OT: LEAFS make huge moves, MLSE willing to spend after all?

[YogiStewart]

Wow, pretty big news from Leaf land. Phaneuff is definitely struggling but go back about two years and people were talking about him as a possible Norris contender. Maybe a change of scenery will do him some good. Plus, he's still relatively young. Kaberle, Schenn, Komisarek and Phaneuff makes a solid starting 4 defence and we still have Beauchmin who's been solid all year. Sad to see White go as he was becoming one of my favourite Leafs.

The only crappy thing is we don't have our pick this year, if we could have kept the pick this year and given next year's pick instead we'd have 2010 pick, Kessel, Kadri, Schenn, Phaneuff and Gustavson, a solid start.

Schenn would be a top-4 D player only on the Lightening. now you have Kaberle, Beauchemin, Komisarek (by rep only) and Phaneuf as your top 4 (probably in that order). Gunnarson's #5 and one can argue that he may be as high as #3 on their depth charts (Beauchemin and Komisarek have had crap years). Schenn is in his #2 year, has zero offensive prowess and doesn't have an NHL-ready shot. that's kind of scary. looks like a beer-league 40 year old when shooting on net. never seen his shot go harder than 50 mph and i am not kidding.

letting White go isn't a bad thing, since he would be $4 mil towards the cap and all the Leafs needed was another average D player count towards the cap.

Gustavson is not a top NHL goalie. i wouldn't count on him coming back next year nor would any smart NHL GM (and at times i really question if Burke is an above-average GM) sign him to a $3mil/year deal. he's never been spectacular. never really won a game for them. he's a $3mil/2 year player.

[heemer]

I hate this trade as a Flames fan. Not because we traded Dion, but because THAT was the best possible return?

[sh00n]

I hate this trade as a Flames fan. Not because we traded Dion, but because THAT was the best possible return?

To go along with the Phaneuf + for Kovalchuk rumors, probably not. I don't like this trade for either team, unless Burkie uses his inhuman amount of truculence to turn Phaneuf into a re-signed Kovalchuk.

[noob_please]

I hate this trade as a Flames fan. Not because we traded Dion, but because THAT was the best possible return?

owned.


Hagman, white, stajan...

hagman can give u a scoring threat on the wing and stajan can give u a nice threat down the middle which you guys need.

[gp2015]

This trade will continue the Leaf's continual slide of mediocrity. As someone pointed out in the ESPN boards, this is a list of the Leafs top 6 forwards as of right now:

Alexei Ponikarovsky, LW 56 19 20 39
Phil Kessel, RW 44 17 16 33
Lee Stempniak, RW 56 13 14 27
Mikhail Grabovski, C 42 7 18 25
Nikolai Kulemin, LW 52 10 10 20
John Mitchell, C 34 3 8 11

The Bruins must be celebrating with Burke's every inept move. I'm just glad he's not the GM of the Raptors.

[sh00n]

This trade will continue the Leaf's continual slide of mediocrity. As someone pointed out in the ESPN boards, this is a list of the Leafs top 6 forwards as of right now:

Alexei Ponikarovsky, LW 56 19 20 39
Phil Kessel, RW 44 17 16 33
Lee Stempniak, RW 56 13 14 27
Mikhail Grabovski, C 42 7 18 25
Nikolai Kulemin, LW 52 10 10 20
John Mitchell, C 34 3 8 11

The Bruins must be celebrating with Burke's every inept move. I'm just glad he's not the GM of the Raptors.

That's what I'm saying, man. There better be a move for Kaberle or something because as of right now, the Leafs aren't scoring many goals.

[bargs4mvp]

kaberle has a no trade clause, so unless he waives it, i doubt we will move him until the offseason since we are going to miss the playoffs. im sure burke has something planned tho, because there is no way you trade 2 of your 3 best scorers on this lame team and not bring someone in, plus i wanna see stallberg back in the team.

[Canucklehead]

Good move for the leafs

[YogiStewart]

This trade will continue the Leaf's continual slide of mediocrity. As someone pointed out in the ESPN boards, this is a list of the Leafs top 6 forwards as of right now:

Alexei Ponikarovsky, LW 56 19 20 39
Phil Kessel, RW 44 17 16 33
Lee Stempniak, RW 56 13 14 27
Mikhail Grabovski, C 42 7 18 25
Nikolai Kulemin, LW 52 10 10 20
John Mitchell, C 34 3 8 11

The Bruins must be celebrating with Burke's every inept move. I'm just glad he's not the GM of the Raptors.

That's what I'm saying, man. There better be a move for Kaberle or something because as of right now, the Leafs aren't scoring many goals.

they'll probably trade Poni for another defenseman.

[YogiStewart]

kaberle has a no trade clause, so unless he waives it, i doubt we will move him until the offseason since we are going to miss the playoffs. im sure burke has something planned tho, because there is no way you trade 2 of your 3 best scorers on this lame team and not bring someone in, plus i wanna see stallberg back in the team.

i'm one of those guys that was pessimistic about Burke's "magic" when there were all the rumours about him coming to toronto.
kindly tell me what he did to deserve all of his hype?
he inherited a good Ducks' team...and then he had cap problems.
the Canucks never won anything but they were a great team (with crappy goaltending...blame the GM).
he looks like he a) brought in zero talent this offseason, b) had unrealistic expectations as to where this team would finish, c) did nothing to address what appeared to be a lack of offensive talent (Kessel couldn't solve ALL problems), d) handed away rebuilding cornerstores (1st round draft picks) during your rebuilding year(s), e) talked about not being afraid to bury contracts in the minors yet made zero personnel moves to bury those contracts and play/promote young prospects, f) has this team in major cap trouble for next year

looks like he's building a winner.

[noob_please]

kaberle has a no trade clause, so unless he waives it, i doubt we will move him until the offseason since we are going to miss the playoffs. im sure burke has something planned tho, because there is no way you trade 2 of your 3 best scorers on this lame team and not bring someone in, plus i wanna see stallberg back in the team.

i'm one of those guys that was pessimistic about Burke's "magic" when there were all the rumours about him coming to toronto.
kindly tell me what he did to deserve all of his hype?
he inherited a good Ducks' team...and then he had cap problems.
the Canucks never won anything but they were a great team (with crappy goaltending...blame the GM).
he looks like he a) brought in zero talent this offseason, b) had unrealistic expectations as to where this team would finish, c) did nothing to address what appeared to be a lack of offensive talent (Kessel couldn't solve ALL problems), d) handed away rebuilding cornerstores (1st round draft picks) during your rebuilding year(s), e) talked about not being afraid to bury contracts in the minors yet made zero personnel moves to bury those contracts and play/promote young prospects, f) has this team in major cap trouble for next year

looks like he's building a winner.

unrealistic?? I don't think so, u arent supposed to say to the media and fans hey we are gunning for last place dont watch our hockey games. Thats not what a gm does...every gm thrives to achieve the playoffs.

address the lack of offense? How can you do that in a second season of rebuilding? You aren't going to get top notch guys over night

Why buyout the contracts? WHo is going to play in there spots? Most of the contracts this year are expiring so why would u waste your money on buying them out when they just expire this year?

[TGM]

Man talking about highway robbery.

When I saw Dion's name, I think it was some other scrub with the same name.

Burke came up huge in this trade. Dion is only 24 and is everything you want in a defenceman. Our powerplay just improved so much more. His canon shot from the point will be a beauty to watch.

Who cares ybout Stajan, Hagman, White and Mayers. Outside of White, those other 3 guys can easily be replaced in the FA market.

How the heck did we move Toskala and Blake in the same deal. When I saw the deal for JS, I honestly thought that we traded Schenn along to unload those two dirty contracts.

We might still suck for the rest of the year, but we can legitimately say that we've added a couple of crucial pieces to build a solid team. Our defensive core should be rock solid. Goaltending should improve immensely.

All we need now is another premier scorer to play next to Kessel and a second line forward and we are ready to go.

[Marmoset]

i'm one of those guys that was pessimistic about Burke's "magic" when there were all the rumours about him coming to toronto.
kindly tell me what he did to deserve all of his hype?
he inherited a good Ducks' team...and then he had cap problems.
the Canucks never won anything but they were a great team (with crappy goaltending...blame the GM).
he looks like he a) brought in zero talent this offseason, b) had unrealistic expectations as to where this team would finish, c) did nothing to address what appeared to be a lack of offensive talent (Kessel couldn't solve ALL problems), d) handed away rebuilding cornerstores (1st round draft picks) during your rebuilding year(s), e) talked about not being afraid to bury contracts in the minors yet made zero personnel moves to bury those contracts and play/promote young prospects, f) has this team in major cap trouble for next year

looks like he's building a winner.

I agree with you on many of your points, but I still think this is a good trade.

The Leafs desperately need scoring. but they desperately need TALENT even more. At this point, they're far from a contender and so it doesn't really matter what position that talent fills. They need to get as many quality young players as they can, and once they have enough of them they can start to address specific needs. It's a "best player available" situation, except instead of talking about the draft, it's a trade.

I don't care about the lack of scoring issue with regards to this trade because:
1. The team is going nowhere this year
2. Stajan was gone anyway, and White stood a good chance to not be re-signed because of the contract he will get.
Obviously, if Burke does nothing to address scoring in the off-season, there will rightly be some questions for Burke to answer.

You're absolutely right about the first-round draft picks; that's why at best Burke is back to even in my books (and if Burke has cost us our shot at a first true franchise player in ages, this trade still doesn't come close to making up for it). But as hard as it is to swallow, the Kessel trade is done and we can only look forward. I think this trade is an excellent move for the future of the Toronto Maple Leafs.

[Ong_dynasty]

does these trades still gives us the opportunity to sign a top fa in the offseason?

[northernpuppy]

does these trades still gives us the opportunity to sign a top fa in the offseason?

Short answer yes. If you really think about it, Dion's 6.5 mil per year is nullified by Blake's 5 mill and Stajan's 2 whatever he makes. Haman + Mayers + White + Vesa would more than cover JSG's contract so if anything, we gained cap room but lost depth. JSG is UFA after next season's end and Dion has another 4 years. Depending on whether or not we resign Jonas Gustavson, the immediate need is top-6 forward and complementary pieces to Kessel.

I definitely did not see this coming but you can see what Burke is trying to do. He is trying to replicate his Anaheim Ducks model and bring over staff and players which he is comfortable with while bringing in all-star quality players in their early-to-mid 20s to build around.

[sanity]

The Leafs certainly have some hope again. We've got our marquee guy on the blueline. Between him, Sheen and Komisarek we got capable grit and skill to build off of. Hate to say it, but things seem far less painful than before. Ballsy move by Burke, but we got a definite talent upgrade. Its good we were able to cash in on Stajan's market value.

[rapsfan1231]

does these trades still gives us the opportunity to sign a top fa in the offseason?

Short answer yes. If you really think about it, Dion's 6.5 mil per year is nullified by Blake's 5 mill and Stajan's 2 whatever he makes. Haman + Mayers + White + Vesa would more than cover JSG's contract so if anything, we gained cap room but lost depth. JSG is UFA after next season's end and Dion has another 4 years. Depending on whether or not we resign Jonas Gustavson, the immediate need is top-6 forward and complementary pieces to Kessel.

I definitely did not see this coming but you can see what Burke is trying to do. He is trying to replicate his Anaheim Ducks model and bring over staff and players which he is comfortable with while bringing in all-star quality players in their early-to-mid 20s to build around.

This trade will make it VERY hard for us to get a top tier free agent (7+million)

the only salary we lost from next year is hagman's 3 million an blake's 4 million, 7 million combined
We gained 6 million from JS and 6.5 from dion and 1 million from sjostrom thats 13.5 million combined
The overall out look for next year of the team goes like this
Phil Kessel 5.4
Mikhail Grabovski 2.9
Colton Orr 1
Tyler Bozak 1.7
Rosehill 0.38
Sjostrom 0.75
Stalberg 0.8

Komisarek 4.5
Kaberle 4.2
Beauchemin 3.8
Finger 3.5
Dion 6.5
Schenn 2.9
Gunnarsson 0.8

JS 6

These are all the guys currently signed for next season Thats 43.8 million... The cap is around 56.8
Ok that leaves the leafs with around 13 million to sign gustavasson + 5 forwards.. Gus is going to ask 2.5 million so its around 11.5 to spend on 5 forwards

So imo having 11.5 million dollars to for 5 forwards is very tight

However there is a loophole to this.. finger can buried in the AHL, which is very likely to happen. so that gives us around 15 million for 5 forwards
Kadri will sign for around 2.9 million so 11 million for 4 forwards is pretty good
Also we still have to pay tucker 1 million from the cap too so in simple words there is likely no marleau.

If we were to sign a top level free agent this is the type of roster you can expect

XXXXX - Kadri(2.9) - Kessel (5.4)
Kulemin(signed for 2 million a year) - Grabovski (2.9) - Rosehill (0.5)
Stalberg(0.7) - Bozak(1.7) - Hanson(resigned at 1.3 million a year)
Sjostrom(0.8)- Orr (1)- Mitchell (resigned at 1 million a year)


Beauchemin(3.8) - Phaneuf (6.5)
Kaberle(4.2) - Komisarek (4.5)
Gunnarson(0.9) - Schenn (2.9)

Giguere(6)
Gustavsson(2.5)

For this to happen Finger has to be gone
The leafs in this format will have 50.5 million tied in salaries with around 7 million to spend on a free agent but that would leave us super think on the forwards group.

[sanity]

I think Kaberle is also as good as gone -- for a forward that is (my fingers are crossed for him going to Dallas). JS's contract will kill us for a year, but well worth it in the long-term.

[noob_please]

kadri for 2.9 million wtf.... he's not even a rookie yet. He will sign a rookie level contract worth less then 1.5 million. He hasnt even played a single game in the nhl yet. No idea where u are getting 2.9 mill from

[rapsfan1231]

kadri for 2.9 million wtf.... he's not even a rookie yet. He will sign a rookie level contract worth less then 1.5 million. He hasnt even played a single game in the nhl yet. No idea where u are getting 2.9 mill from

Umm yeah i was talking about him siging a contract NEXT year smart guy and 2.9 was a estimate- i just took schenn's cap hit of 2.9, it should however be around 1.8 that was a bit of a mistake..