Trade waters starting to stir

Guess Garth Snow didn't want the New Jersey Devils getting out of range.

Okay, that's mean. Presumably, the Islander GM simply saw a chance to get some value for a veteran defenceman, James Wisniewski, who will be unrestricted in July, and pulled the trigger, getting a second round pick and a fifth rounder from Montreal.

Good deal for the Habs, with Andrei Markov out, Josh Gorges ailing and P.K. Subban in some sort of strange purgatory, possibly headed back to the minors.

For the Isles, suddenly winners of four of their last five games, it was nonetheless a little peculiar to see the club move their top defenceman. Wisniewski was tied for the team lead in points and was playing more than 23 minutes a game, tops among Long Island defencemen. Perhaps the Isles have their eye on getting the No. 1 pick again this June, and with 30th place New Jersey going absolutely nowhere despite last week's coaching change, the Islanders don't want to get too far ahead.

The strange part was that Snow didn't shop Wisniewski, but simply cut a deal with Pierre Gauthier. These days, the market for capable defencemen is just starting to heat up and prices can only increase. Then again, moving him now saves more than half of his $3.25 million salary, and that matters on The Island, where the deal has the club barely above the NHL's $43.4 salary floor, and that's with buyout cap hits for Alexei Yashin and Brendan Witt.

The trade was the first concrete evidence that the trade market might be opening after the Christmas freeze. Jersey sent veteran Brian Rolston to the minors and then put him on re-entry waivers, which means he can now be had for half his $5.062 salary this season and next.

Jay Feaster, meanwhile, is now running the show in Calgary, likely with a mandate to clear up some of that team's cap clog, tricky with 11 players on the Flames holding some form of no-trade/no-movement clause in their contracts.

The Leafs would love to get in on this, and have pieces to move, including defenceman Francois Beauchemin, winger Clark MacArthur, centre Mikhail Grabovski and possibly defenceman Tomas Kaberle. Veteran goalie J.S. Giguere could move at some point depending on his health and whether he is willing to waive his no-trade. Youngster Nazem Kadri isn't going anywhere despite being returned to the minors. Teams are showing some interest in Marlie goalie Jussi Rynnas, who is having a sparkling season in the AHL, but the guessing is now that Rynnas and Jonas Gustavsson are slated to be the Leafs' tandem next season.

While many would love to see Leaf GM Brian Burke start dumping players for picks like Snow did with Wisniewski, that appears not to be Burke's priority at the moment. Instead, he'd like to find a way to get some help for his beleaguered coach by acquiring some talent from another club.

Of the teams scraping the bottom of the NHL right now - the Leafs, Flames, Edmonton Oilers, Islanders, Devils, Florida, Buffalo - it's an interesting debate as to which clubs are best positioned for success in the not-too-distant future. The Oilers have the best single prospect in Taylor Hall, although Long Island still believes John Tavares will be a star someday. The Panthers are building a future around Erik Gudbranson but have chronic money problems. The Sabres, who are likely to be sold in the coming months, have lots of young players and prospects, but like Toronto, lack that one superb, blue-chipper. Calgary and Jersey have big messes to clean up before they can start rebuilding, precisely the process the Leafs have already gone through over the past two years.

All of these clubs have something to sell over the next two months. Now we'll see who is buying. 

Comments

[Arthur]

Mike, are you crazy? for 2.5M I am sure the Leafs could do better than 37 year old Rolston and his 5 points in 21 games. Sure, he had 20 goals last season, but a 20 goal scorer is not worth anything near 2.5M. 100$ says no one goes for Rolston.

[Luke Driscoll]

In my view, I would be keen to see us move Grab, Kadri, Beauchemin and Mitchell.

I would move Grab for a reasonable first pick, Kadri for a mid-aged player (eg Marleau) to help us now and Beauchemin and Mitchell for a good prospect such as Brayden Schenn.

[Mike]

The Leafs will go nowhere with Burke and Wilson around. It is obvious.

[Canuck Teach]

Leafs now have a decent SECOND line: MacArthur, Grabo & Kulemin. They are young, gritty and fast - they have produced despite having little in the way of support from the defence corps, and no top line to deflect attention. THIS LINE IS ALL WE HAVE TO SHOW FOR THE COMBINED EFFORTS of JF & BB. I think you would have to be suffering from massive cerebral hemorrhaging to even talk about parting with ANY of them. (So what if 2 of them get raises in June? You want Mitchell centering your second line in 2011-12?) If we ever get a FIRST line, these guys will do even better. THAT'S OUR PROBLEM - NO FIRST LINE.

Kessel is BB's heart and soul - well, he sold it to get him, so there's 1/3 of your first line-eventually. Schenn is untouchable, as is Aulie, Phaneuf, Monster, and Orr (for different reasons). "Everyone else" can be had, but only Versteeg, Kaberle -- maybe Armstrong and Beauchemin -- have any attraction value. How a man of BB's intelligence landed us with a D that can't pass or shoot, or Forwards that can't play center or win face-offs will be a mystery for the ages. Any good news? no place to go but up!!!!

[Canuck Teach]

Arthur: with all due respect, Mitchell & Beauchemin for Brayden Schenn? Mitchell can't score or stickhandle and Beauchemin leads the League in giveaways? trade *them* for the best young Canadian prospect in the World Juniors? Can we get you a job as GM for any (other) NHL team? (-----:

[Glen]

Burke has been given the greenlight to be creative (try anything). He has failed miserably in a way no other GM has tried (maybe Milbury) and because of his failure the Leafs are set up poorly for the next five years. When it comes to ten years out of the playoffs will we still be supporting him. I thought Antrropov, Ponikorosky, Steen, Colliachavo, should have been held on to. Who did we get for those players that are still playing for the team. Bozak as a number one centre on the League``s most important franchise is a joke. He tried to get rid of Blue and White disease. What do we call the disease we see on the ice on the ice now. It is pathethic.

[Nev]

My original post suggested moving Aulie and Kaberle in a package for a front line player which some took exception to. Here's my thinking. Again it makes no sense whatsoever to destroy what's working on the leafs at this point - namely the Kulemin, Grabovski and MacArthur line. Kulemin and Grabo just signed contracts and both are playing with the kind of determination night in and night out the Leafs need. Who to say they won't continue to get better? Why assume they won't? MacArthur won his arbitration and has again demonstrated the ability to play and play well in this league. The Leafs walked from Domenic Moore at 2.1M$ and that remains a critical error in judgement at center particularly where they are now. Further, based on what I saw at the Tampa / Montreal game last night. Moore and Marty St Louis are two of the key cogs on that team. Moore's solid two-way game and excellent penalty killing are vastly underrated and Guy Boucher is getting the most out of him to our loss. Lecavalier is another talented but heartless player the Leafs don't need nor his contract. By extension the Leafs would be foolish not to offer MacArthur a decent contract and raise to stay next year and into the future. You don't reward decent improving young players by sending them packing. Now while Kieth Aulie may develop into a Pronger-type defenceman, realistically this is two or three painful years at best away. Leafs need a two-way center with size and grit to lead their top line now. Aulie and Kaberle represent the only decent negotiating chips they have that do not subtract from what little they have up front that is working. Leafs also have Mikus, Holzer, Gysbers, Lashof and Richmond on the Marlies all of whom could not have been worse than the sorry lot of give-away prone vets they currently have.

[tony]

People when will you learn that as long as the ACC is being filled, the LEAFS will NEVER go anywhere, you can take that to the bank! Tis team NEEDS to be owned by a hockey lover, as Detroit is, who WILL make the team good, but never the current ownership. People JUST don't get it its $$$$ first then a team. If they start losing money every game then watch and see what happens!!!

[adam]

I think Luke found the answer: trade Beauchemin and Mitchell for Brayden Schenn!

While we're at it, why don't we just trade Komisarek and Lebda for Ryan Ellis or Erik Gudbranson?

[Paul McDougall]

this is in response to Damien's column in The Star yesterday. "No quick fix for Leafs failed game plan." Damien says the Leafs should take a middle of the road approach--retaining first round picks while trying to get incrementally better.

Couldn't disagree more. The Leafs need to finish at or near the bottom for the next three years, not counting this year. They don't just need first round picks, they need HIGH first rounders (top three minimum). Otherwise it's just a bunch more Jiri Tlustys and Nazem Kadris.

You cannot win the cup in the new NHL without acquiring true game breakers through the draft. There's too much parity and the only way to dominate is with a Crosby, an Ovechkin, a Toews in your lineup, and no one is giving those players away or letting them become free agents.

Burke needs to start the fire sale NOW. The worst thing he could do is acquire free agents in the summer that make the Leafs marginally better next year. All that would do is ensure they finish out of the lottery in a year when they finally have a first round pick again.

Otherwise, this carousel of mediocrity keeps spinning, and spinning, for another 40 years.

[Go Leafs Go]

lol. Grabo will get AT BEST a low 1st rd pick, and I'm a big Grabo fan. It will take A LOT more than just Kadri to get a Marleau type player. And it will take WAY MORE than just Beauchemin and Mitchell to get a Brayden Schenn type prospect. I doubt Grabo, Beauchemin and Kadri would be enough to get Brayden Schenn. Forget trading Mitchell because I highly doubt anyone would want him. We might get a very, very low draft pick for him, if we're even that lucky! Burke has very few assets that are of any value. The only way I can see him getting a legit 1st line player is by mortgaging the future again, and look where that has gotten us so far.

[B Leaf]

Anyone who would trade Grabovski or write it in the paper is an idiot. Kessel and Versteeg could be shopped.

[Roadapples]

Thanks Cox for articulating the state of Leafs nation in "Leafs failed rebuild plan" Dec. 31. The toughest pills to swallow are often the ones you know are true - and you laid it out in that article. The Kessel trade is a failure in the current context of the Leafs - however the fact that the Leafs have to acquire strong players to play around Kessel to make him a 40 goal scorer proves the trade wrong and proves that Kessel is more of a (ugh) Jason Blake; however he is a much younger Blake and I still have hope for him - plus Seguin isn't exactly proving himself to be a major goal scorer in Boston anyway so maybe the trade was a neutral one. ENOUGH about Kessel (note to self)

Having the youngest team in the NHL is a tremendous plus and one thing that Leafs nation can hang their hat on as I do. We want to watch a young team grow and mature into winners - but I'm afraid we are on the long road to the middle rather than to the top. The one thing I am absolutely confident in is that Burke wants this team to win more than anyone and is putting resources in place to do so. He admits to having a battle about Macarthur and giving in to Nonis and others - he gave in because he has a great team and Macarthur proved to be a great asset - a similar debate preceded the acquisition of Aulie.

Burke doubled the scouting staff and makes huge and daily demands of their performance.

If anything, I believe that Burke has righted the ship for the long term - 10-20-50 years. Maybe not for the next 3 years - but I'll take the former. He will put this organization in place to consistently make the playoffs and be a respected franchise that players will want to come to. If you can get in the playoffs you can win the Cup - and Burke is making seismic changes in the organization that will put them in play in the decades to come. Just by the rules of chance and teh wildness of the playoffs, the Leafs will win a few Cups.

Keep at it Burkie, we're with you.

[Zack]

I like the idea shipping KP,Beauchi and Kabbi in return for a offensive star player

[Jimmy0404]

Grabo is not very likely to be traded. He's been Burke's best player all year and has shown real heart and soul at times. And he's also one of their best two-way players. You'd have to get a LOT for him.

[Craig Murphy]

Clearly, between JFJ and Burke, enough damage has been rendered to prevent a cup possibility until 2014/15 and that's just for a sniff of success.
JFJ traded draft picks like trading cards and sealed his fate with the Rask deal. Then Burke blows in with a "big ego" trade for Kessel that has screwed this team for years more. What stings more is that when Punxsatawney Phil becomes a UFA at 26, he will flee faster than you can say perimiter player to the good old USA. Oops, I forgot Trader Cliff! His second stint lost us Alex Steen for garbage. So let's tally that up....Tyler Sequin, Alex Steen, Rask, Stalberg, Mike Cammalleri (came to the ACC on July 9, 2009 to sign as a UFA only to be rebuffed by the Burke regime), Nazem Kadri (can you spell "another leaf draft bust"), and the lost 2011 first rounder anchored by a 20 million dollar incompetent defence. Is it any wonder why waffles are selling. BTW, to trade 2 picks to faciliate the Schenn drafting? For a "defensive defenseman? Get real.

You really have to stop defending your buddy Burke. He knew a top notch centre was needed last year and he has not traded for one. All we hear is " We think this guy can play " BS !! Only 3-4 players are left from the pre-Burke era so THIS IS BURKE"S TEAM. OK? The Monster is another story for another day.

[Craig Murphy]

Re Bozak...I partially agree with Damian that there is some talent there...However, as with Matt Stajan, because the leafs basically have nothing at centre, Stajan and Bozak have had to play outside of their roles. They are not 1st liners and therefore don't look impressive in these slots. Both these players, had they signed on with a competitive team, would have found themselves on 2nd and 3rd lines with real hard working NHL wingers that have grit. Bozak seems like a nice kid who works hard, not unlike Stajan, now with the Flames.