Hockey Trade Rumors

The Leafs theme song should be that song by Led Zeppelin: “The song remains the same” because the song and dance we get from Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment always stay the same in Leaf Nation.

After having a couple of days to digest the re-signing of Tomas Kaberle, it has become apparent that the plan that John Ferguson and MLSE is no different from the way the team has done business the last 10 years.

There is nothing wrong with Kaberle. He is a fine offensive player who will essentially be playing out the prime of his career as a Leaf. At just 27 he still has several good years left in him and he may even get better as time passes. Also, at his age, the $4.25 million per year stipend he is to receive is not that out of line. If you look at some much older players who are comparable to Kaberle, they are receiving roughly the same amount, also long term, but are near the end of their prime and not entering it like Tomas is.

The problem is, what has he done to actually deserve the amount and the term he received? Plus that no trade clause? To me, this signing is a reward for losing and mediocrity. It is an indication that the Leafs are satisfied with what they have to build around, instead of bringing in different and necessary pieces to be successful.

I am not implying for the Leafs to sign any of the other potential free agent blueliners that may, by July 1st, be on the open market. There is plenty to choose from as the likes of Redden, Chara, Witt, McKee, Johnsson, Morris, Jovanovski among others may potentially be available by the summer. For one thing, none of those players have won anything either and secondly, it may be best to stick with what you know and who you know, than to spend that amount on something you dont. But that is also a nice way of saying the Leafs are risk averse. And of course, those players simply may re-sign where they are now anyway and may not even want to play for Toronto. But when you are in 9th place, out of the playoff picture and 20th overall in the standings, there is little evidence to suggest the need to reward players that are not helping the team become a winner.

The same can be said for Kaberle’s defence partner Bryan McCabe. Yes he is having a career year and is one of the premier offensive blueliners in the NHL. But again, in his tenure as a Leaf, has he really done all that much to reward him with likely $5 plus million, a healthy long term deal plus in all likelihood a no trade clause just like Kaberle? Perhaps not. But that may be also a product of the foolishness of NHL owners to overspend, despite the restrictions implemented in the CBA.

One of those foolish owners is of course MLSE. The company refuses to buck the trend of spending endlessly to be just good enough. Cap or no cap, the team has put out enough money supposedly for their fans, with the one goal of winning, but really it is all done to mask and underline the serious problems that the team truly has.

The Kaberle signing, plus the likely McCabe signing are perfect examples to back up my claim that the plan is to remain the same. The money being thrown around by MLSE is to attempt to show that the organization is committed to spend whatever is needed to win. No one can say that MLSE does not and has not opened up the “warchest” of funds that the company is drowning in. But there is a difference between spending to spend and spending wisely which MLSE refuses to acknowledge.

I need to reiterate again that there is nothing wrong with the abilities of Tomas Kaberle and Bryan McCabe. They are fine players who have done a good job in Toronto. Other teams would probably be spending the same in the open market. But we are talking about spending roughly $10 million on players whose names are enhanced from playing in the Toronto media centre. Are the likes of Dan Boyle, Kimmo Timonen, Lubomir Vishnovsky household names? Nope. The types of players who have not been able to really make the Leafs any better. To me, it leaves zero room to improve other areas of the team such as depth, youth, speed and skill. It’s again, the MLSE way of doing things, spending to prove that they do it, and preaching that winning is all that matters which is why they are spending to keep their key players (that dont help them win), when that appears to not be their goal at all.

It is unfortunate that Leaf fans are so accepting of mediocrity. They talk with great pride of the team’s youth when there is not an impact future star among them. They with great love chant the name of their goalie who should have really retired years ago. They celebrate like no other with street parties and wild celebrations after a mere win in a playoff game or playoff series that is not even in the Cup final nor puts them in the Finals. They mourn losses or potential losses of former greats who cannot get the job done pleading for their return. They cheer their team no matter what. Alot of that has to do with the great pride and love for their team, the kind of passion for hockey and their heroes that almost all the fans in the US barely show for their teams. That is all well and good, but it simply plays into the hands of MLSE. I guess it is passion to a fault for us fans. I do love the fact that us Leaf fans are so passionate, it’s just that we never ever let them pay for not winning. Even losing 13 of their past 15 doesnt change a thing. Fans will still stand by and defend their Leafs and many will turn a blind eye to any criticism of the team, even if the criticism is warranted.

Why should a company change anything they are doing when they are making too much money to begin with and who couldnt drive fans away and turn them off if they wanted to. With a 20,000 person waiting list for season tickets, the toughest yet most expensive ticket in the NHL and a fan base that is from coast to coast, MLSE has absolutely zero purpose to change anything.

There is zero incentive to fire the team president who has made absolutely terrible decisions for the front office both both main sports franchises in MLSE. He makes the ownership group money and lots of it. He is essentially doing what he is paid to do. It doesnt matter if he meddles and gets his hands dirty with something he knows nothing about. the bottom line is the bottom line in MLSE and that plan will never change.

There is zero incentive to fire a coach and pay him a ton of money to sit when the fact is the team he coaches is floundering and has accomplished nothing in the 8 years under him. He is however more than good enough to coach a group of the country’s best players. Having him as Canada’s coach only supports MLSE’s argument that they have one of the best coaches in the world. Why mess with no success?

Why fire the GM who appears to have no clue of what he is doing. Afterall he does do what he is told without a fight. Unlike many of the other GMs around the league who actually double as team president, board member and league representative, John Ferguson is a mere puppet of the ownership. What other team rewards a player who is old and near retirement, with a long term deal at a high price because he is friends with the CEO? What other team has a CEO who knows nothing about hockey who tells his GM who to sign when the GM knows it serves no purpose but does so anyway? We will only find that in MLSE. The Tie Domi signing is what I am referring to. His close ties to Larry Tananbaum is why he remained a Leaf and a millionaire when no other team wanted him. It’s these types of hidden agendas that do the team in every time.

Why rid themselves of any if not all their players when the fans love them, worship them and support them to no end? I cannot underline the fact even more that players who help a team lose have little to no value meaning they simply cannot be moved. The perfect example is a guy like Chad Kilger. A castoff of 5 different teams, he appears to be a guy the team needs to keep and has such solid support from fans because he supposedly has played real well. Yes he leads the team in even strength goals and has done his best this year, but to blindly be so pedestrian and accept something so second-rate only proves my point that MLSE has it’s fan wrapped around their money grabbing fingers. To me that is like paying full price for a half eaten sandwich or putting an entertainment centre with the works: surround sound, high def adapters, DVD, etc on a 10 inch black and white TV with turn dial and antenna. It serves no purpose.

The plan that they, specifically John Ferguson, wont tell us and that leaves us waiting in suspense to find out is pretty clear. It is to keep taking advantage of the situation and do nothing to change the ideals and philosophy that has continued to help them make money, keep their fans brainwashed and make sure the greater good of the people running MLSE is met regardless of the outcome on the ice.

Nothing irks me more than seeing such cluelessness. Sure, we fans see quite a bit of that here with trade rumors for significant talent with the likes of Berg, Belak and/or Antropov going the other way. It’s the fans capitulating to the ideals of MLSE. But like all teams, there is a fan base with knowledge of the game and a good understanding of it. I have no clue where the concept of not accepting rebuilding, the draft shmaft attitude and the sign a big name from the past to win now mentality at all costs comes from or how it supposedly comes from the fans. It just proves the lack of direction that the Leafs have.

The team needs to start over, it needs a fresh beginning and a different outlook on things. All teams have gone through that reality as they know bandaid solutions cant fly. Ottawa had to endure that near their beginning as they went with the bigger name in Alex Daigle to win fans and gave him the keys basically when more talented, needed players were available. Losing was Ok in Ottawa because they supposedly had their meal ticket in Daigle. Or in Montreal where it had to be French Canadian or nothing for them as they neglected Europe and Russia while other teams feasted on the World class talents that came from those areas. And how about the Rangers where bringing in big names was supposedly the only thing Ranger fans would accept. Supposedly that was the New York, Wall St, Steinbrenner kind of way. Now they just have one star, a bunch of his less talented friends and a host of young players (plus plenty more on the way) and they are in first.

Whether or not we actually do see something of substance come from MLSE remains to be seen. The signs are there that the organization may be on their way to leaning towards youth, building within and taking their time to actually build a competitive team for now and long term. They have perhaps their most expansive, experience scouting staff ever. Hopefully they will be given the time to do the work needed. They have seen a large number of young talent play with the team this season which is a far cry from the geriatric teams that were the norm in the past. Though none are considered superstars, nor should they be, it gives Toronto a solid group of role players which we hope will eventually surround a true young star Ovechkin/Crosby type player. The likes of Steen, Stajan, Wellwood, Ponikarovsky, Coliacovo, Harrison, Kronwall, Tellqvist, Rask, Pogge are a fine group of young names that may make a name for themselves at the NHL level. It’s the best the Leaf’s franchise has seen in years. The team has also positioned itself to have a much lower payroll than one that is about to boil over the cap maximum with overpaid veterans. We can only hope the team will have a significantly lower number of big name, no game veterans.

Again, it all up to MLSE and how they wish to approach things. It’s easy for us to be arm-chair GMs and say what we want to happen, but the reality is that building the Leafs may be the hardest job in the NHL because there are simply way too many people to answer to. We can all hope for change, and dream of it, but we simply may be fooling ourselves.

They have less than a month to make the right move. That may be to start positioning themselves for next season despite just being 1 point out of a playoff spot. The team has a host of veteran players who dont have contracts next year and should not at all be brought back. the team is already saddled with 2 veterans they cant get rid of who they are committed to next year in O’Neill and Domi. They do not need to keep any more. The heart of team will be back. Sundin of course, Kaberle and likely McCabe. About half the team next season will be made up of the team’s younger players that are cheap. There are strong indications that the cap max will rise next season. The combination of that with young cheap players should allow more flexibility this summer. Hopefully they will have learned from their mistake this year where they pushed right up against the cap max and were handcuffed to make any moves when injuries hit.

But therein lies the crutch. The potential playoff revenues that the MLSE could earn is much too much to pass up. It has the shareholders salivating. Considering their basketball team will yet again miss the big dance, the hockey team will be required to make up for those losses. Tradeable veterans like Belfour, Allison and especially Tucker could fetch more youth, more young assets to build with, but will likely be kept to meet the company’s revenue needs. Tucker may be their biggest trade asset as he is not that old, cheap and playoff proven. But like always, the team will probably continue to play up the fact that he is a fan favorite that they will eventually convince us that he needs to be kept no matter what. The team dodged a cap bullet with the Owen Nolan fiasco, but will not with the likes of Belfour and/or Allison if they are kept. They may not be Leaf players next year, but their contracts may be. Yet they will find a way to tell us how much better it is to keep them for the playoffs then lose them for nothing. Their claims will be proven if Toronto does just squeak by.

Again this is the type of propaganda that MLSE sells and that we fans buy. I am not 100% sure if that works with all the other teams, but for example, I am certain someone in Ottawa would have been burned at the stake if Lalime and Martin were brought back. We in Leaf Nation accept that kind of thing. No matter good, bad or ugly, we love our Leafs. And MLSE knows it. All we can do is hope for the best but expect the same old thing.

I know if people read this and they are passionate for the Leafs, they will frown on the negative tone of this article, that is fine. But I emplore you to take off the Rose coloured glasses that MLSE has given you and try to see how things really are.