Comments on: Maple Leaf and Black Hawk Talk

By: JoelLeafs

JoelLeafs — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 09:55:26 +0000

Frankly, Kessel and Lupul have show that they can perform with pretty much anyone centering them. Having a dish out man like Paul would be sick. Plus it gives us more time to develop Colbourn and not try and rush him into a top 6 spot. My only worry is that he could turn into a Connolly type move: too much money to not be able to effectively play on the top line.

Yeah, I love Schenn's game and would love to keep him, but if it comes down to it, I'd rather have Grabo in the long run than Schenn. Mikhail may not be the biggest, but it's hard to find players that give that much every night. If anyone, I think MacArthur's value is inflated right now, try and flip that. I really don't think he'll be more than a 15/20 or 20/15 guy on a 2nd line in the long run.

By: reinjosh

reinjosh — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 09:34:54 +0000

Yeah that is a risk in the deal I suppose. It comes down to weighing whether playing with Kessel and Lupes will push him back to PPG levels or if the last two seasons are the new Stastny.

By: Steven_Leafs

Steven_Leafs — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 09:23:50 +0000

damn you both, stop selling me on trading Schenn for Stastny. I guess your right, I still would want some insurance though in case Stastny becomes yet another small 2nd line center.

By: reinjosh

reinjosh — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 09:17:54 +0000

At the same time the upside is there for this to be an absolute homerun move. We've always said that Schenn goes for a top 6 with top 3 potential or in a package for a number 1 center. Stastny at the end of the day fits that perfectly and might be the onyl guy we can get in the next couple of years. It would hurt giving up Schenn but sometimes you have to play on value and we can do that with Schenn for right now.

By: reinjosh

reinjosh — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 09:15:02 +0000

Yeah that's a good price. Stastny had more value last year when it was only one season of down play. Now that he's on pace for a second well below average season, his value is brought down a lot. We still need to give some value and giving up Schenn plus the rest is value (and not pure crap or scrap pieces).

Honestly getting Stastny would be huge. He would make a great center for Kessel and Lupes, plus it would allow us to roll three top 6 centers deep and build two other scoring lines around those two.

Colorado gets the big bruising shutdown guy they have needed for a while, they get a little cap flexibility (and some more room) for the upcoming summer RFA's. Plus they might potentially add a third 2nd round pick in the upcoming draft which could allow them to trade up for a true elite impact player in the draft.

By: Steven_Leafs

Steven_Leafs — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 09:13:33 +0000

yeah your offer makes more sense but personally I wouldn't pay it. If we are sending Schenn we better get something else of value back (because of Stastny's contract and the fact his game has decline over the last 2 seasons).

Also the Leafs have their 1st round pick this year, and if we finish in the conference finals then it would be 26th overall or worse which I'm ok with giving up. (We would have made it to the conference finals, I doubt anyone would).

By: JoelLeafs

JoelLeafs — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 08:57:58 +0000

Yeah, plus, IMO, Burke fleeced them in the Liles deal (hindsight, right?), maybe he can do it again.

Burke: Greg, what's up? How's the mile high?
Sherman: not too bad, how's the media treating you in Toronto?
Burke: ha ha ha, funny guy. Soooo, how about that Stastny, not looking so good at 6.6 lately, eh?
Sherman: yeah, I suppose you're right, what do you want for him?
Burke: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKm5xQyD2vE&feature=related

By: JoelLeafs

JoelLeafs — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 08:52:16 +0000

Yeah, I can't see them taking on Komi that easily. They will be looking for Roster depth and a prospects, at least. Above I suggest Schenn, Bozak, Rynnas (or Scrivens), and a conditional 2nd. Mostly sorts out the cap issues, gives them a top 6 (okay, maybe top 9 with upside) forward (and a C to boot!), a top 4 D, and a decent prospect in net (something they need), plus a pick. I'm sure the pick could be altered, similarly to something you have above (though not sure where the leafs will get this 1st from).

This would leave the Leafs with mad depth on D, an absolutely elite top 3, some fantastic depth at C (Stastny, Grabo, Connolly, Steckle, prospects), and one of the more versatile top 9's in the league. The one-two punch of Kessel-Stastny-Lups and Kuls-Grabo-MacT, with Connoley centering the 3rd line with whatever (Lombardi, Kadri, Army, some kid from the minor - take your pick) and a hard nosed 3rd line centered by Steckle. Now what's a team I could see going deep... well, if we got the goaltending #doubtful

By: JoelLeafs

JoelLeafs — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 08:42:10 +0000

Okay, if we can swing a Rutuu trade, then yeah, I'd be down. One name I never hear in rumors going out is Bozak. He might be a good fit for Colorado. Only a 1.5 cap hit for two more seasons before becoming an UFA. Not like we can move Connolly realistically, and the rest of out Cs figure into the long term. Maybe something like this:

To Col:
Schenn
Bozak
Rynnas
conditional pick (maybe a 2nd if leafs make it to the 2nd round, 3rd otehrwise, or whatever)

To Tor:
Stastny

Maybe swap up the prospects included, but this gives them a roster D, a roster C, a potential roster G and a pick. Plus this trade sends 5.1 their way (excluding Rynnas) and takes Stastny's 6.6 off the books. Leafs might have to shuffle .5 around, but keeps the Avs at the floor (haven't done the mid-season math, but I doubt this would cause much in the way of cap problems). The the Avs are at the cap fllor and have plenty of room to sign their 15 UFAs (or whatever insane number it is) and get decent players signed mid-term for manageable $$

Again, Maybe I'm valuing him to low, but I really don't think it will take Grabo + Schenn + high pick + prospect +++ for Stastny. Unless there is huge interest for him. Plus, this trade could potentially be huge for both teams. Toronto get their a true elite top line, Avs get a bit younger and have some players that may be around for a while, and everyone gets a change of scenery.

By: Steven_Leafs

Steven_Leafs — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 06:53:15 +0000

According to capgeek, Colorado is 1.338M over the cap floor which means, if I did the math correctly, Colorado can lose 3.694M in cap before hitting the floor. Toronto has 622k in cap space which means they can take on a maximum of 1.718M in cap (excluding injuries). So even though Colorado could dump a large contract, the Leafs could only take on 1.7M anyway.

I honestly have no idea what Statsny's value is. Honestly I think it is really low at the moment since he isn't producing recently like we know he can and considering Colorado will need the space to re-sign Duchene and as much as 15(!) other UFA/RFAs. Also since Colorado is in the playoff race and they are without their 1st and 2nd round picks, I believe Colorado will require roster players other than prospects. All that in consideration I'm gonna make this offer:

To Toronto:

Stastny
conditional 2013 2nd round pick (if Grabo re-signs or Colorado makes it to the Stanley Cup Finals)

To Colorado:

Grabovski
Komisarek
Crabb
conditional 2012 pick (1st is Leafs make the conference finals, 2nd if they make the playoffs but don't make to the conference finals, 3rd otherwise)

I think this is a pretty good deal for Colorado. Komisarek might be the hardest sell but with his 3.5M salary and a 4.5M cap hit he will be a good fit in Colorado. Grabovski currently has more points than Stastny in less games played so Colorado theoretically gets the better offensive production with Grabo and Crabb. Colorado also gets a pick dependent on the Leafs success this year, highly unlikely it is a first but a 2nd is more than possible and a huge bonus.

Toronto does take a risk with Stastny because if he is on the decline or is playing to his ability right now then Toronto just took on another huge contract and dumped a lot of solid players. The conditional pick in 2013 is a nice bonus but Toronto should be prepared not to get it.

I do love this trade for both teams since it solves both of their biggest issues. Colorado's large salary tied up into a player that isn't producing like a 6.6M player(even if they re-sign Grabovski to 3-4M, they will be paying the same amount of cash for a 2nd line center and a defenseman instead of just a more skilled, more expensive 2nd line center). Toronto gets a top line center to play with Kessel and Lupul while dumping Komisarek's cap hit.

What do you guys think?