Roberts Back to Toronto
Not necessarily a trade rumor, but according to the Palm Beach Post, Gary Roberts has asked the Florida Panthers to trade him back to Toronto. Reason? His 16 year-old-daughter attends a boarding school, but would be left “unsupervised” if Roberts plays in Florida, and his ex-wife moved to Calgary. Wow, such a nice mother!
Mike Keenan is looking to trade Roberts for a minor leaguer, or a draft pick, to create more cap space. With the Leafs rumored to buy out Tie Domi’s contract, Roberts may be a good substitute, unless John Ferguson Jr. wants to send some salary back to Florida.
82 Responses to Roberts Back to Toronto
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I like Roberts but there is no way the leafs should give up anyone of value for him. If we hadn’t bought out Domi, trading him and throwing in a low draft pick might have made sense as Domi will be a cap charge no matter what, but the leafs should not even be trading an Antropov for Roberts.
Unless I’m wrong about the way the cap works, Florida throwing in money doesn’t help either as the cap hit is still on us. I can only see this if they basically give him away or we find a player of equivalent salary to dump back. In the current NHL, a prospect making the minimum is a bigger asset then a veteran making 2 mil.
Belfour to Fla for Roberts.
or
Domi and a 4th round pick to Fla for Roberts.
or
Belfour, Domi and a 5th round pick to Fla for Roberts and Sim.
What are you smoking way too much for overhill injury prone Roberts
Your right we need another over the hill injury prone player. That is excatly the line up of Carolina Edmonton Buffalo etccc……
Hey Gilmore is available again than we will sign Clarke.
trading old guys for old guys is fine with me
wtf i think your responding to the wrong person since im a FLYERS fan loser oh i know what worng your a faggo*t habs fan and you forgot who to real ENGLISH how bout this then
volievu ahh suck my dick bon peirre
I’m 18, GTFO
2.5 mil for 1 yr for a guy who bleeds blue and white and while 40, has enough gas for 1 more run
or
a 7th Dman (tverdovsky) who makes 2.5 mil and while branded an offensive Dman and PP QB had like 10 points last year.
thats a good bargain for gary in my mind
Can you throw Kaberele’s name in the deal just to piss him off?
I remember McCauley! He was one of my favorites! Him and Roberts were awesomeness.
I can’t see Samsonov on Leafs, either Langenbrunner. Lindros maybe. The leafs will have about 7.5 mill after resigning all RFAs, plus the addition of Roberts, and plus buying out Belfour’s and Domi’s contract. I say Toronto will go for a player like Elias’s caliber, and throw all the rest of the salary at him or possibly get two additions (a d-man, and a forward). 🙂
Hey Nords… picking out a bad D-man contract to compare and say that Robert’s is a good buy… really doesn’t make a point.
The only way it is really a good idea is if we can get Florida to take a couple of Belak Antropov Domi off our hands… which I, unfortunately don’t see happening. I would like to have Roberts back in the Leafs dressing room.
Hmmm, I was not aware of that, but I know very little about the CBA. It would be a tough sell also … get Roberts to agree to a salary decrease before he gets traded, yuck.
Yes, that is pretty much exactly how I would do the lines, except for maybe putting Lindros on the top line on Sundin’s wing.
Understand something here…
All Leaf fans KNOW that they need to develop their young players. We all watched the playoffs, we know all about youth and speed.
The fact is, the Leafs are not anywhere near where the Sabres were last year. A very key part of bringing up young guys is coaching and the veteran influence.
A Roberts signing, and a Lindros signing for a year is NOT a bad move. If it works out well, then great you sign them for another year while your young players round more into their form and you see what you have and what you really need a little better.
Picking him up would not be a bad move. They would still ice quite a young squad and have some good “team” guys.
it doesnt matter if oleg was a Dman. it is just the example of how easy it is to tied up money to someone who wont contribute while a guy like gary will….in more ways than just on the ice.
i could have said someone like Almo too who at 3.5 mil is stuck in the minors.
heck it is much better than forking over 4 mil for allison.
my point is that getting gary back is not at all a bad idea. even at 2.5 mil. its only for 1 year. that is an ok hit to take just for this season. it isnt as crippling as you make it out to be.
16 is perfectly legal in Canada
in any case,
if this roberts thing works out, the focus should then shift to getting that solid #3/4 D-guy and then keeping some cap space available for the remainder of the season for a trade or something.
what is necessary is flexibility and signing players who will be suitable components to the young guys they’ve got.
a guy like Roberts would suit centres like Stajan or Wellwood (or simply be a very good LW for the Leafs to play beside Sundin) and he would not take a roster spot away from a young player.
a guy like McKee would be huge for the young D-guys coming up. while Kaberle and McCabe score the goals and make the mistakes up front, McKee can guide guys like Carlo, Ian White, Kronvall, Harrison etc and show them how to play sound D.
in the end, if the Leafs can get McKee, i see that UFA acquisition as the MOST important move possible for this Leafs’ squad (outside of getting Maurice as head coach) – not McCabe, and not Raycroft.
oh, am in the only person who wakes up in the morning and shudders at the thought that Raycroft is our goalie now? i want to give this guy the benefit of the doubt but, … i dunno.
Down the left side: Roberts, Steen, Poni, Kilger.
Down the right side: Tucker, O’Neill, CARTER, Antropov
Down the middle: Sundin, Wellwood, Stajan, Lindros
Extra forward: Belak, Pohl
Defence: McCabe, Kaberle, MCKEE, then 3 younger D-guys (my picks: Coliacovo, Kronvall, Pilar)
Goaltending: Raycroft and Aubin
Call-Ups from the Marlies: Earl, Williams, Suglobov, Battaglia, White, Wozniewski, Bell, Harrison, Racine, Pogge, Tellqvist
UFA signings: McKee and Carter
At some point in the season – trade Antropov, Tellqvist, and Tucker (considering its his last year before UFA status?). Primary trade target: a young, scoring winger (i.e. Gaborik)
Which prospect or draft pick do you trade for Roberts?
The cost of 23-man roster: $41.5 million [$2.5 million under the $44 million cap]
Mats Sundin $7.6 million
Darcy Tucker $1.596 million
Gary Roberts $2.25 million
Jeff O’Neill $1.5 million
Anson Carter $2 million
Tie Domi buyout $625,000
Chad Kilger $1.2 million
Alexander Steen $900,600
Alex Ponikarovsky $712,000
Wade Belak $670,000
Kyle Wellwood $627,000
John Pohl $450,000 million
Nik Antropov $1.007 million
Matt Stajan $805,600 million
Eric Lindros $1 milion
[estimated Lindros and Carter]
Bryan McCabe $5.75 million
Tomas Kaberle $4.25 million
Jay McKee $3.25 million
Carlo Coliacovo $850,000
Karl Pilar $600,000
Staffan Kronwall $612,000
[estimated McKee, Coliacovo, Pilar]
Andrew Raycroft $1.35 million
Jean-Sebastien Aubin $525,000
Mikael Tellqvist $589,000
Ed Belfour Buyout $770K
Feeback on the salary amounts???
I agree with you 110% about allison but don’t cheer for the sens or the leafs they both will NEVER win the cup again.
awesome.. seems realistic
Roberts-Sundin-O’Neil – Roberts reunites with O’Neil, i can see great chemistry here!
Steen-Wellwood-Carter – fast and skilled players, with the likes of a great playmaking techniques
Poni-Stajan-Tucker – grit, and dominate.. Stajan has good chemistry with tucker.. unaware of him with Poni though
Kilger-Lindros-Antropov – awesome line, very strong, sized, and very dominate with skill
McCabe-Kaberle – always had good chemistry
McKee-Coliacovo – Offensive upside with great hitting and shot blocking
Pilar-Kronwall – Maybe good chemistry… Kronwall and Pilar have not even meet yet. lol(I’d suggest Harrison or White over Kronwall, because Kronwall just hasn’t developed enough yet)
Mark Recchi 38
Glen Wesley 37
Ray Whitney 34
Doug Weight 35
Aaron Ward 33
Rod Brind’Amour 35
Brett Hedican 35
Carolina was actually a pretty veteran team come playoff time, at least in terms of key contributors. The only real young guys who contributed were Staal (#2 overall pick), Ladd (#4 overall), Ward (2nd goalie taken in his draft) and Justin Williams (1st rounder). So basically Carolina was led by veterans and 4 1st rounders, 2 of whom were in the top 4.
The fact that they are a young team is a myth.
i’m not a big carter fan. lazy is the word that comes to mind. he is better suited with the sedins. he may want more than 2 mil after leading the nucks in goals. 2.5 sound more like it. besides, a similar guy offensively like oneill is already a leaf. i’d rather see him in more offensive situations especially if gary returns and under maurice again.
mckee at 3.5 at least, would seem right. hatch and rathje in philly got that much and he is in that group of players. there are also players like mitchell, sarich, salei, witt who would be available, who will hover in between 2-4 mil in salaries if mckee is not available. if the leafs got any one of those 5 guys it would be an upgrade over klee who was number 3 going into last year.
the buyout for domi would mean squat as the 1.25 he is due to make is what he gets. and that is what counts on the cap. something about him being over 35 and signing after reaching that age. see this article on TSN.ca
http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/news_story/?ID=170065&hubname=
the buyout for eddie is 750K. it says so in that same TSN article above.
we know one of the backup goalie salaries will be off the books by opening day. and that savings of almost 600K would be important down the road. that say could be the equivalent of acquiring a player for the last quarter of hte season who makes roughly 2.5 mil in annual salary.
if they could move antropov for roberts, that only adds 1.25 to the payroll. even if they trade a 3rd rounder or something getting gary is not all bad as long as nik’s salary is deducted.
did kilger actually sign for an average of 1.2 mil? i thought it was around 900K but in year 1 he got 1.2 and in the following years it would go down? that bump to 7 figures is too much for this guy if that is his average salary. 900K is not bad.
same with mats. his average salary is 6.3 mil. i think that is what the cap goes by. that is a big difference compared to 7.6.
razor should get a slight raise to 1.5 mil. i think he’ll bounce back well. just think, mikka kiprusoff went 5-14 with a GAA of 3.25 and a save percentage of .879 in 02/03 when he was about 26-27 years old at the time. now at age 30 he won vezina. not at all saying razor would do that but he has the opportunity to bounce back as much as kipper did. other good examples: legace as career backup putting good numbers up for the wings, fernandez and roloson becoming number 1 guys after age 30, maarkanen left for dead in march, now guaranteed an NHL job next year.
like i’ve said many times, if rask turns out good, so be it, there is as much a chance as him turning out fine as it is razor turning back into a top goalie. rask could end up the next ahonen or lehtonen or even worse, eric fichaud. he’s 2-3 years away. sundin will be outta there and their other core guys will be nearing the end of their prime. razor is a bargain and has a solid chance to bounce back.
and forget lindros. i’d rather see pohl full time, stajan as a centre, and heck, i’d show interest in arnason cause he can play multiple positions. spending a mil on arnason would be better as he is younger with a slight bit more potential at this stage. i am sure there will be other players who didnt get qualified that could draw interest and come cheap. good example, jason ward and ville nieminen to the rangers last summer.
and oh yeah, the leafs should just carry 21 guys to save money that way. leave belak as the rover extra guy cause he can play defence and forward. take advantage of having the farm team next door.
also if pilar and carlo cant go cause they are hurt, but white and harrison or woz or bell can….that would make a difference cap wise. i think none of those 4 make any more than 600K.
yeah i like those lines too.
that steen-wellwood-carter line would give defences fits.
Stajan would balance out Tucker’s laziness in his own zone (and stajan is a pretty good playmaker).
Kronvall is someone i can see really developing this year but we’ll see. the good thing is the leafs have lots of depth here and they are all on two-way contracts (except Kronvall I think – which is dumb, he should be on a two-way contract).
other line combos:
Poni-Sundin-Antropov
Roberts-Wellwood-Carter
Steen-Stajan-O’Neill
Kilger-Lindros-Tucker
(tucker on the fourth line, i know, but that’s a balanced attack with some size and speed and grit).
the only criticism i have of this leafs’ team is that there needs to be more skilled players – guys like Suglobov but more reliable. perhaps instead of Carter, the leafs could acquire a more skilled forward?
yeah i am having second thoughts about Carter too. Langenbrunner is someone i’d love to see in toronto. but in any case, the leafs need a skilled, fast winger.
the KEY for the leafs in the UFA is getting that #3/#4 D-guy. in previous, pre-cap years, i always called for another defensive defensemen besides Klee and never got it … with the leafs young D-guys coming up, they need that defensive defensmen more than ever to work with the young kids. McKee is the obvious choice but the names you mentioned are good too. i can imagine there might be a bidding war on Mitchell though. Not a big fan of Witt.
i’m not so sure that i would move Antropov at his age (despite his injuries) for Roberts at his age. just seems wrong somehow. i would rather move Antropov as part of a larger deal. the onus is on Keenan to move Roberts and it is believed that he accepts an OK prospect or mid-round draft pick (sort of the same thing that went down with O’Neill last year). Maybe a guy like Wozniewski and a draft pick? but the leafs should be playing this as something that the Panthers have to be proactive on.
Kilger gets paid 1.2 in the first year but 900K in following two years – i am pretty sure about that (i’ll try to find the Star article on that one).
For Mats, i am just going by tsn.ca’s figures because i too thought it was just 6.3 million.
i still dont know about Raycroft. he cannot be much worse than Belfour but, then again, he can. Raycroft was just that horrible last year. but a guy who is in his mid-30s and has had ONE bad season in his professional career (minors included) doesn’t seem that bad of an idea. who knows.
we could forget lindros, but there’s bad news from sportsnet.ca that the leafs are talking to Allison’s agent. i am hoping its just to say ‘see you later’ – but with JFJ, you never know.
thanks for the link, i’ll revise accordingly.
I like it…a couple of things though…I don’t think we’re carrying 3 goalies into camp and I’m pretty sure that our two will be Razor and JS. I think Fergie has always had the intent of trading Telly since he was qualified, and maybe Keenan will be a trading partner in Miami. As for the signing of Carter, I think he would be a good fit and while I can’t see him wanting to leave his cash cows in the Sedin girls, a chance to play at home might be too much to pass up. Jamie Langenbrunner is also intriguing at this price point, as is the signing of JR (who will come on the cheap) for a checking line… I like where you’re at with our cap commitments…they are realistic and leave enough room for some movement.
Haha really…it sure looks like that, doesn’t it?
Muckies, you’re absolutely right, but I think it’s a case of feasibility…if there’s no negotiating a contract (which none of us seems certain on), then Fergie really has a take it or leave it choice here, and I think with the increased cap, he might be inclined to make the deal. I dunno if you saw his press conference today to announce the McCabe deal, but he pretty much said everything he could without confirming that Gary Roberts would be back.
Um, how can you make a “future” line-up without speculation? How else do you expect one to prognosticate? Is he supposed to KNOW the “future” line-up?
bring him back bring him back……..hes a hard worker and will put himself on the line in any case
Here is how I think the Leafs lineup should look next season:
Roberts-Sundin-Samsonov
Lindros-Wellwood-Williams
Tucker-Stajan-Steen
Kilger-Pohl-Ponikarovsky
EX Belak, O’Neill (Suglobov, Ondrus, Newbury, Kulemin)
McCabe-Kaberle
Spacek-McKee
Colaiacovo-White
EX Harrison, Pilar (Kronwall, Bell, Wozniewski)
Raycroft
Aubin
(Racine)
Trade: Domi, Antropov, Tellqvist, Belfour
Sign: McKee, Spacek, Samsonov (OR Elias, Carter)