Mad scientist Brian Burke retooled the Toronto Maple Leafs with a pair of trades that brings defenseman Dion Phaneuf and former Stanley Cup winning goalie Jean Sebastian Giguere to the T-Dot.
Trade 1
To Toronto: Dion Phaneuf, Keith Aulie, Fredrik Sjostrom
To Calgary: Niklas Hagman, Matt Stajan, Jamal Mayers, and Ian White.
Seems like they Leafs have given up quite a bit with this trade, shedding themselves of Toronto mainstays Stajan and White who are usually very solid and Hagman who is arguably their best trade worth asset outside Kaberle. Jamal Mayers gets his wish... as does most Leaf fans and he is outta here!
In return they get former star defenseman Dion Phaneuf whose stock has been dropping since his phenomenal first few seasons in the league. He's a struggling player who the Leafs hope will regain his form with some new scenery. He does have a big shot so hopefully they can get him going on the powerplay. Aulie played for the Canadian junior team and is known as a big shutdown type of defenseman. Sjostrom is a left winger and used to be a first round pick, 11th overall in 2001. That was 9 years ago so I assume he doesn't exactly have a lot of upside.
Trade 2
To Toronto: J.S. Giguere
To Anaheim: Vesa Toskala, Jason Blake, a draft pick of some sort
Not much to talk about here. Giguere can probably still be a solid goalie but in my opinion he's past his prime. Here's hoping the reuniting of him and his old goalie coach can spark something. He could also be a good mentor to The Monster. Going the other way is Blake who is one of the Leafs better producers and oft ridiculed Vesa Toskala who ends up being another failed Tor experiment.
My biggest question is, who the heck are they going to put on the ice Tuesday against the Devils? They got back 2 useful contributors and and lost 6 full time players. 5 if you don't count Mayers. Initial reaction to this sees the Leafs getting fleeced but salary implications have to be considered. They shed some hefty contracts which gives the Leafs GM and President some space to move. This was in no way a cap team despite the accounting telling you otherwise. They were at the cap and had a lot of useless pieces on the ice. At least now they can say they have Dion, and Kessel. I wonder if this will allow Christian Hanson and Victor Stalberg to be brought up. Hopefully it quickens the decision to bring up Kadri cause I, like everyone else wants to see this kid play.
Showing posts with label Brian Burke. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Brian Burke. Show all posts
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Toronto Maple Leafs
So I thought I would touch upon the Maple Leafs situation since they still are one of my favourite teams no matter how bad they've been. I am really unsure where to start here as this team has been analyzed to death by the local media. I guess I'll begin with a general overview of what I think about the operation and the state of their talent pool.
As everyone knows the team is owned by Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment, which is run by the Ontario teacher's Pension Plan. Also, as everyone knows this is part of the problem as it's believed that a sports teamed owned by an organization only has profits in their agenda and not owning a winning team. Everyone knows this, everyone believes this and in my personal opinion it's the truth.
That's not to say the organization wants a losing team. That's not to say they've purposely put out bad teams year after year which is absurd. Therein lies the problem of this team. They just keep shooting themselves in the foot every year and mistakes are compounded with worse mistakes and what you end up with is one of the worse teams in the league.
It's frustrating as a Leafs fan. It really is. But it's a sports team, I'm a sports fan and that's part of the fun. It's supporting a team even though they reek. This team isn't hopeless. They've got some assets in Phil Kessel, Nazem Kadri, Tomas Kaberle and... well to be honest, that's about it. The team is still handcuffed by no-trade clauses and Kaberle is one of them. Good thing, bad thing? Probably good since the Leafs would probably trade him away for a bag of magic beans.
To make things more depressing, Burkey traded away the first round picks for the Leafs for the next two years in order to attain Kessel. Didn't think it was a good deal when they made the trade. Still don't. Just wait till Boston makes those picks... that's really turning the knife after they've stuck in into leaf fan's guts. Kessel is a good player despite a history of being a jackass in the locker room. He's done the Leaf's a lot of good since he's returned. Problem is, people seem to think that he's a franchise type player like Crosby or Ovechkin. If you think this, check your temperature cause you're sick, delusional or both. Two first round picks get you the chance of getting a Crosby or Ovechkin type player. It may not. You might end up with nothing but having the chance to is very important especially for a franchise in the dumps.
I don't need to show you examples of this but lets just do it for fun since the Leaf's brass have pissed away their picks and justified it by saying they can do better with Kessel then with 2 first round picks(2 first rounders from a crappy team mind you, meaning probably top 5).
1. Sidney Crosby: Team Captain, Stanley Cup Champion, Scoring Champion, NHL MVP
1. Alex Ovechkin: Team Captain, team has been elevated to top team status, Scoring Champ, NHL MVP
1. Patrick Kane: High powered scorer, big part of group that brought the Hawks back to respectability. Calder Trophy winner
1. Marc Andre Fleury Stanley Cup Champion
2. Eric Staal: Team Captain, Stanley Cup Champion, All star game MVP
2. Evegeni Malkin: Stanley Cup Champion, Scoring Champion, Playoff MVP
Even having a chance at this type of player makes a huge difference. Just from the hope it brings to the fans. It changes their mindset and gives them hope for the future.
They do have a bit of hope though and despite all these hurdles I see the Leafs being a good team in the next three years.
Reason for optimism:
Kessel
Kardri
Hanson
Bozak
Stalberg
Blacker
DiDimenico
As everyone knows the team is owned by Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment, which is run by the Ontario teacher's Pension Plan. Also, as everyone knows this is part of the problem as it's believed that a sports teamed owned by an organization only has profits in their agenda and not owning a winning team. Everyone knows this, everyone believes this and in my personal opinion it's the truth.
That's not to say the organization wants a losing team. That's not to say they've purposely put out bad teams year after year which is absurd. Therein lies the problem of this team. They just keep shooting themselves in the foot every year and mistakes are compounded with worse mistakes and what you end up with is one of the worse teams in the league.
It's frustrating as a Leafs fan. It really is. But it's a sports team, I'm a sports fan and that's part of the fun. It's supporting a team even though they reek. This team isn't hopeless. They've got some assets in Phil Kessel, Nazem Kadri, Tomas Kaberle and... well to be honest, that's about it. The team is still handcuffed by no-trade clauses and Kaberle is one of them. Good thing, bad thing? Probably good since the Leafs would probably trade him away for a bag of magic beans.
To make things more depressing, Burkey traded away the first round picks for the Leafs for the next two years in order to attain Kessel. Didn't think it was a good deal when they made the trade. Still don't. Just wait till Boston makes those picks... that's really turning the knife after they've stuck in into leaf fan's guts. Kessel is a good player despite a history of being a jackass in the locker room. He's done the Leaf's a lot of good since he's returned. Problem is, people seem to think that he's a franchise type player like Crosby or Ovechkin. If you think this, check your temperature cause you're sick, delusional or both. Two first round picks get you the chance of getting a Crosby or Ovechkin type player. It may not. You might end up with nothing but having the chance to is very important especially for a franchise in the dumps.
I don't need to show you examples of this but lets just do it for fun since the Leaf's brass have pissed away their picks and justified it by saying they can do better with Kessel then with 2 first round picks(2 first rounders from a crappy team mind you, meaning probably top 5).
1. Sidney Crosby: Team Captain, Stanley Cup Champion, Scoring Champion, NHL MVP
1. Alex Ovechkin: Team Captain, team has been elevated to top team status, Scoring Champ, NHL MVP
1. Patrick Kane: High powered scorer, big part of group that brought the Hawks back to respectability. Calder Trophy winner
1. Marc Andre Fleury Stanley Cup Champion
2. Eric Staal: Team Captain, Stanley Cup Champion, All star game MVP
2. Evegeni Malkin: Stanley Cup Champion, Scoring Champion, Playoff MVP
Even having a chance at this type of player makes a huge difference. Just from the hope it brings to the fans. It changes their mindset and gives them hope for the future.
They do have a bit of hope though and despite all these hurdles I see the Leafs being a good team in the next three years.
Reason for optimism:
Kessel
Kardri
Hanson
Bozak
Stalberg
Blacker
DiDimenico
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