Report Card - Tyler Bozak

Name/Position – Tyler Bozak/C
Height/Weight – 6'1"'/195 lbs
09/10 Games Played NHL – 37 Goals - 8 Assists - 19 Points – 27 Plus/Minus – minus 5 08/09 Games Played NCAA – 41 Goals -18 Assists - 16 Points – 34 Plus/Minus – N/A
Salary/Cap Hit - $875, 000/$3.725 Million

Analysis - Tyler Bozak was a player that a number of teams wanted to sign last year. He had a great season at the University of Denver, and was considered close to NHL ready. Some people even claimed that he was the equivalent of a first round pick.

When Tyler chose the Leafs, it allowed the team to have significantly more depth at the centre position.

He was expected to challenge for a roster spot, but was outplayed in pre-season by Viktor Stalberg. He then faced a number of injuries (including H1N1!), missing playing time with both the Leafs and the Marlies.

Cap issues also limited Bozak's playing time, until Burke was able to clear some space in that big late January shake up that brought Phaneuf.

When Bozak finally did get into the lineup, he tore it up. He finished 11th in rookie scoring, despite playing half as many games as other players.

If you pro-rate Bozak's points to 82 games he leads all rookies!

Tyler Bozak - 37 games 27 points (82 games 60 points)

Matt Duchene - 81 games 55 points (82 games 56 points) (finished 1st among rookies)

John Tavares - 82 games 54 points (finished 2nd among rookies)

Granted, there are some things we have to take into consideration. We don't know if Bozak could have kept up this pace through the whole season, and he is 3-4 years older than the players listed.

Overall, I think we can consider this season a success for Tyler Bozak. If he continues to develop like this, we can have a solid top 6 centre for years to come.

There is one thing to remember, the sophomore slump has hurt many great players, so limit your expectations for next year.

Grade A (a great rookie season!)