Multiple Moves

MONTREAL

No deal.
In fact, no deal of any kind for Brian Burke, it appears, with one hour to go until his first draft as GM of the Maple Leafs.
A deal with Boston that would have brought Phil Kessel and a pick to the Leafs is apparently off, and so are any of the deals that would have moved the Leafs up in the draft.
So much talk, but only frustration, apparently, for Burke and the Leafs. As it stands, the Leafs will pick seventh overall, and could be looking at either OHL speedster Nazem Kadri or Swedish blueliner Oliver Ekman-Larson.

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

With less than three hours to go before the 2009 entry draft, the Maple Leafs are still working on separate deals that could see the club acquire wingers Phil Kessel and Ryane Clowe.
The Clowe deal with San Jose may be in jeopardy, with the Sharks possibly working on another trade that would see goalie Evgeny Nabokov moved.
Boston, meanwhile, is expected to either formalize an offer within the hour for defenceman Tomas Kaberle that would see Kessel and a draft pick go to the Leafs, or that deal will fall apart.
Leaf GM Brian Burke would be just as happy to wait until after July 1st to see what offers materialize for Kaberle after free agent Jay Bouwmeester is snapped up.
As of now, the Leafs do not have a trade in place that would see him move up from the No. 7 draft slot.

The Maple Leafs are seriously looking at a Tomas Kaberle-for-Phil Kessel deal.

But it would not involve the Leafs also sending the No. 7 pick in tonight's entry draft to the Bruins.

TSN broke the story this morning that the Bruins had offered the 21-year-old Kessel to the Leafs to land Kaberle, which was bang-on. But the TSN report also included the seventh pick, and multiple sources say this morning the Leafs would not give up the No. 7 selection to make that deal happen. In fact, the Leafs might be the team getting the extra pick in such a transaction.

Burke, the boss of the U.S. Olympic team, clearly loves Kessel, who scored 36 goals in only 70 games this season and produced another six goals in 11 playoff games after being scratched for three of seven post-season matches the year before.

The University of Minnesota product would immediately become the Leafs' top winger, although he is a restricted free agent this summer and is the type of player who might be vulnerable to an offer sheet.

But consider this.

Kessel, if acquired, would give the Leafs much more useful ammunition to move up in the draft, possibly to the No. 3 slot (Colorado) or No. 4 (Atlanta). That would get the Leafs into the territory of Matt Duchene/Evander Kane/Brayden Schenn, unless John Tavares still happens to be available after the top two picks.

Comments

[Zeke]

A young scorer? On the Leafs? That can't be right. Can it?

Oh man, I hope this happens.

[ray b]

Considering this deal?..Is Burke insane?...If that deal is out there you take it!

[Gerard]

You're not getting any of the top 3 without moving Schenn, and Burke has already been clear that he is not going to move him.

My question is, why not keep Kessel? Why move a guy who was on pace for over 40 goals last year, and is only in his early 20s, for an unproven prospect?

We already know Kessel is not a bust. No one can say that about any of the "top draft prospects", nor will they be able to for at least 2 - 3 years.

So why not go with the known commodity?

[kyle]

Kaberle and a 2nd rd pick (maybe a roster player) for Kessel and the Bruins 1st.. flip Kessel and the Leafs 7th overall for a shot at Tavares.. something along those lines would be intersting. But if that was even possible I might want the Leafs to keep Kessel and the two 1st rd picks.

[jon]

Why would the leafs ever trade kaberle within their division though?

[kyle]

ps I wonder if teams would be interested in Stajan or Ponikarovsky as throw ins who both had career years.

[Johnny Bravo]

If you can make the deal without the #7 pick...I'd do it in a heartbeat! They will probaby end up signing Ohlund who is much better in the defensive end than Kaberle. This team needs top end talent and Kessel is that! Do it Burkie!!

[Harp Mann]

Trade for Kessell if you can move up to 3rd and take Duchenne, or whichever one of the top 3 is still available.

[Bruins 'orr' better than Leafs!]

As always with rumours surrounding the Leafs, one must ask himself "Why would Boston make this trade?" If Kessel provides ammunition to move up the draft all the way to #3 why wouldn't Boston be interested in doing such a deal themselves? With scoring at a premium and Boston with a well stocked school of defencemen what would they want with Kaberle? I'll believe it when I see it and if I see it I'll be hanging up my Bruins hat for a while.

[Eoin Kenny]

Burke can wheel and deal all he likes, but if the Leafs start SOF43 (Season of Futility 43) without a credible, first-string, NHL-ready goalie, it really won't matter. What's the point of signing John Tavares, Victor Hedman, Matt Duchene, Evander Kane, Brayden Schenn -- any or all of them, for that matter -- if there's a gaping hole between the pipes. And that's precisely what Toskala amounts to judging by his deplorable 3.26 GAA and .891 "save" percentage.

[shuda_gonetobed]

The player the Leafs would draft at 7 should be the equal of Kessel. Kessel for Kaberle plus the 7th pick makes no sense. Leafs should get a player and a pick for Kaberle.

[Tincup Canuck]

If the Bruins have some cap trouble, why dont the leafs wait until July 1st and offer Kessel an offer sheet. That way they can keep Kaberle or move him in another deal.

[Paul McDougall]

We wouldn't be going through all this nonsense if the Leafs didn't bizarrely sign Gerber after Toskala went down last year. Gerber played well enough to ensure the Leafs did not get a top five pick.
There would have been no dishonour (i.e. "tanking") in the Leafs having gone with Joseph and Pogge down the stretch--their No. 1 was legitimately hurt. But nope, they sign Gerber. This franchise just can't think long term.
Could have had Brayden Schenn or Kane in the draft without giving up anything!

[Chris]

Only way Leafs can move up in the draft is involving a 3rd or 4th team. Similar to the 'Manny' trade with Jason Bay going to the Red Sox and the Pirates getting prospects from Dodgers and Red Sox. With the Leafs protedting Schenn they need other young talent to offer in exchange for a higher pick plus the 7th pick overall.

[Cory]

The idea of the Leafs giving up Kaberle AND the 7th pick for Kessel, a RFA who will command more than Kaberle, is laughable.

[matlewy]

Please - no more Americans on this team.

[Bill D]

For the Bruins sake, I hope they don't go through with that deal. Toronto would get a proven 40+ goals scorer for a 32 year old slightly better than average defenceman and Kaberle's 4.25 Million doesn't help Boston's cap number and is not far off what Boston would have to pay Kessel. Boston would be far better off trading for the #3 or #4 pick themselves rather than letting the leafs do that. Boston should sign Kessel to a reasonable contract. Once Kessel is signed Boston would have other options of trading other players to stay within the cap. This Toronto deal stinks.

[LOCKSTOCK93]

I really don't think Kaberle and the seventh for Kessel is worthwhile for the leafs...i'm glad to know it's not the case.

[Sivart]

"Why would the leafs ever trade kaberle within their division though?"

On the contrary why would the bruins trade Kessel within their division? If they do move him it won't be a team that they will have to play 6-8 times per year for the next decade. Plus the whole point of the bruins trading Kessel (if they do) would be to clear cap space, getting Kaberle does not solve that problem at all. The bruins can do better than a Kessel for Kaberle swap, and if they can't they should just keep him. Even if somebody signs him away as an rfa they would still end up getting a boatload of draft picks and considering the teams with the kind of cap space to sign Kessel they would likely end up being high draft picks.

[Angelo]

In today's NHL, Kaberle is a major comodity: All-Star D who comes with a small price tag. They should be getting more than kessel. Get a high pick or a signifcant package or just keep him.

[Charles Miller]

I think Kessel would be fine in a leaf uniform.That would guarantee them 8th spot in their division to be demolished early in the playoffs.Also too bad the Canadiens have a fence sitting nitwit as a GM.

[andrew.]

if the leafs had lose the hast game of their season to Ottawa they would have gotten the 5th pick...

[donald]

i'd keep kabbie, unless you have a plan for another puck moving defenceman.

and i'd be willing to dangle the kid instead:

as much as i like luke schenn, i don't believe he is a true franchise defenceman. look at almost every great defenceman over the history of the sport, what sets them apart is the "full package" aspect of their game. it is the combination of push ahead offence and shut down, suffocating defence that makes them so deadly. they eat minutes both when you need to shut the other team down, AND when you need to score the big goal. heck, usually they are counted on to be part of the big goal to tie, take the lead, or add insurance.

scouts do not line up to sing the offensive praise of luke schenn. while he is a potential shut down d-man, he is never going to be the go-to guy for when the important goals need to be scored. this limits him.

you build good teams around defence:

anaheim: pronger and niedermyer (points AND plus ratings)
boston: chara (points and plus rating)
calgary: phaneuf (usually points and plus rating -- bad year, though)
chicago: campbell (points and plus rating)
detroit: do i even have to say anything?

i don't think i need to go through the alphabet to extend my point.

so, briefly: if possible, get hedman. trade for another shut down stud.

heck, go for tavares and trade for another shut down stud.

but don't halt progress for a stay at home, one-dimension defensive specialist. franchises are not built on them.

now, kaberle is not a true franchise defenceman either, but puck-moving, strong passing, somewhat defensively stable guys are still hard to come by.

[Alan]

I like the trade...Kessel for Kaberle. It is hard to come by in the short term no doubt. Ask yourself who is a two way forward on the Leafs...probably Hagman and Stajan...but nowhere like Zetteberg. Kessel has decent numbers and has room to become a two-way forward. Grabovski and Blake has shown they can play but needs someone to play with. Leafs need complete forwards in the front to take the load of the defense.

It is a gamble that won't really hurt the team. Kaberle was injured for part of the 2009 season ... life goes on.

[Steve G]

The condos are sold out. Nothing else matters.