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Leaf Rumours

By "buyers" I think that he would be willing to take on contracts going into next year and beyond as a salary dump for another team looking to clear cap space.

Kind of what we've heard mentioned in previous stories, but not like the Kolzig deal last year.
 
runninglow said:
And the pick was voided for the Frogren issue. However, since the Frogren issue was around from late 2008, and the League decided in April 2009 to do this "punishment" with the particular pick that they traded for strikes me as more than a little odd. It wasn't a Leaf pick they voided, but the Tampa pick.

If he gets MLSE's blessing to try it again this year, I'm really curious what the League will do.
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No. Frogren was signed last offseason. Frogren was a completely different issue from the trade. They knew about the Frogren thing going into the season, but Fletcher decided to go ahead with it anyway.
 
MindzEye said:
By "buyers" I think that he would be willing to take on contracts going into next year and beyond as a salary dump for another team looking to clear cap space.

Kind of what we've heard mentioned in previous stories, but not like the Kolzig deal last year.
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It's open to interpretation, because that wouldn't likely be a deal that helps him make the playoffs.

I think he was implying pretty strongly that he'd make a deal to bring in help for the stretch run if we were close to the pack.
 
And the Leafs aren't the only team who has done this. The Devils traded Malikov and a 1st to San Jose a couple years back. No punishment. I'm not even sure why there would be any punishment.
 
LeafOfFaith said:
It's open to interpretation, because that wouldn't likely be a deal that helps him make the playoffs.

I think he was implying pretty strongly that he'd make a deal to bring in help for the stretch run if we were close to the pack.
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He's not going to trade young players/picks for vet rentals. Don't worry.
 
Nothing odd about the Frogren/Tampa pick situation. The punishment was pending. Burke made the deal to give the NHL a pick to take away.
 
Hagman - Grabovski - Kessel
Kulemin - Mitchell - Blake
Stalberg - Bozak - Hanson
Orr - Primeau - Rosehill

should be an "interesting" last quarter.
 
The Phoenix Coyotes might have made an offer to the Toronto Maple Leafs for Matt Stajan, a source told Corey Johnson of HockeyLeaks.com.

Stajan has been rumored to be on the block for a while, but this is the first time the Coyotes have come up in the discussion. Previously, there were reports the New Jersey Devils were looking at Stajan. According to the New York Post, the Devils need someone to accompany top forwards Patrik Elias and Brian Rolston.

Leaf GM Brian Burke will surely ask for draft picks or young prospects. Also keep in mind the Coyotes had 21-year-old Peter Mueller on the block earlier in the season.
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I'd still rather re-sign Stajan and Poni and trade Grabovski / Hagman / Stempniak though.
 
I wouldn't believe anything from hockeyleaks.

Stajan is probably gone though. And Grabo will be too. If not this year, next year when Bozak and Kadri surpass him by a mile.
 
Such a shame.

Stajan isn't a 30 year old player who is past his prime.

They should just re-sign him. But of course, we'll get some low 2nd rounder, pick some ****ing American kid, and have him never amount to a Stajan.

Dammit.
 
The real mistake they made was not re-signing Antropov and trading Grabovski when his value was its highest last season.

Antropov @ 4 mill is a good price for a very good 2nd liner / borderline 1st liner.

The problem was, the Leafs already had too many 2nd/3rd liners signed that it didn't make sense to re-sign Antro.
 
I'm still not sure I want Antropov @ $4 million. Compared to Hagman, Blake, Grabo, Stempniak at close enough money, of course, but I'd rather have picked up Cammaleri, Havlat, or Gaborik than Antropov.

You just can't make big investments in 2nd liners anymore. They are available for cheap every damn offseason. You sign the ones coming off bad years, not career years.
 
The thing is, Antropov is producing like a capable 1st liner. He's among the top 50 scoring forwards this year.

Ideally, he'd be a 2nd liner on a championship club, but he's a guy who produces like a #2 or #3 forward on most good teams.

Plus, he's very good defensively and he can play all three forward positions. I think he'd be a valuable guy to have.
 
Don't get me wrong. I like Antropov.

I don't like locking down 2nd line players for big money though. It is what has gotten the Leafs into trouble. A guy like Antropov definitely makes me consider it.

At this point I'm happy searching the reject bin for guys like Raffi Torres and Colby Armstrong, and saving the money and the years for bigger fish though.

I just think Pittsburgh is showing thats the best way to do it. As opposed to a team like Boston. Sign all your top players. All of them. Filling the team with decent talent can be done for cheap. When you start signing 2nd liners, that is when you run into cap trouble and have to let guys like Kessel go.
 
If you invest in 2nd line talent, it has to be a contract and a player that is very easily movable.

I'm just not sure those exist anymore.
 
I agree, signing a bunch of 2nd liners isn't going to win you a championship.

But, Stajan/Poni/Stempniak are all UFA's and if you trade Grabovski and/or Hagman for picks, the Leafs glut of 2nd/3rd liners doesn't really exist anymore.

I think Antropov would have been a perfect transition player. Until the Leafs add elite 1st line talent, Antropov is more than capable of playing a 1st line role (much more capable than anyone of the Leafs roster currently not named Kessel). Once the Leafs have their elite talent in place, you can move Antro into a 2nd line role.
 
PlayerToBeNamedLater said:
I agree, signing a bunch of 2nd liners isn't going to win you a championship.

But, Stajan/Poni/Stempniak are all UFA's and if you trade Grabovski and/or Hagman for picks, the Leafs glut of 2nd/3rd liners doesn't really exist anymore.

I think Antropov would have been a perfect transition player. Until the Leafs add elite 1st line talent, Antropov is more than capable of playing a 1st line role (much more capable than anyone of the Leafs roster currently not named Kessel). Once the Leafs have their elite talent in place, you can move Antro into a 2nd line role.
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it has nothing to do with having any 'gluts.'

it's just the principle of spending your money at the top. don't worry about those secondary guys because sometimes you can search through the scrap heap and find solid 50-60 point contributors for half or less. and then you're free to spend those savings going balls to the wall on the kessels, kovalchuks or whoever.

obviously paying antropov $4mn per is infinitely better than paying blake the same amount. but in the overall scheme of things having either signed to that much money can be an impediment to building a true contender.

no offense to antropov; he's one of the few players of his caliber that i would consider giving that amount of money to because the only tool he's lacking is acceleration, and he's solid in all zones and all aspects of the game. just at the end of the day i'd hate to be in a situation where you have to sign another blake instead of going for the homerun on a gaborik because that $4mn (instead of paying a slightly lesser player $2mn) gets in the way.
 
Stajan's been one of our better forwards this season, but honestly, he's really only the best of a really bad lot. I'm pretty much fine with any forward on this team not named Phil Kessel taking a hike. If we can get a good return for him, and we can't get a good return for Grabovski, then just go ahead and trade Stajan.

As for Antropov, having him at $4M would be a great deal right now. Him and Kadri would make a nice 1-2 punch at centre ice, and he'd give us some size, creativity and physicality up front that we're sorely lacking right now.
 
The Pens currently have 4 forwards making 3.75 mill and above.

I don't see any problem with having Antropov making 4 mill -- even if he's the Leafs 4th best forward.
 
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