only been a minus player once in his 6 year career (-1 in '01/'02). That's not bad when you consider that most people think he's trash in his own end.

The article said the terms of the deal weren't disclosed but it is rumoured to be about a mil for the year.

Drafted in 1998 Antropov has been in the organization for 10 ish years. By offereing him a one year deal the Leafs are basically telling him that it's time to nut up or shut up. Ferguson has publicly stated that he thinks "Antropov has something to prove this year." Considering that there is a potential upside, as well as the fact that he isn't making much I think it's worth it. If he works out great. If not, take him out back and put a bullet in his head.

[Blouin]

What he said

[BM24]

Good breakdown orbital.

I personally would love to see Antropov traded, but it is unlikely because as someone said previously Maurice likes him. The one thing I did love watching last year with the Leafs was Antropov and Poni killing penalties and playing 4 on 4 together. They were really quite good at it.

But seriously, how many guys can one team put together that all have the exact same line before every season. That line being "Can be good if he stays healthy".

[Thrillhouse]

I guess Maurice took a personal interest in keeping Antropov...said he'll get him working hard.

But Antropov is so effing slow! Good luck Paul.