Leafs TraDe Bait
Common sense tells us that the Leafs will trade at least 1 of their Dmen away to get a forward(s). Brian Burke was on TheFan 590 today and did absolutely nothing to dismiss these rumors.
I suggest we look at a couple options about what we could get in return for some of them.
First off lets look at Toronto Defencemen
Start off by the New Guys..
Komisarek Beauchmin Exelby….safe to say these 3 will not be going anywhere…they just got here
Then there is Schenn..would have been traded at draft if he was going anywhere
That leaves us with Kaberle,White, Van Ryn, Frogen, Finger as solid NHLers
And Stralman, Oreskovic as bubble players that should start the season in the A and their youth really wouldn’t make sense to move.
Frogen just helped the Leafs land The monster so I can’t see Burke shoving him out of town after doing him a favor.
Finger is a bit pricey and would probably be more of a salary dump if he was moved, nothing that would bring the Leafs anything of value in return.(Could be possible to get a 3rd or 4th liner/middle round draft pick)
White and Van Ryn could both possibly be moved and get some decent value in return, Can’t see them bringing in a top 6 forward or anything in the offseason and Van Ryn would probably need to prove he can stay healthy for an extended period of time to get max value, So keeping him until say Trade Deadline and crossing your fingers could be the best option.
White I think could be moved at about his peak right now after a solid season and maybe could be packaged with something else to get a 15-20 goal scorer.
That leaves us with the Big Name and the player that would obviously get us the best return Kaberle
I think he will most definately be the one moved..and I can’t get it out of my head of what could have been if he would have waived his NTC for the Philly Trade when Carter and their 1st Rounder (Which Philly took Sbisa..or maybe the leafs could have taken Eberle, who knows) was offered.
Obviously The Leafs would want a Top 6 forward in any deal and/or solid prospect/1st rounder so lets look at What options that are possible out there and what you would enjoy
I will list some name from Teams that could use his services..And by all means I’m not saying it would be a straight up trade or if i list more than a couple players on each team that they ALL would come back the other way so don’t get your panties in a notch
Kaberle would prefer an Eastern confernence Team if traded and although his NTC is void til the 15th of Aug I think Burke will still respect his wishes unless he gets blown out of the water by the West
Some West Teams that could make a play
Canucks – (Mentioned Schnieder but he is no longer needed with The Monster signed) others names of interest.. Hodgson(doubt going anywhere) Kesler, Grabner, Jannick Hansen, Bernier
Sharks – MArleau, Couture,Cheecho, Setagouchi
Kings – Dustin Brown(would love to get him/Burke type)Simmonds,Teuburt,Schenn(Think they would have taken Kaberle for the 5the 5th pick if he is going anywhere so no) Moeller.
Blues – Oshie,Berglund,Backes,Boyes
Blue Jackets – Filatov, Brassard, Vorachek
Stars – Brunnstrom,Neal,Richards,Jamie Benn
EAST
Bruins – Kessel,Coburne,Marchand,Wheeler
Pens – Stall,Kunitz,Tangradi
Devils – PArise(haha dream)Bergfors,Zajak
Thrashers – Armstrong,Espo
Hurricanes – Sutter,Boychuk,Eaves,Bowman
Panthers – Horton,Booth,Weiss,Frolik,Mattias
Capitals – Backstrom
Thoughts? Remeber some names may take more than just Kaberle..other names Kaberle would require more than just one in return.