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Leaf Rumours

PlayerToBeNamedLater said:
Gaborik might just be the best player outside the top 3 of Ovechkin, Crosby, Malkin.

His numbers even prior to this year were scary good. The only concern about him was health. Very good signing by Slats.

But ya, the rest of that team is pretty medicore with the exception of Lundqvist.
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That being said, it's pretty amazing how far having a star goalie and one star forward can carry you in this league.
 
This is what I know about the Thrashers-Kovalchuk talks. Optimism aside, Waddell is saying the same thing he was saying in September. If anything, he has backed off a little.

Kovalchuk? This is where it gets interesting. When I asked him following Thursday night’s overtime win over Dallas, his initial response was, “Same, I think. You should ask them.” And he went on to talk about how he is “just focusing on my game.” Standard response.

But when asked whether he still believed a deal would get done, neither his tone nor his words were quite as positive as they had been in the past.

“Hopefully,” he said. “But, you know — you never know. It’s all [up to] our owners and management.”

This is how one generally translates that: “I want this amount. Let’s see if they give it to me.”

Kovalchuk and his agent, Jay Grossman, know the Thrashers need the player more than the player needs them. They also know that they can ask for the moon — in this case, the max contract — because they’re staring at unrestricted free agency. They’ve got nothing to lose by shooting high now because they can always settle for less later.

When asked if Kovalchuk would get a max deal, Waddell said: “No, I wouldn’t think so. We have a lot of young guys here. If you want to play with all $500,000 players — some teams [gave out rich] long-term deals and now they’re in trouble because they have no flexibility to do anything.”

His point is that Kovalchuk says he wants to win but he can’t win if he’s taking up so much room on the cap. It’s the proper argument for a general manager. But try convincing an agent of that before free agency.

This can change with one phone call. But bottom line: I don’t feel as good about Kovalchuk re-signing as I did a month ago. Even Waddell acknowledged the time constraints he is now working with. The trade deadline is March 3. But a decision on whether to deal Kovalchuk really has to be made before the Olympic break (Feb. 15-28).

Waddell: “We can’t be talking about this in February. The next month is going to be crucial.”

And they don’t have until Christmas next year.
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http://blogs.ajc.com/jeff-schultz-b...negotiations/?cxntfid=blogs_jeff_schultz_blog
 
The lack of a 1st probably takes the Leafs out of any Kovalchuk dealings, but I'd give up just about anything for him not named Kadri or Kessel.
 
As much as I love Kadri, I'd still do a trade like Kadri, Schenn, Hagman for Kovalchuk. There just aren't many 26 year old, 50 goal scorers around.

A core of Kovalchuk, Kessel, Kaberle, Gus would be very good.
 
Yeah it would be a fine trade, but I just think its unnecessary to give up a prospect like Kadri for a rent a player. It would be unprecedented.
 
Longer term, he will definitely command one of those retirement contracts. Burke has already expressed his disdain for them. Even if he were to do it, the league would surely use it as their first example of clamping down on such deals, rule it illegal and distribute all our draft picks for the next five years to the other teams.
 
We wouldn't need to include Kadri, imo.......What teams with the cap room to sign Kovalchuk long term, would offer a superior package to the one I suggested last week?

Schenn
Grabbo
Hagman
DiDomenico
 
As much as I think the Leafs have to go hard after Kovalchuk if he becomes available, it would really hurt to lose Kadri. The #1 center position is by far the biggest hole on the team now, and unless someone becomes available by trade, Kadri is our only hope of filling it.

If we had to acquire Kovalchuk by trade, I don't see how we wouldn't have to include Kadri though.
 
Kadri has Maple Leaf written all over him. It would be a downright shame to trade him. Especially cause that little ****er has boat loads of skill.
 
It would be silly to trade Schenn right now - his value is at its lowest point ever (unless you think it could slip further).

Didomenico isn't going to be worth much right now either, coming off a major injury and yet to prove he can rebound and be effective.
 
I'm I believer in the theory that both teams need to hurt a little bit in order for a trade to be fair. And we'd have to include Kadri for the trade to hurt a bit.
 
BeLeafer said:
It would be silly to trade Schenn right now - his value is at its lowest point ever (unless you think it could slip further).
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Only amongst fans. No GM in the league is down playing his value in such a deal, over a 30 game stretch of play.

Dido's clearly a toss in......
 
It would be silly to trade Schenn...unless it could help get a talent like Kovalchuk. I would do it in a heartbeat if that were the case.
 
I'd really be loath to trade Kadri.

Not only is he our only center who could potentially evolve into a #1, he just seems to have the right attitude to play in this city, which can be pretty rare.
 
BeLeafer said:
Every GM would be higher on his value if he was playing great hockey during that 36 game stretch.
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Has his value increased?.....no.

But for most GM's I highly doubt they regard him any differently than they did at the end of last season.
 
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JEhJp6YlFR8"]YouTube- Nazem Kadri - Toronto Maple Leafs[/ame]

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wl_gMpo8xkQ"]YouTube- doug gilmour[/ame]
 
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