Who stays? Who goes?
It had been a busy week for the Maple Leafs. Bryan Burke has done a great job so far but he has definatly set himself up for future trades and possible buyouts. So far this week he has accomplished in no perticular order..
Signing Mike Komiserak 5-year, 22.5 million contract
Signing Francois Beauchemin 3-year, 11.4 million contract
Signing Jonas the MONSTER Gustavsson 1-year, 900k contract
Signing Colton Orr 4-year, 4 million contract
Re-signed Mikhail Grabovski 3-year, 8.7 million contract
Traded Pavel Kubina to ATL for Garnett Exelby and Colin Stuart
Also re-signed Ben Ondrus (Marlies captain) and a couple others
GMs arent kidding when they tell you that the real season for them comes after the Stanley Cup is won. Very busy week and successful IMO for Burke. Burke has managed to turn our “nice” defence into a deep nasty snarly group of 200+ pound guys (exception White) and also solidified the goaltending position by luring the Monster to the Leafs (which I should add took alot of kissing arse on his part so thanks Bryan!).
With that said there are still many questions left! We have TOO many defenceman, at least 10 NHL quality defencemen (when healthy) on the books. In fact our defence corp is costing the cap more then the whole offensive contingent for that matter (21.5 million for 13 forwards, 25.2 for 11 defenceman). With all that said we cannot carry that many defencemen, Burke knows it, we know it, so who is leaving?? Here is a list of our defencecorp and IMO our possibilities.
Mike Komiserak: Untouchable, he just signed a contract here to play for the Leafs and not to mention contracts often come with at the very least the first year NMC.
Francois Beauchemin: **see above Mike Komiserak**
Luke Schenn: Untouchable, no argument here, Burke wouldnt even part with Luke to get Tavares so hes a Leaf.
Garnett Exelby: This player totally fits Bryan Burke’s mold of hard hitting and snarl. He was just aquired so Im ready to say he is also untouchable…altho stranger things have happenned.
Mike Van Ryn: High cap hit at 2.9 cap hit with an actual higher salary. This guy is ALWAYS injured and isnt that effective. IMO if nobody is traded he is almost assure to be bought out. The 3.35 he is owed would be paid x 0.66 or 2/3 over the course of 2 years (buyouts are paid out half one year half the next) at the tune of 1.11 million per year ala Darcy Tucker and Andrew Raycroft buyouts.
Jeff Finger: He is owed 3.5 for 3 more years so he is not a prime candidate for a buyout since the Leafs would owe him 1.6 million for 6 years…not the most ideal situation with Darcy Tucker already having that designation at 1 million. Finger isnt a bad defenceman but will be overshadowed by better defencemen with similar skillsets. I think the Leafs need to move him for another expensive contract, preferably a forward. Targets should be Jochen Hect (BUF), Raffi Torres (CLB), Scott Walker (CAR) or anyone else you can think of who is overpaid and is a forward.
Tomas Kaberle: He is our best defenceman and Burke has said that if and ONLY if there is an offer that knocks his socks off that he will trade the all star puck moving defenceman. We are looking for a first line forward in return or a blue chip offensive prospect. Plain and simple.
Ian White, Anton Stralman, Jonas Frogren: All 3 have their own benefits (plays all positions, puck mover, puck blocker…respectively) but all 3 can be moved in a package deal or a swap for a forward. Id personally like to keep both White and Frogren and am quite indiferent regarding Stralman. Suggestion = swap Stralman for a forward.
So I believe that covers everyone. End of the day all hopes for me is that someone offers an awesome deal to Burke to trade for Kaberle and give us a Kessel type player in return or maybe a top prospect ala Cody Hodgson, Nikita Filatov, Derek Brassard ect.. If not MVR MUST be bought out (I believe hell be bought out anyway regardless) and also one of Finger or Stralman hopefully is traded.
Next on my agenda…
Who will start in net come October? Will Toskala be pushed into greatness after his succesful surgery? Or will Gustavsson prove he is an NHL starter and give the Leafs the best problem of having 2 capable starters? At the trade deadline is Toskala moved?
Also the Leafs were 10th in the league last year in overall team scoring. Can they repeat this feat without the likes of Nik Antropov, Dom Moore and Pavel Kubina?? Im going to say no, especially if Tomas Kaberle is moved but it will be interesting to see who ends up on our first 2 lines or if we just have 3 solid lines again this year with the kids.
Lastly Im willing to bet the Leafs will be one of the top teams in PIMs and major fights and even hits and blocked shots. With guys like Colton Orr, Mike Komiserak, Francois Beauchemin, Garnett Exelby, Luke Schenn, Jamal Mayers, Jonas Frogren and possibly Jeff Finger…this team is starting to scream toughness.
The Leafs might not beat too many teams this year, much like last year but they will definatly make the other team pay dearly for beating us with crushing open ice hits and lingering injuries.
So from YOU HTR, I want to hear your suggestions, your trade proposals and your own answers to my questions. Cant wait to see what Burkie does next!
Thats all for today, Id love to hear ur opinions good or bad. Grill me if you like Hab fans and everyone else for that matter, I could not care less…