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Leaf Rumours

Habspatrol said:
I've maintained from day 1 that the Kessel trade was a good trade by the Leafs. They gave up a lot, but of course you give up a lot to get a 21 year old 30-40 goal scorer with 50 goal potential.
The fact that the 2010 1st rounder become Seguin or Hall is inconsequential. That pick is the Bruins' pick now. It doesn't matter if it's #2 or #22. The price of the deal has never changed. The Leafs were getting nothing out of the 1st round in 2010 and 2011, they were getting Kessel instead... what other teams end up with doesn't matter.

In hindsight? I guess if you wanna have some fun and discuss it... there is no way that if the Kessel trade never took place last year that today Burke would trade the #2 overall and the #32 overall plus their 1st pick next year for Kessel. That would be a brutal trade, but that wasn't the trade almost a year ago. That trade was two 1sts and a 2nd.... no specifics.

Obviously we could never know what would have happened if that trade falls through anyways. Perhaps Burke makes a trade for Kovalchuk and the leafs finish 9th and then lose Kovalchuk when he doesn't want to re-sign in TO.... you just never know.
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Very well said.

Everytime the Kessel trade discussion comes up again I should just copy and paste this and be done with it.
 
From the Columbus Dispatch:


-- The rumor percolating in Canada that Toronto will offer defenseman Tomas Kaberle to the Blue Jackets for the No. 4 pick appears to be just that -- a rumor. But don't be surprised, we're told, if Toronto GM Brian Burke makes that offer in the days or hours leading up to the NHL entry draft, set for June 25-26 in Los Angeles. It's an enticing trade, to be sure, as Kaberle is a very polished and skilled defenseman. But would Howson make that trade? Hard to say. On the surface, it's a very fair offer, as it immediately fills one of the Blue Jackets' glaring needs. But look further, and it's the kind of trade that Howson -- and lots of other GMs -- would be reluctant to make. Kaberle is signed at $4.25 million -- a fair wage -- but only for one more season. He's an unrestricted free agent after the 2010-11 season. It seems unlikely that Howson would give up the No. 4 overall pick for one season of Kaberle.
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http://blog.dispatch.com/cbj/2010/05/boucher_kaberle_etc.shtml
 
On the surface, it's a very fair offer
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But how could that be???

Doug Maclean suggested Kaberle would fetch a low 2nd round pick, if we're lucky!

Maybe that's why Howson still has a GM job and not Maclean ... ;)
 
If Kaberle would agree to an extension with Columbus, it would be a very smart trade them. Kaberle is exactly what they need.

Columbus has picked in the top 10 of the draft in 9 of the last 10 years. It's about time they add proven, elite talent instead of hoping their 18 year old draft picks turn out. That team needs to start winning.
 
And I'd MUCH rather send Kaberle to not only a western team, but a well, mediocre western team so that you know for sure this trade won't come back to haunt the Leafs.
 
Yeah, it probably has to be a trade conditional on Kabby signing.

We would lose a key piece of the team though, it wont be easy for Burkie to part with Kaberle either. He'll be easy to extend (albeit probably not too much of a discount this time) and be an integral part of the rebuild for the leafs.

A high pick would be great, but we still have to wait for 1-2 years min, not sure if Burke wants to wait too long though.
 
I'd still rather trade Kaberle as part of deal to get a proven, young forward like Horton, Semin, Ryan etc.

Trading him for a draft pick is very risky, especially for the pick Columbus holds because there's no clear cut option at that spot. The Leafs could come away with a good player, but they could also came away with a medicore player. That's the risk you take with the draft.
 
Well, I think a few things help ease the pain of seeing Kaberle go.

First, while I disagree, Wilson doesn't use Kaberle nearly enough. Kaberle was getting 3rd or 4th icetime on this team. Wilson just isn't a big fan of Kaberle, and unless we replace the coach, we would never use Kaberle to his full capability as long as Wilson's the coach.

I also think (or, hope) Burke signs or trades for a lesser puck moving offensive defenseman to help. Gunnarson did a great job (for a rookie) last season, but you never know what to expect from a sophomore. Despite our depth, other than Phaneuf, none of our other top d-men are especially at ease with carrying the puck through traffic, or making that quick outlet pass to send forwards on breakaways. None of them, including Phaneuf, has the composure, passing skills and creativity to QB a PP neither.
 
If does goes down could this be a precursor to Burke trying to move up even further.

Edmonton is out of the question and most likely so it Boston but Florida may be willing to move.
 
I'd bet my house that neither Boston nor Edmonton trades their pick.

Edmonton had a horrendous season, the roster's a mess with so many underachievers, bad contracts, and no real young 'star' player for the fans to look forward to. They desperately need a NAME to get their franchaise back on track.

The Bruins have a lot of unhappy fans after they finished a masterful choke job in the playoff, and Chiraelli will never, ever, trade that 2nd overall pick back to Burke. Neither will Burke trade with him.

With no clear consensus pick after Seguin and Hall, I'd say the 4th overall pick is just as good as the 3rd.
 
What about Kabanov? With news of him possibly willing to defect from Russia and his desire to stick it out in the NHL where is he going to go now?
 
- Excited about Claude Loiselle, guy that worked for Burke as an intern at NHL, lawyer, can handle cap/contracts, do work that Jackson used to do, will be involved in talent evaluation. Wants to add to depth and skill in

- Getting a first round is not a priority, lot of angst about Kessel, not in Leaf office. Thought finishing 29th was remote before he made the trade but had the conversation "What if it's Taylor Hall?" and Burke said he's doing it. We had a 21 year old that scored 36 goals in the NHL. It'd be nice to get a first because he feels badly for his scouts "sitting with their thumbs up their asses for two rounds"

- Try to acquire top 6 forward through trade/UFA. Hates people talking about Pittsburgh's "rebuilding plan". They won a lottery. Won't take credit for taking Ryan because Ducks won a lottery to pick second.

- What do you need to improve? Satisfied with goaltending and blueline. July 1st is "our draft", intend to be active, quality of players getting to July 1st has diminished. Cap issues will create opportunities. We need a forward that can score, preferably a good sized one.

- Do you start a bidding war for Kaberle? Yes, you don't move quality players without turning every stone. Next step is to listen, if we get something that makes sense, we'll do it, if not we'll keep him.

- We want more competitive Marlies team, last year a lot of guys ended up playing for the Leafs, feel we've got 4 legit big bodies (Mikus, Aulie, Gysbers, Holzer), want to leave them there all year.

- No Wallin, told Primeau no decision until after July 1st

- Re: Leaf fans cheering for Habs - Noticed it, thinks its just Canadian pride. Didn't happen for him because his son works for the Flyers.

- What would you be happy with at the draft? Expect at 62 for his scouts to find him a player. Tend to go toward a player who has one attribute that screams NHL in the later rounds.
 
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I think if that trade went down, the Leafs would grab either Cam Fowler to replace Kaberle, or Nino Niederreiter for the big winger we need.
 
hockeylover said:
Skinner's ranked 9th by ISS.
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so 4th wouldn't be a big stretch.

I don't see the point in trading Kaberle for an unproven, 18 year old defensemen, when we can just lock Kaberle up for 5, 6 more years and get very good play from him.

Trading him for a rookie dman doesn't address any of our needs in the short term or long term.
 
Skinner's a forward.

But yeah, if we're going to trade Kaberle, I want a young forward that is ready to help us this year.
 
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