Kings Moving Up

It used to be that a trade involving Ryan Smyth was front page news. Now, it's an afterthought.

Captain Canada isn't the player he was, but at 33, he was still good enough to get an invite from Steve Yzerman. His move to join the Los Angeles Kings puts him on his fourth team three years, unfortunate for a player who once looked like he was an Edmonton Oiler for life.

Smyth had to waive his no-trade for this deal to happen between the Kings and Avalanche, and apparently didn't resist a la Dany Heatley, who can forget about a deal that would take him to Los Angeles now.

For the Kings, this was their latest move to add experience to an impressive young roster that includes Anze Kopitar, Dustin Brown, Jack Johnson, Alexander Frolov and Drew Doughty. As well as Smyth, the Kings have added Justin Williams at the trade deadline and then signed free agent defenceman Rob Scuderi away from the Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins.

After missing post-season play every season since last making it in 2002, the Kings may be poised to make it back to the playoffs. They had 79 points last year in the tough Pacific Division.

Colorado, meanwhile, has been looking to dump contracts for a while now, so they were happy to exchange Smyth's deal ($6.25 cap hit, three years left at $6.5 million, $5.5 million, $4.5 million) for the contracts of defenceman Tom Preissing (two more years at $2.75 million) and rearguard Kyle Quincey (two more years at $550,000).

Defenceman Scott Hannan (two more years at $4.5 million) may be the next Avs player to go as Colorado management looks to shed money. The Avalanche are rebuilding around Paul Stastny and newly drafted Matt Duchene, and this is going to take a while. Attendance in Denver after so many years of sellouts will be interesting to watch.

Monster Update: No Decision Yet, But Field May Be Thinning

LONDON - Brian Burke may continue to push, but The Monster hasn't decided yet.

In fact, agent Joe Resnick said today that Swedish free agent goalie Jonas Gustavsson's situation hasn't changed after meeting with Burke yesterday in Stockholm.

"No, no change," said Resnick. "It's really up to Jonas now. I can't make a decision for him."

The earliest Gustavsson will decide is tomorrow, but it could still drag on into next week. The Colorado Avalanche have already effectively dropped out by getting incumbent Peter Budaj and free agent Craig Anderson under contract.

The Leafs are likely to hang in there, and its not clear whether San Jose or Dallas may yet choose to head in a different direction for goalkeeping help.

Yzerman Already Making Tough Choices

LONDON -The news is good - very good - on the early Olympic decisions of Steve Yzerman.

Yzerman's already making the tough choices that Wayne Gretzky felt he couldn't make back for the Torino effort in 2006, at least partially because Gretzky was hamstrung by the 2004-05 lockout that gave him little evidence upon which to pick a roster.

This time around, Yzerman has shown some good decisiveness and a willingness to say farewell to some fine old warriors. From the '06 team, defenceman Rob Blake, Adam Foote and Wade Redden have not been invited to the Calgary orientation camp, and the same goes for Ed Jovanovski, who was originally named to the Torino team but didn't play because of injury. Bryan McCabe, who did play, was also not invited this time around.

Up front, Kris Draper, Brad Richards and Todd Bertuzzi weren't brought back. Neither was third-string goalie Marty Turco or alternate forward Jason Spezza. Yzerman didn't invite Detroit goalie Chris Osgood, unfortunate but a demonstration he won't favour any Red Wings, nor was centre Marc Savard asked to attend the Calgary camp, probably the biggest name player not to make the grade. 

By contrast, Yzerman did invite veteran Joe Sakic despite the fact he missed last season with an injury, knowing he may well need Sakic in a leadership capacity that he himself filled for Team Canada at the '02 Salt Lake City Games.

That's quite a bit of change in three years.

On the other hand, Yzerman did make some interesting choices of players to invite, including defenceman Francois Beauchemin and Stephane Robidas, and forwards Dan Cleary, Andy McDonald and Milan Lucic.

Meanwhile, you've got to love the invitations that went out to all three Staal brothers. What a story that would be if Eric, Marc and Jordan all made it.

A Big Day For A Scot

LONDON - It was the one step Tim Henman could never make. For Andy Murray, it must look less like a hurdle and more like a skyscraper.

No British male has made it to the Wimbledon's men's final since Bunny Austin in 1938, the year he lost to Don Budge. No Brit has won Wimbledon since Fred Perry in 1936.

Leftie Roger Taylor had a few charges in the 1970s, and then there was Henman. Four times - 1998, ''99, '01 and '02 - he took Great Britain on a wild emotional roller-coaster ride, made it to the semifinals but couldn't break through. Twice he lost to Pete Sampras. Once, against Goran Ivanisevic in '01, Henman was within two points of victory, but lost in a five-setter.

To say the entire hopes of a nation are riding on Murray today in his semifinal clash with American flamethrower Andy Roddick - Roger Federer is on court in the first semi with Tommy Haas now - is not an exaggeration. The newspapers are all over Murray, his fitness regimen, his girlfriend Kim Sears, the long lineups of fans dying to see him play and every other angle imaginable.

Once, he made the mistake of saying he would root for anyone but England in soccer, something a lot of Scots would say, but not a politically correct thought for one hoping to unite the sporting aspirations of the United Kingdom.

That's all been conveniently forgotten now. Murray survived a nailbiter against Switzerland's Stanilaus Wawrinka on Monday in the first full Wimbledon match played indoors and is favoured today against Roddick even though Roddick has twice made the Wimbledon final, losing both times to Federer.

If Murray can do what Henman could never do, it's because he's a better all-around player and because he's become addicted to an extraordinary fitness schedule that has him ingesting 6,000 calories a day just so he can work out for six hours or more. He takes ice baths, uses yoga and has the entire resources of the Lawn Tennis Association behind him.

The day is overcast at the All-England Club with a threat of rain, which means the roof on Centre Court could be closed. Murray said he found those conditions humid when he played under the lid on Monday. The match should commence somewhere around 11 a.m. Toronto time.

Today, of course,  isn't the end of the line by any means. Murray is 22, already No. 3 in the world and he'll have more chances.

But this is a chance to end one British drought, then take dead aim at another.

One More Try

LONDON

Brian Burke will make one more attempt to capture The Monster.

The Maple Leafs GM, fresh of signing Colton Orr and Mike Komisarek as free agents yesterday and making a deal with Atlanta to send Pavel Kubina to the Thrashers in exchange for Garnet Exelby, is meeting with Swedish free agent goalie Jonas (The Monster) Gustavsson today in Stockholm.

With offers in from Dallas, San Jose and Colorado, as well as the Leafs, Gustavsson has been struggling to make a decision as to which of the four will be his first NHL club. He has to sign a one-year entry level salary at the same money with any of the clubs, but he's really looking at a three- to four-year commitment given that he wouldn't be unrestricted again next summer.

Burke has pursued the 24-year-old netminder hard, travelling once to the world championships in Switzerland to meet with him, and then again in a previous trip to Sweden. 

The Leaf GM is in Sweden after taking a trip late Tuesday in hopes of making a face-to-face offer with the Sedin twins or Matthias Ohlund, all of whom had signed with other clubs by the time he landed.

Other free agents on the Leaf radar screen today, with Chris Neil having turned them down to re-sign in Ottawa, are Columbus centre Manny Malhotra and Anaheim blueliner Francois Beauchemin. It's also possible talks have been revived between the Leafs and Bruins over a possible Tomas Kaberle-for-Phil Kessel trade.

Recession, What Recession?

LONDON

One day and $500 million in contracts later, it's worth wondering - what the heck was that all about?

Teams struck early and often yesterday as the NHL free agent season opened creating a blizzard of activity and many new questions about a variety of teams.

At the top of that list would be the Montreal Canadiens, who spent $60 million yesterday to bring in free agents Brian Gionta, Mike Cammalleri and Hal Gill just hours after making a deal with the Rangers to bring in Scott Gomez and his wildly oversized $43.5 million deal which still has five years left to run.

Interestingly, Gomez's salary in the first year of that contract was $10 million. But while the maximum allowable salary under the NHL salary cap is approximately $11.2 million, none of the free agents really approached that figure yesterday. Only Marian Hossa (12 years, $62.8 million with Chicago) got one of those mega-term deals popularized by Detroit. Mattias Ohlund got seven years from Tampa, Marty Havlat got six from Minny but otherwise it was all five years or less.

Hard to say which team really got better. The Habs are doing a North American makeover just like the Leafs but with small, speedy forwards while the Leafs look for size and toughness.

Chicago clearly was looking for players from winning programs with Hossa, Tomas Kopecky and John Madden. Hossa, more durable than Havlat, displaced him with the Hawks and gives Chicago another big body up front.

Then there's the Rangers. They dumped their own tough guy, Colton Orr, to pay Donald Brashear triple the salary, the same Brashear who was basically kicked out of the post-season for his blind-side hit on Blair Betts of the very same Rangers. Then GM Glen Sather gave brittle Marian Gaborik a five-year, $37.5 million deal, a risky deal to a very talented player.

The Rangers may also still be in the picture for Dany Heatley, who appears to be turning himself into a Canadian version of Alexei Yashin. Edmonton, dissed by the likes of Chris Pronger and Michal Nylander in recent years, is now looking like the NHL city players prefer to avoid, not a happy profile to have.

And the Leafs? Orr is a legitimate heavyweight and Brian Burke wanted one, or at least someone to make sure Luke Schenn was always the one coming to the defence of his teammates. Orr's challenge will be to find regular ice time under Ron Wilson. You can bet skating instructor Graeme Townshend will be spending some time with him.

Mike Komisarek is a bit of a puzzle, but he gives the club at least the potential of a blueliner who can actually be reliable in the final minutes of periods and games. He brings a bright, sunny personality with him and will be more of a physical presence in the defensive zone than Pavel Kubina ever was.

And Exelby? At 27, he has one more year on his contract at $1.75 million before unrestricted free agency next summer. Exelby, born in Manitoba but raised in Saskatchewan, is strictly a defensive defenceman but a dangerous open ice hitter.  Forward Colin Stuart, 26, is another big body, likely to spend time with both the Marlies and Leafs next season.

With Schenn, Komisarek, Exelby, the oft-injured Mike Van Ryan and maybe even a youngster like improving Phil Oreskovic, the Leafs have the making of a big, nasty blueline corps.

Plane in Vain

LONDON

The Maple Leafs have signed free agent defenceman Mike Komisarek away from their ancient rivals, the Montreal Canadiens.

Komisarek decided late Tuesday that he wouldn't accept the final offer from the Habs and instead would test the unrestricted free agent waters.

After speculation suggested he was leaning towards the New York Islanders, the American-born blueliner instead inked a five-year deal with the Leafs at $4.5 million per season

The signing cleared the way for the completion of a trade, first reported by The Star, that sends Pavel Kubina and the rights to Tim Stapleton to the Atlanta Thrashers, for hard-hitting defenceman Garnet Exelby and youngster Colin Stuart.

The Leafs have also made an offer to winger Chris Neil. Another target, Mike Cammalleri, has signed with Montreal.

Komisarek was voted to the stating lineup for the Eastern Conference in this year's all-star game, but suffered through an inconsistent season after injuring his shoulder in an early season fight with Boston's Milan Lucic.

He's also expected to be part of the U.S. Olympic squad next winter in January, a team organized by Leaf GM Brian Burke and coached by Leaf bench boss Ron Wilson.

*****************

Brian Burke got over the disappointment of losing the Sedins without even being able to make a bid in a hurry.

The Maple Leafs GM has signed enforcer Colton Orr to a four-year, $4 million contact and has traded defenceman Pavel Kubina to Atlanta, a deal that should free up about $3 million in cap space, The Star has learned. (Update: A trade call is scheduled on the trade, and details over what the Leafs are getting in return have yet to become clear as of 4:45 EST. The deal is still expected to happen, but after the Phil Kessel-for-Tomas Kaberle swap didn't end up materializing on the weekend, no trade is a trade until it actually occurs.)

REUTERS FILE PHOTO

Burke couldn't pull off a twin bill like he did at the 1999 draft.

The Leafs also are negotiating a possible deal with Ottawa free agent winger Chris Neil - more muscle - and are planning a meeting with Toronto-born winger Mike Cammalleri, a 39-goal scorer with Calgary last season.

And to think it's all happening from Sweden.

Burke, you see, flew overnight from Boston to Frankfurt and then on to Stockholm today with bold, ambitious plans to make a face-to-face offer to Henrik and Daniel Sedin today in Sweden but was thwarted in the final minutes before the free agent season opened when the identical Swedish twins signed new five-year deals averaging $6.1 million per season just before noon EST with the Vancouver Canucks.

When Burke's flight hit the tarmac in Stockholm, he got that bad news, and found that defenceman Mattias Ohlund, another potential free agent target, had signed with Tampa Bay.

Armed with lots of MLSE money and acres of precious salary cap space, Burke targeted the 28-year-old identical twins – Henrik is six minutes older than Daniel – as his No. 1 free agency priority. All signs suggested the Sedins would try free agency, but a last ditch offer by Vancouver GM Mike Gillis on Monday apparently was enough to meet their demands.

The Leafs probably would have been willing to go higher on salary, perhaps as high as $7 million per twin, but the talented brothers clearly wanted to stay on the west coast and opted not to entertain other offers. Burke would not have been able to make any overtures to the twins before noon EST.

With defenceman Jay Bouwmeester (six years, $33 million from Calgary) and the Sedins now off the market, the NHL free agent market has been robbed of its star power before it even opened.

It's the second time the Leafs have missed out on Ohlund. They tried to sign him to a restricted free agent offer sheet in 1997, but the Canucks matched the offer. Tampa GM Brian Lawton is clearly looking at Ohlund as a potential mentor for newly drafted Swedish blueliner Victor Hedman, acquired with the second pick in Friday’s NHL draft.

The Leaf GM, meanwhile, could now use the trip to take another shot at convincing Swedish free agent goalie Jonas Gustavsson, who is at home in Sweden right now, to join the Leafs.

“That is going to be an exercise in persistence,” said Burke, who has made two trips to Europe in the past three months to try and convince Gustavsson to pick the Leafs over the Stars, Avalanche and Sharks.

Leaf management had thought that if the Sedins could be signed along with some less expensive depth for the rest of the roster, the Stanley Cup playoffs would be achievable next season.

Burke had clearly hoped his previous relationship with the Sedins – he performed draft day gymnastics to land them for the Canucks in 1999 – would make a difference when it came to luring them as free agents, but he never got the chance to bid on them.

It’s the second round of frustration for Burke in less than a week. He tried mightily to land John Tavares in the NHL draft last weekend but couldn’t convince any of the top teams to part with their picks. He also thought he had a trade in place with Boston that would have brought winger Phil Kessel to the Leafs for Tomas Kaberle in a package deal, but that fell apart.

Burke's biggest successes so far during his seven months as Leaf GM have been the signing of two U.S. college free agents, Christian Hanson and Tyler Bozak.

Joining the crowd at Mt. Murray

Early Free Agency Thoughts

Well, that Sutter gamble paid off.

Calgary GM Darryl Sutter took a chance at the entry draft last weekend and gave up the rights to unrestricted free agent Jordan Leopold and a third round pick just for the chance to talk to free agent Jay Bouwmeester a couple days before the rest of the league. Thus, Sutter looks like the smartest guy in the room today having inked the big defenceman to a multi-year deal worth an average of $6.68 million per season.

Bouwmeester is to the Flames now what Roberto Luongo was to Vancouver when he came over from Florida several years ago, a player of immense talent but no exposure to meaningful NHL competition, specifically the playoffs.

Calgary can now line up Bouwmeester, Dion Phaneuf and Robyn Regehr across the blueline, something akin to what Colorado once had with Rob Blake, Adam Foote and Ray Bourque, but not quite as accomplished.

Then there's Montreal. So Saku Koivu is probably not coming back, the club desperately needs a big body and Bob Gainey somehow thinks Scott Gomez is the answer? C'mon. Gomez has a truly ugly contract and is no more productive a player than Koivu, at least not lately.

Strange move for the Habs, and an expensive one.

Then there's the Dany Heatley trade to Edmonton, one that might land more for the Senators in return than seemed likely until Heatley decided to use his no-trade clause.

Gotta love this dude. Signs a long-term deal, demands a trade after one year and then has the gall to also retain his right to pick and choose his new team.

Can't win with people like that.

So Many Possibilities

THE CANADIAN PRESS FILE PHOTO

Leafs could make a double-splash tomorrow if the Sedin twins are on the market.

Having been absurdly slammed in some quarters for being too vocal prior to the draft - yes, by all means let us not encourage newsmakers to speak freely - Brian Burke has gone quiet the past two days.

Don't worry. He'll reappear tomorrow. In fact, if there are still a pair of Swedish identical twins available named Henrik and Daniel on the first day of free agency, there's a chance for Burke to make the biggest splash of his short tenure in Toronto.

The Sedins are target No. 1, and the Leafs are unlikely to do too much, or anything that would eliminate them from bidding for Rick Nash next summer if he gets to unrestricted free agency. Otherwise, precisely how Burke will spring into action is unclear, and for several reasons.

First, he's still waiting to hear from Swedish free agent goalie Jonas Gustavsson, which is why he had to cover himself by giving Justin Pogge a qualifying offer. Gustavsson won't be making his decision by tomorrow, it appears, and is back in Sweden overwhelmed by the decision and still grieving over the death of his mother two several weeks ago. With no parents left and no siblings, he's finding it understandably difficult to grapple with this very complex choice.

But the Leafs aren't going away on this one.

AP FILE PHOTO

If Toronto can't land the Sedins, look for them to take a run at Mike Cammalleri, a 39 goal scorer last year.

You can assume that if Gustavsson does eventually sign with Toronto, Burke has promised Pogge he'll find him a new home somewhere. That's Burke's style.

Second, It's not entirely clear which players will actually be available - hey, 44-year-old Ed Belfour wants to make a comeback - with many clubs going down to the final hours still trying to sign key athletes. Bill Guerin signed with Pittsburgh yesterday, and Rob Blake re-signed in San Jose today. So the situation is fluid.

Third, it's one thing to have a wish list and quite another to be willing to confront the financial demands of top players.

In general, Burke isn't keen on bidding wars or setting a price that other teams can top. Instead, his usual strategy is to huddle with his key advisers, set a target salary and then a number he won't go beyond. Last summer with the Ducks, for example, he ballparked $2 million a year for defenceman Jeff Finger and decided he would go no higher than $2.5 million per. The Leafs, of course, got Finger for the astronomical number of $3.5 million a season.

Dave Nonis, Burke's right hand man, is the governor on the engine here. He's determined not to let the Leafs get into a salary cap jackpot or to overpay for individual players.

That said, there is help for the Leafs out there in four areas:

1. DEFENCE.

The Leafs would love to think Jay Bouwmeester, if still unsigned, would consider them, but no one believes that to be likely. Moreover, the Leafs probably don't want to get into the $7 million a year range for a player who has really accomplished little in his NHL career because of his situation.

Their fall back positions included Anaheim's Francois Beauchemin, underrated and tough, and Montreal's Mike Komisarek, if he doesn't re-sign with the Habs. Those two players, however, could turn out to be this year's Finger, meaning the bidding could get goofy.

Vancouver's Mattias Ohlund, a long-time Burke favourite, is very much on the radar screen.

2. SKILL FORWARDS

The Sedins twins will get an offer from the Leafs if Canucks GM Mike Gillis can't get them to agree to new contracts. The Leafs are probably willing to hit the salary target unless it goes over $7 million per, but they would be likely unwilling to do anything longer than six years per twin.

Understand, the Leafs would love to rip these twins out of the hands of the Canucks, for hockey reasons first and foremost. But you can bet Nonis hasn't forgot having Gillis do an end-around to get his job in Vancouver.

The fall back position would be Calgary's Mike Cammalleri, a 39-goal scorer. Diminutive New Jersey winger Brian Gionta is another possibility here.

3. CHECKERS/GRINDERS

The Leafs want to become harder to play against, but that doesn't mean just muscle. Burke likes edgy, fast third and four liners like two players he had in Anaheim, Sami Pahlsson and Todd Marchant. Both interestingly, are available.

Local lad Manny Malhotra would be a good fit, a player who was drafted originally as a skill forward but has redefined himself in Columbus as a hard-nosed checking centre who can still score a little bit. He was skilled enough to play with Nash and Kristian Huselius for chunks of last year.

AP FILE PHOTO

Rangers tough guy Colton Orr could be high on Leafs' wish list.

Marchant could fit. while Pahlsson might not because Burke is well aware of his injury history. Domenic Moore might be another option.

4. MUSCLE

You've got to believe Burke is going to make a pitch for tough guy Colton Orr of the Rangers, the only bonafide enforcer out there who can play. He's 27 and made only $550,000 last season, and the Rangers rejected a three-year, $1 million per season offer from Orr's camp. He can play a regular shift, and in fact was used extensively by ex-Rangers coach Tom Renney in a checking role against top-end opposing forwards.

The fall back position here would be Buffalo's Andrew Peters or ex-Senator Brian McGrattan. There's also Ottawa's Chris Neil, although he's more of a middleweight compared to Orr, one of the toughest fighters in the league, and would be more secondary toughness.