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Leaf Rumours

Anderson did engage in that long pause that you mentioned but he also made somewhat of a back-handed compliment alluding to Kovalchuk's competitiveness level stating that he tries too hard to carry the team on his shoulders at times. Nothing was mentioned about him being a negative dressing room influence. Maybe he wasn't captain-material, but by all accounts he was a good teammate.
 
The guy carried the weight of the Thrashers franchise from age 18 and was the teams best player (by a mile) for near a decade.

With incompetant management and lukewarm community support - you can hardly blame a 90-100pt player for "trying too hard" to get things done on the ice.

In Toronto, nobody will be looking at him to be a leader in the room - just to produce on the ice, something he's never had a problem doing. Adding another 40-50 goalscorer (in his prime no less) is something Burke will definitely be interested in.

Burke knows he might have to step out of his comfort zone to get this done. This calibre of player almost never makes it to free agency and Burke knows it.
 
Burke's already publicly said he has no interest in Kovalchuk ... and he's said it at least 10 times.

For a guy who's bold enough to come out and declare "I want Tavares" I think he means it when he says "I have no interest in Kovalchuk." ... and I agree with him.
 
I seriously doubt that ANYONE will give Kovalchuk a 10+ year contract, unless he's conviced to sign one of those goofy retirement contracts that pull his cap-hit down.. but I think the league is souring on those.

Burke will offer 5-6yrs, $7-8mil.
 
Kessel was supposed to be a dressing room problem too, that didn't stop Burke.

But whatever, fine. We're not interested in Kovalchuk. It's not like this is shocking stuff for this franchise. We'll see what Burke's plan B is, then. Like I've said, it better be damn good.
 
Sometimes perception is as good as reality. Burke understands the potential affect on team dynamics if he adds a player who has a history of playing for himself when things get tough.

That is the intangibles of a GM - the extra things that they understand that others don't. This is why Burke is a winner. He won't add Kovalchuk.
 
Intangibles aside, the thing about the gigantic contract Kovalchuk demands, which he'll most probably get, is it will be impossible to get out of down the road, and even if you can trade away such a contract in the last 1-2 years, you can never expect fair return. You gotta be 120% darn sure that is the guy you want if you are going to commit that kindda $$.
 
Leafovic said:
That is the intangibles of a GM - the extra things that they understand that others don't. This is why Burke is a winner. He won't add Kovalchuk.
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The alternative to not adding a young 50-goal scorer for only money must be impressive indeed. This is going to either be a magical offseason, or another watershed misstep for this team. Players of this stature becoming available as free agents in their 20s are extremely rare.
 
"only $$" is a little inaccurate though.

Yes, it's only $$, but it also takes up a huge chunk of your cap room for the next 7-10 years. It ties your hands, and before any GM throws that kindda $$ at a player he's gotta ask himself "Is that the guy I want to build my team around?"
 
So let me get this straight, there are GMs dumb enough to sign Kovalchuk to a long, expensive contract, but none dumb enough to want to trade for him down the road... did I get that right?

He's big, he's strong, he's fast, he's consistant and he's available. What's the holdup? If he's good enough for Lou Lamorello, he's good enough for the Leafs.
 
number17 said:
"only $$" is a little inaccurate though.

Yes, it's only $$, but it also takes up a huge chunk of your cap room for the next 7-10 years. It ties your hands, and before any GM throws that kindda $$ at a player he's gotta ask himself "Is that the guy I want to build my team around?"
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What player of that level doesn't take up a huge chunk of your cap?
 
So let me get this straight, there are GMs dumb enough to sign Kovalchuk to a long, expensive contract, but none dumb enough to want to trade for him down the road... did I get that right?
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Yes you get that right. It happens all the times BG.

Kovalchuk also had the 'benefit' of playing on a crappy team in Atlanta all these years, and many GMs want to think he can be a difference maker if he's on a better team. As soon as they find out it's not just the team, then good luck finding a suitor to trade with.
 
Kaberle should fetch some good chit man. He sure should. I would love to see him replace Lidstrom in Detroit. I wouldn't mind some Zetterberg, but they would probably want to dump Datsyuk on us.

I dunno, after watching Green and Ovechkin, I want a lot more guys for 3 million. Or Crosby. Or homegrown.
 
It's a moot point. The Leafs can't even afford him. You've got 40M locked up in like 10 players so far. Even signing him for 8M means you're only going to have about 10M to spend on another 10 or so players. Unless if you can unload a lot of that dead weight, it'd be tough to fit him in to your lineup.

Especially since someone's going to offer him either 10 years, or 10M, or maybe even both.
 
but they would probably want to dump Datsyuk on us.
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Oh yeah, I'd love it if the Leafs got "dumped" a 95-point two-time Stanley Cup champion with two Selkes and four Lady Byngs sitting in his trophy case at home.
 
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