Heat on Leafs to land No. 1 centre
With July 1 free agency looming, the heat will be on to add an impact player from a pool of available talent that isn’t nearly as deep as Toronto general manager Brian Burke would like it to be.
“We don’t know what July 1 is going to look like yet,” Leafs vice-president of hockey operations, Dave Nonis, said Friday night before the draft got under way at the Xcel Energy Center. “We might make some deals between now and then that determine how aggressive we are on that front.
“Are we going to be active? I believe we will regardless of what happens over the next 48 hours here. We are hoping and wanting to sign some players if the price tag makes some sense for us long term.”
Even if there is need and pressure to make a deal or a signing, Leafs management has shown in the past that they are not about to panic and get caught up in the mania that sometimes surrounds the trade deadline and free agency.
“July 1 is a great time to augment your lineup, it’s not a good time to build your team,” Nonis said. “There’s going to be a premium for most of those players.”
Burke and Nonis are well aware that restlessness on the home front will continue until the team lands someone loosely resembling a first-line centre.
The Leafs can’t comment on whether they will be in on the sweepstakes for former Dallas Stars centre Brad Richards but given the likely high price in terms of contract and term, it might be a reach.
http://www.torontosun.com/2011/06/24/heat-on-leafs-to-land-no-1-centre