Toronto's Dispersal Strategy

The profession of sports general manager is tough. I've never held the position but as an opinionated sports fan, I know how we treat GMs. When the team struggles, they're always at fault for not building a winner. When they win, the coach did an excellent job. Add to entry drafts, summer scouting and training camps a dispersal draft and NLL GMs will make their paycheques this year long before the ball drops.  

One man who earns his money every season is Toronto's Terry Sanderson. He's always looking to improve his team. More often than not, he finds ways to do just that. But what sets him apart is, if he doesn't feel a move will help, he won't make one.  

With 2 off season trades already under his belt, Sanderson has a tough week ahead of him going into Friday's dispersal draft. Picking last, here's what I think his options are. 

Always one to work some form of magic, I wouldn't be surprised to see Terry try and trade up from 9th. Ideally I see some of their overstocked defense, and perhaps an Aaron Pascas type player going to Minnesota (#4) or Rochester (#5). The idea here would be to pick up Josh Sanderson, a player who has been in Toronto before and who seems (for reasons unknown to me ....) to always play for teams Terry is involved with. Assuming the top picks are (in no particular order) Dan Dawson, Anthony Cosmo, Casey Powell (now that we know he's playing), that would leave Josh at the highest 4th overall. The best part of this scenario for Toronto is that they can hang onto their #9 pick if they want, and they control when the trigger is pulled on the deal. Obviously, the later into the draft they go without Josh being picked, the longer Terry can hold out, the less they have to give up. Win-win.

Assuming Terry can't work his magic, or assuming he does and the #9 pick isn't involved in a deal, an option to consider would be backup goaltender Nick Rose. I can hear the public outcry already: "why so early?" As I said, everyone's a critic of the GM. Consider Toronto doesn't have another pick until #16 overall. The talent is deep, but is it 2 complete rounds deep? Not to mention, Toronto is defending champs. Anything they pick up Friday afternoon for free is a bonus, but they don't really need anything. If they can trade for a pick to get Josh, and grab a young, up and coming goaltender, they can call it a day. Maybe even deal their remaining picks to other teams for more freebies.

Let's be honest here, Toronto's goaltending situation is a question mark. We don't know if the Matt Roik of the early 2000's, or the Matt Roik from 2010 who had his starting job stolen in Washington by a young standout, Tyler Richards. Toronto owner, Jamie Dawick, told me a few months ago via twitter that Roik wouldn't be handed the #1 job. If the Rock were to pick Nick Rose at #8 in the dispersal draft, it would provide some big competition, and not just because Rose is a 6', 285 lb man.

Although he hasn't played much in his career (81 minutes, stuck behind one Anthony Cosmo), Rose has a career record of 1-1, holds an 84.1% save percentage and boasts a career 8.12 GAA. Whether he would start or not remains to be seen. But he'd put pressure on Roik to perform in camp, and throughout the season. Not to mention, Rose can receive valuable guidance from veterans already under contract Pat Campbell, Gee Nash, and Roik himself. Could Nick Rose become Toronto's goaltender of the future?

How Friday's draft develops will be interesting. I do see Toronto at least trying to make a run for Josh Sanderson. But if that doesn't work, #2 on the wishlist is a goaltender. Aside from Cosmo, and it's unlikely Toronto will land him, Nick Rose is the only other viable option. Watch for Terry to grab him at #9. And watch for Rose to grow into a world class goaltender who will lead Toronto to many championships in the future.