Trade Idea To Get Jordan Staal
Ever since Jordan Staal broke into the league, I have wanted him to become a Leaf somehow. With his size and skill, he is being wasted on the 3rd line with the Pens, imo. $4M/yr. is also a lot of money to be paying a player you have centering your 3rd line. With the very real potential of the cap shrinking considerably in a year or two, that $4/yr. would be better utilized in other areas, imo.
So this is where Burke and the Leafs come in. At the draft, we offer Shero this deal:
To Pittsburgh:
Stajan
1st (’10)
To Toronto:
Staal
Pittsburgh gets another 1st round pick for next year and a solid 3rd line center to replace Staal. They also save $2.25M in cap space for next season. Stajan will be an RFA after next season and I imagine he could be re-signed by the Pens for less than the $4M they gave Staal.
Toronto gets a big, young and skilled player to center the 1st line. He’s better than a 3rd line center and on Pittsburgh, he was never going to get the chance to move up. Some people feel that he won’t be good enough to be a 1st line center, but right now for us, he would be.
Even if he were to end up being relegated to our 2nd line in a couple of years, at $4M he would be worth it. He has the size and the tools that Burke and Wilson are looking for and he’s solid in the defensive zone too.
What do you think about this idea?