Updating how some ex-Maple Leafs are doing in the playoffs

A while back I posted on some of the recent former Maple Leafs and how they were doing in this spring’s playoffs.

Well, a few of them are not only surviving with their teams, they seem to be thriving.

Here’s a quick update (click on their names/links below to read some earlier posts on them):

San Jose

Ian White and Kyle Wellwood are both playing not insignificant roles with the surging Sharks (Well, they were surging until the Wings suddenly won two in a row...). White’s offensive “pace” has slowed, but he is playing big minutes and is a plus 7 to go with his 6 points. (He did struggle in Game 5, as he came out a minus 3 during the Wings big comeback effort.)

Wellwood is playing a role that few of us would have imagined five years ago.  He still makes offensive plays (still a sweet passer, as we saw in his time with the Leafs) and has 7 points in 11 games playing on a checking line.  He is, and this is worth noting giving his reputation for being poor defensively and overwight—he is a plus 8 playing about 15 minutes a night, give or take.

Jamal Mayers is there, too, though his role is less evident than Wellwood and White. He is minus 4 in the playoffs, averaging about 5 minutes a night.  He was a healthy scratch in Game 5 versus Detroit.

Tampa Bay

Dominic Moore has 8 points in 11 games and is a plus 4.  He’s done so many good things in the playoffs, but anyone who saw him with the Leafs or with his previous NHL teams knows this is not a surprise.  He is smart, industrious and simply a guy who makes a good team even better, and tougher to play against at this time of year.  (Burke offered him a very good deal, way more than he’s making now, but that hasn’t stopped him from playing the way he always does…)

Another ex-Leaf, Pavel Kubina, helped the Lightning earlier in the playoffs but is currently injured.

Philadelphia

It would be hard to argue Kris Versteeg has had the kind of impact the Flyers were hoping for when they acquired him from the Leafs.  He had 6 points in 11 playoff games, and finished a plus one overall.  He scored a beauty to tie Game 4 in the second period against the Bruins, but was a minus player in the series, playing about 15 minutes a night.

He may impress in the years to come, he’s still awfully young, and has already won a Cup in Chicago.  But his performance this spring has not been like what he did, production-wise, just a year ago.  I wonder if the Flyers will keep him or try to cut their losses.

Boston

Tomas Kaberle.  I’ve written enough about Tomas.  Though the Bruins rebounded after losing their first two playoff games against Montreal, Tomas has been a major disappointment in every way.  Statistically he looks fine (plus 5, 3 points in the playoffs so far) but his minutes have dropped like a stone as the playoffs have moved along.  Were it not for Tim Thomas, his plus/minus would be much less impressive, if you’ve seen some of the errors he has made.  He is playing very little and will surely not be re-signed by the Bruins, unless he steps up in a big way as the playoffs continue.

Do Leaf fans, as I asked before, want any of these guys back?  To me, Moore would fit on a good team, but he may not be a fit for the current Leafs, who are still developing.  Ian White?  I liked him when he was here, and still do.

Versteeg is seemingly not missed here, nor is Kaberle, though I've written often and fondly about his time with the blue and white.