 | Confident Burke opens up about Maple Leafs |
An introspective Brian Burke has admitted he could have traded Tomas Kaberle by Sunday night and could have acquired a “top six” forward for the veteran defenceman.
But he wasn’t about to make a deal he couldn’t live with.
“The whole thing ended up being easier than I thought it would be,” said Burke, who expected to have to make a tough decision on dealing Kaberle at the end of his no-trade availability.
“But we didn’t get any offer that made it difficult to consider. We said, back at the draft, this is not an auction. We’re not going to move him for the best offer. It has to make sense for us.
“We could have come up with a top six forward. There were some out there, believe me. We could have overpaid. There were some bad contracts out there. We could have made a bad deal. We didn’t want to do that.”
It is not the end of the world for the Maple Leafs but it is hardly nirvana either.
Yesterday, this was a challenged hockey team.
Today, it remains just that.
With Kaberle in the lineup, they have a skilled offensive defenceman who is rarely a difference maker.
Without him, they have a defence deep enough to compete well at the NHL level.
The whole Kaberle dance turned out to be much ado about nothing but whether he says this for public consumption or not, Burke has been a Kaberle fan since the beginning of these questions.
He likes the player, the person, the skill level, the size of contract: Everything about him but the fact he doesn’t win and seems content not winning.
He didn’t say that: I did.
Burke has intentionally rid himself of many longtime Leafs — “Where did they get us? Twenty-ninth place? — but Kaberle wasn’t as easy to convert into anything resembling gold.
“We were never close to make any deal for him,” said Burke. “We didn’t really have to make any kind of decision because there was no decision to make. I don’t know why the offers weren’t what they needed to be. But we weren’t about to give this guy away.”
Next month at training camp, Burke will sit down with player agent, Rick Curran, and talk about a contract extension for Kaberle. Maybe the last contract of Kaberle’s career.
Should he come in at reasonable numbers, Burke will likely sign him again. If the numbers are too high — and if teams weren’t willing to pay for him at $4.25 million, why would they go higher in the future? — then Burke will let him take on free agency.
http://www.ottawasun.com/sports/hockey/2010/08/17/15045706.html
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| "Confident Burke opens up about Maple Leafs" | Login/Create an Account | 73 comments |
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Re: Confident Burke opens up about Maple Leafs (Score: 1)
by reinjosh on Tuesday, August 17
(User Info | Send a Message) | Well the rumor is Ryan Malone. Top 6 forward. Yes. But not worth it at all in my opinion.
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Re: Confident Burke opens up about Maple Leafs (Score: 1)
by Kramer on Tuesday, August 17
(User Info | Send a Message) | Just like I predicted, there was a 50-50 chance Kaberle would be traded.
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Re: Confident Burke opens up about Maple Leafs (Score: 1)
by mojo19 on Tuesday, August 17
(User Info | Send a Message) | Does this team make the playoffs?
Kulemin - Bozak - Kessel
Kariya - Kadri - Versteeg
Torres - Grabovski - Armstrong
Sjostrom - Mitchell - Orr
Hanson, Brown
Phaneuf - Kaberle
Beauchemin - Schenn
Gunnarsson - Komisarek
Lebda
Giggy
Monster
2 veteran UFA's added into the mix makes it look a little more legit up front in my opinion. |
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Re: Confident Burke opens up about Maple Leafs (Score: 1)
by nordiques100 on Tuesday, August 17
(User Info | Send a Message) | Don't let BB fool you into believing there was more than one top 6 forward offered.
it was Malone and just him. And that is sad. somewhere b/w the draft and aug 15th, his value died massively.
while his 2nd half play was poor, and contract status not great, he depreciated way way more than expected. Ryan Malone? give me a break. the best name available. that is a kick in the nuts.
i knew unlike others Ryan, Brown, that was improbable. but cmon, Malone? Why Malone when you can use Meuller or Hanson or Caputi.
that potential 1st and Joslin was possible too, but knowing Leaf fans, they wouldnt know Derek Joslin and he of course wouldn't be as advance as Barron Smith and no Nathan Dempsey.
Bad move by Burke. plain and simple. He misjudged how this was going to go down, mis-stepped in trying to play the media and didnt time this well at all.
Now, likely, a player who would be part of the Leafs long term plan will likely go. The reason is that they're not going to win with this team. And BB is going to have to do something else to make an improvement.
if Lebda and Finger are 7 and 8, that's 5 mil sitting on the sidelines. zero chance of that happening. just dump finger? well whatever, you either have a kid rot in the pressbox or Lebda, an expensive replacement for Exelby.
Nothing wrong with an expensive D. the 23 mil to their top 6. fine. but 5 mil on the sidelines. kinda bad.
fine, they dump finger. whatever. a million plus 7th dman isnt wise though. if BB knew this was going to stand a good chance of happening, he would have never signed Lebda. But my guess is that how it played out, well that was totally not in his plans. He had to have guessed Kaberle for top 6 was a shoo-in. he was sorely mistaken.
so now what? well they cant stand pat. who goes?
Beau? whom he had in Anaheim and really likes and was Phaneuf's main partner? no.
Komi? whom he aggressively went after last July and who BB would like to give a 2nd chance and kind of has to with him having a NTC? no.
Kaberle is here now, Finger sucks, Lebda, just signed so he'll likely stay.
And of course Phaneuf, the and captain, he's going nowhere.
Gunnarsson? well if he wasnt their best Dman last year then maybe a trip to the marlies would be in order. but this guy is and likely will be as steady as they come on D.
so who's left? Luke Schenn. If he trades this guy, it would be a grave, grave mistake. but, he seems right now the most expendable, with the most value to bring back a coveted top 6 forward.
he moves and they have 1 less person to re-sign. Kaberle will likely have to be for optics or else embarrassingly lose him for nothing. gunny is a lock so is bozak.
he moves and it means holzer, aulie, blacker and mikus have life in terms of getting to the NHL sooner than later. Aulie has size and defensive a*****en. not a nasty hitter like schenn, but the kind of stay at home steady guy a la schenn.
Neal? Ryan? Mueller? i can totally see him going after a current RFA.
I am totally against trading Schenn as i am sick of seeing home grown, drafted Leafs get moved early in their career. But bank on that happening before any other big name dman moving. And you know BB will have an itchy trigger finger to do something big.
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Re: Confident Burke opens up about Maple Leafs (Score: 1)
by nordiques100 on Tuesday, August 17
(User Info | Send a Message) | Cmon Leaf Nation lets be positive because we're not allowed to be Negative!!
The Leafs are one of 30 teams who can win the cup this year!
The Leafs are one of 30 teams who will dress 20 players per game!
The Leafs are one of 30 teams to have at least 1 forward, 1 defenseman and 1 goalie on their roster!
The Leafs will have an all star representative!
the Leafs in 2011 will make a draft selection in Minnesota!
the Leafs are one of 30 teams who will comply with the NHL's salary cap!
The Leafs are one of 30 teams with NHL calibre players!
The Leafs learned repeatedly what not to do in the last 5 years of losing!
The Leafs in their last 5 seasons had nothing to do with futility and disgraceful hockey but more if not all about learning and developing!!
the leafs can only go up in special teams!
The Leafs spend about $28 mil on their defense making them the riches D in hockey!
The Leafs are the only team who uses just Blue and White for their uniforms!
The Leafs do not blackout their fans creating a new network seen by no-one like Rogers!
the only negatives though, and they have to be spoken are:
The leafs have no ice girls
the leafs are sponsored by a terrible airline
The leafs ticket prices are too much.
but other than that! its awesome in leaf nation!! nope no negativity here!!!
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Re: Confident Burke opens up about Maple Leafs (Score: 1)
by Tachmo on Tuesday, August 17
(User Info | Send a Message) | | The NHL seems to be all talk and no action these days. It is getting quite sickening listenening to all the stated rumours that never come true. I admit I am a bit of a rumour junky, that is I why I moderately follow this site. However I think it would be nice if teams loosened up a bit and pulled the trigger more. All I have heard is how Spezza will be dealt, Kaberle, Savard, the Kovalchuk saga, Bieksa, etc..... I think the league is turning into a joke, loyalty is thrown out the window and all that matters these days is cap hit and term. If you make too much and have one bad year, immediately you are on the trade block and it is well talked about. |
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Re: Confident Burke opens up about Maple Leafs (Score: 1)
by DandoEagle on Tuesday, August 17
(User Info | Send a Message) | screw the loafs lets talk about the grate Habs!
they got rammo. a amazing pickup!
hes gooder than bustavsen right now he just need game action. hes an outstanding goaler prospect who just not sign with the bolts.
him auld and price make for grateness in goal. easly the strentgh in the northeast.
gigeure is a granny and bustavsen is well a bust
thomas is a overpaid loser rask is ok but lost when winning 3 to zippo!
miller lets in softy's like that goal against crosby
eliiot is ok and so is leclair but not gooder than the habs for sure!
in pierre we trust! glad to have a gm who takes action and makes tough choices for the gooder of the team unlike blowhard burke.
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Re: Confident Burke opens up about Maple Leafs (Score: 1)
by glotz_99 (gha@yahoo.co) on Tuesday, August 17
(User Info | Send a Message) | Anyone else think the Leafs should go after someone like Raffi Torres to round out their top 9? They could probably sign him to a relatively cheap contract
(1.5 -2 million)
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Re: Confident Burke opens up about Maple Leafs (Score: 1)
by Redwings3019 on Wednesday, August 18
(User Info | Send a Message) | If you look back on the entire event I think its hard to argue that the Kovalchuk situation killed any Kaberle trade talks. Almost every Kovalchuk update had some tidbit stating something along the lines of effecting the Kaberle trade because NJ was in on it. Its probably more so on the LA part but I still see little effect here.
For me its hard to believe NJ was ever in on any Kaberle talks. Now Im a Jersey fan and I cant see them ever meeting Burkes requirements for the trade. They lost assets in the Kovalchuk deal, if they didnt land Kovalchuk (which is what would have made them interested in Kaberle apparently) how would they be able to move a top 6 forward at that point? I could see why with Martin gone but I still cant see who they would be able to move to get Kaberle (even if they signed Kovalchuk...) I personally cant see Zajac getting moved, their other top 6s are untouchable or older than what Burke probably wants. Perhaps Zharkov but I dont see him as the 'now' impact player Burke wants.
Unless SJ was able to move Boyle they were never in any Kaberle trade talks. I cant see SJ being able to move Boyle unless he is packaged with an insentive player and then the Kaberle deal becomes too expensive for the end product.
LA could have been a possible location but I guarantee that LA wanted a top 6 forward back as well, Toronto would get the better forward but its a slight upgrade for Toronto and LA doesnt want a future prospect to go with a Dman that has 1 year left on his contract and isnt young (isnt old but...), they would need an impact player to make the trade to improve on their playoff performance. They need a forward to make that next push in the playoffs. Odds are that LA was asking for a certain player that Burke had high on his list and LA's return wouldnt improve the team (atleast not in Burke's "Now not later" look on the trade)
Dallas doesnt seem possible either, Dallas wasnt going to let Neal or Eriksson go without getting a replacement for them in return. The best I could see coming out of Dallas was Benn and most likely have Richards or Ribeiro attached for Kaberle +. The only reason I could see Dallas (not taking into account personal reasons) trading to get Kaberle is to get a prospect they like and to get something for Neal if he doesnt sign...thats it. They are rebuilding, little reason to search for a key vet dman.
Teams that probably could have be interested had their needs met at the draft or via free agency. The market wasnt right to move Kaberle for what Burke wanted. A few teams are no looking into moving dmen, plus Mitchell's reported clean bill of health makes teams look at him (SJ, Washington and LA all reported to be talking to Mitchell)
If you look at seasons end I think a lot of teams were looking for a player like Kaberle and then the draft and FA kind of answered most of those concerns for those serious teams and it really took away from Kaberle's value.
What I see happening next is the teams who are looking at Mitchell/Bieksa and dont land either will look to Toronto and talk about Komisarek and Beauchemin. I think either of these players could land Toronto a top 6 forward (maybe an arguable top 6) but Id assume it would be a certain package of players from both teams to land a player Burke is happy with. I think Komisarek has a NTC (not sure if its a full NTC though) and Beauchemin doesnt (I could be wrong on either)
I dont know it just never seemed possible from the start for me. Now I honestly dont follow these teams that close (besides NJ and some what Toronto) so I could be completely off on their needs, its just what Ive seen from these teams. |
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