Griff83 wrote:Gunnarson hasnt proven anything. He played in 43 games last season and he looks more like a steady defensive presence who can make a good first pass. He certainly doesnt look like a future puckmoving defencemen. His skating isnt of the calibur that you look for in a frontline puckmover. He should turn into a solid player but I have seen nothing from him to think he will be able to ever come close to replacing what Kaberle brings. Yes even without Kaberle we still have lots of depth, but what we dont have is lots of depth in the puck movement department. Phaneuf is really the only guy who has these skills and even then he's not really a guy you want making all the decisions with the puck from the backend. Komisarek, Schenn and to a lesser extend Beuchemin are all rather slow footed and have nothing more then a first pass (Beauchemin a little more ability then the other two, but still nothing special).
Its not just his style but its his skillset and the way the game is evolving. Schenn will never be a offensively gifted player and unless something drastic happens he will always be battling with the speed of the game because he is a rather mediocre to poor skater with questionable footspeed. When I watch the games these days guys like Regehr, Mitchell, Phillips, Volchenkov, Hannah (all guys who used to be considered the best shutdown guys) are having trouble with the speed of the game. They are no longer able to do alot of the things that made it alot easier to shutdown opposing forwards. Its no coincedence that the 3 Norris finalists this season where 3 guys with very good skating ability and more of the offensive types. I dont buy this "sophomore slump" excuse. How come players like Stamkos, Doughty, Crosby, Malkin, Ovechkin, Backstrom, Parise etc never experianced this supposed sophomore slump? It seems like the truly good players dont experiance this. Seems like a weak excuse for a young players struggles. The game is getting faster with each passing season and I think this combined with Schenn's weak foot speed had more to do with his struggles then simply a "sophomore slump".
There is no gurantee Kaberle will all the sudden start to decline. Look at what Gonchar, Lidtsrom, Rafalski, Niedermayer have done at the ages of like 35-38 recently. The game isnt nearly as physical as it once was and it allows these finesse puckomvers to have a much longer shelflife for sucess then under the old rules. Kaberle plays such a carefull and elusive style that he really shouldnt decline much at all, unlike some of the bigger more physical style guys like a Kubina, Willie Mitchell, Chara. It's also not even totally just about choosing Kaberle over Schenn. Its my concern how bad this team is going to be at moving the puck from the defence to the forwards once he is gone. Our transition game and ability to keep teams from pinning us in our own zone will be almost non existant minus Kaberle and bringing in no legitimant replacement. If they trade Kaberle and they go out and sign a guy like Paul Martin or trade for someone who can move the puck well then I have no beefs and would keep Schenn, but if its a choice of either trading Kaberle and keeping the defence core as is or trading Schenn to fill a very big hole up front then I would choose the latter.
The Blackhawks sure did keep there youth but what Im proposing isnt getting rid of youth. Its simply trading a young defencemen for a young forward. This would be totally different if I was saying lets trade Schenn for some veteran player like Marc Savard or Brad Richards. I used examples of players like Benn, Neal, Staal, Eberle other young players who fill more of a hole for the Leafs. A trade like this is in no way throwing away youth or trading it away. No if Schenn doesnt turn into a top 4 then its a bad thing. It will mean we basically wasted a top 5 selection on a foot soldier who plays physical.
Teams will always take on a player that was selected high or had early sucess in there careers. Its like why teams keep on trading for or giving Dontrelle Willis a chance in major league baseball. Even tho I think a team should be constructed a certain way right now with the ever changing game doesnt mean ever single GM in the NHL agree's. Im sure there are many GM's who still think a big, mean and tough team will be the way to go. I'd hate for Schenn to have another underwhelming season and for teams around the league to finally figure him out. I just dont think he's all that great and has been badly overhyped by the Toronto media. Go look at the past 10 or so drafts and look at defensive defencemen that where drafted in the top 5 or even top 10 of a draft. They almost always bust or just turn out to be very mediocre NHL players. Kaberle would have more value to alot of teams then Schenn if he wasnt staring free agency right in the face. Lots of teams will be reluctant to give up alot seeing they know Kaberle apparently only wants to play in the East and he very well could bolt after only playing one season for them.
Who is going to trade for Komi when his contract is looking really bad and he was shutdown for the season with shoulder surgery. I would love for this to happen but I really dont think there would be a GM dumb enough to try to aquire him at the stage of his career with the money he's making and now the injury concerns. I just dont think Schenn is going to be this menacing Scott Stevens clone that many in Toronto think. He has nowhere near the skills of Stevens and isnt as mean. Even if he turns out to be a Foote clone, like I said he wont be able to do alot of things that Foote was allowed to under the old nhl rules and this will limit his effectiveness. Unless Schenn drastically improves his skating, agility and footspeed he's always going to struggle 5 on 5 and mostly in the neutral zone where teams gain speed. If some team offered me a good young forward for Schenn that would improve my offence, I would have no trouble making that move and then simply re signing Kaberle.
I'm not going to argue with above b/c we have different opinions on more or less how we would build or defensive core/team but...if Kaberle has more value on the open market than Schenn who would you rather deal? A late 1st rounder was offered for Schenn which seems to be a slap in the face to me...but maybe that is what his value is...would you have done that deal?