Free agent pairings – John Mitchell and SRV.. I mean, MVR

After a game 7 win for the Montreal Canadiens to oust the Presidents’ Trophy winning, top scoring, high flying, offensive powerhouse Washington Capitals (any other words to describe them? Choke-artists maybe) I think us Leafs fans need to discuss something refreshing. What better than the Leafs UFA list featuring some guys I’d personally like to see leaving town, and some others that should be kept in blue & white. It’s something I’d like to call “free agent pairings” (I stayed up all night working on that one) and in this article we’ll see what’s going on with two guys on completely different paths; John Mitchell and Mike Van Ryn.

First off, for some casual fans, Mike Van Ryn was the player received when Bryan McCabe was run out of town and traded to the Panthers, in which the Leafs actually gave THEM an extra pick. Now to not-so casual fans of the Leafs, or hockey in general, you’ll know that Mike Van Ryn is a solid hockey player. If you’ve watched him play you know what I mean. What’s happened to his career is a damn tragedy.

For those who don’t know the Van Ryn story, here’s how he came into the league; Van Ryn was drafted by the Devils in the first round (28th overall) in 1998 but through a college/NHL loophole, signed with the St. Louis Blues two years later as a free agent. If you want to read about exactly what happened, check it out here at the Sports Illustrated Vault. Van Ryn went on to play two seasons with the Blues where he was in and out of the American Hockey League.

MVR

In 2003, Van Ryn was traded to Florida for Valeri Bure. After putting up decent numbers (103 points over three seasons) for the Panthers, MVR’s injury troubles started in the 2007-08 season as he only played twenty games and was dealt to the Maple Leafs the following off-season. He’s only played 27 games since. Playing those games in his first season with the Buds (08-09), he tallied 11 points and held steady at a plus 2 rating. With knee troubles ruining his career, Van Ryn decided to forego the entire 2009-10 season to have an osteotomy on his left knee. For those who don’t know, it’s pretty much what Steve Yzerman had done toward the latter part of his career.

Now here’s where things get weird for the Leafs and MVR. Apparently Van Ryn has stated that he wishes to stay in Toronto and not walk out the open door to free agency. This is a bit of a twist for Leafs fans as he was simply seen as an expiring contract that MLSE no longer need to pay. Add to this the fact that the Leafs defense corps is viewed upon as a main area of strength and you can see where people would just assume Van Ryn doesn’t fit in. But then there’s the Tomas Kaberle situation.

Quite simply, Tomas Kaberle is going to be traded by the Maple Leafs in the upcoming six week window for him to be dealt. The likely return for #15 is a forward that can help the club now and a possible prospect (unlikely)

One area where Mike Van Ryn excels is his skill with the puck. With Ian White departing earlier this year, and Kaberle packing his bags, you can see where Van Ryn turns from tumbleweed to low risk/high reward. For minimal cash; while he’s in the lineup you get a great puck mover, and if he isn’t, it’s not like MLSE are on the hook for millions over his contract. It seemed like an easy solution to just let Van Ryn sail off to another team, but it’s really not that simple. The powers that be will surely take a look at Van Ryn as an option going forward and if they ultimately decide to let him go, they better have someone in the lineup that can handle the puck a little better than Phaneuf, Schenn, or Komisarek. Right now (excluding Kaberle) the only two defensemen that can be trusted with the puck are Beauchemin and Gunnarsson, and that’s scary.

The other side of our two headed monster here is John Mitchell. Outside of injury, which has caused him to miss 28 games over the past two seasons, JM has played regularly with the Leafs since 2008. Taken in the 5th round of the 2003 NHL Draft, he has done his time in the minors by playing three seasons of Marlies hockey. At only 25 years old, it’s hard to let a young player like Mitchell walk out the door. But that’s exactly what I expect the Maple Leafs to do.

Why, you ask? There’s simply no roster spot available.

John Mitchell

The Leafs have a boatload of centers, as always. They may be B-level centers, with no real ace in the hand yet, but that will be addressed soon. Where Mitchell fits in is a mystery to me. Tyler Bozak, Mikhail Grabovski, Christian Hanson, Jamie Lundmark, Wayne Primeau and Rickard Wallin are all listed centers. Brian Burke signed Bozak and Hanson last year out of college, extended Grabovski for a few more years and now has Primeau and Wallin to look at re-signing (Lundmark probably not)

Even if Burke doesn’t re-sign Wallin OR Primeau, prospects Kadri and Didomenico are both centers looking to crack the lineup. And who’s to say Burke won’t get a center in return for Kaberle? There’s also the chance of the Leafs signing Colby Armstrong. It all adds up against Mitchell in my eyes. He’s a decent player with a very manageable contract thus far at half a million dollars, but any raise what-so-ever is out of the question if he wishes to stay in Toronto. On top of that, does he really want to battle it out for the bottom two center positions with the chance of heading to the minors while another team could give him an outright shot of staying in the NHL full-time?

I believe it’s in the best interest of both John Mitchell and the Maple Leafs to part ways. I predict it will happen, but if the lineup is reshaped over the off-season, a spot could open up for him to remain in hockey central.

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