- Damien Cox of the Toronto Star: With the trade deadline just days away, Brian Burke is being squeezed. The teams is struggling (losing 7 of 8), and he’s hoping to make a deal at a reasonable price. Does he overpay for a Rick Nash or not given to the high prices for others? Columbus is squeezing Burke on Nash, same with demands for backup goalies, and what it would take for Dustin Brown. Burke has worked hard to accumulate prospects like Jake Gardiner, Matt Frattin, Joe Colborne, Keith Aulie, Nazem Kadri and Jesse Blacker, and it’s difficult to package them off for a big-name expensive player. Does Burke trade away future players for short-term solutions, or avoid it all costs? Some want Nash or Brown now. The smartest decision may be to trade Mikhail Grabovski and Clarke MacArthur, keep the young guys and regroup, and fire Wilson.
- Randy Starkman of the Toronto Star: Former NHLer Mike Peca thinks the Maple Leafs should go after Mike Ribeiro or Ryan Getzlaf.
“There’s so many spots where they can benefit from getting somebody. They’re waiting to see if Reimer will shake out to be a good goalie. I think the one thing they do need is a centre. Somebody who might be available is a guy like Mike Ribeiro from Dallas, who’s just a good guy with the puck and can move it around and seems to have a personality and a swagger that can hold up to the pressures of Toronto. I don’t know if (Ryan) Getzlaf will still be available. He’d be a guy that’d be a perfect fit in Toronto. But I think for them to get a guy who can be a No. 1 centre, play those minutes, distribute the puck is somebody the Leafs would love to get. They talk about Rick Nash, but then that’s adding another scoring winger without addressing what the need is: A bona fide No. 1 centre that’s going to anchor that top line for years to come.”
Darren Pang thinks Josh Harding and Chris Mason may be good options for the Maple Leafs
“You need a goaltender there that you’re not going to give up too much for … the guys that are unrestricted. Josh Harding would be a good fit there … He’s unrestricted at the end of the year, likely not to re-sign there, can win hockey games, can play the puck and I think he would be a good fit for Toronto. A guy like Chris Mason in Winnipeg, a veteran guy who’s been down the stretch and helped get the Blues in the playoffs a couple of years ago, he’s a great teammate. He would be a stabilizing force for those young goaltenders.”
#1 by Too Old to be Fooled at February 25th, 2012
Reading the comments has me scratching my head. While I was still investing in stocks on the market, I learned an important lesson: do not get emotionally involved with any of my holdings. The truth is that there are few fans still around that can even remember the last Stanley Cup win in Toronto. We have all been duped by what transpires. You have a GM who has made himself larger than the team. Burke is more of the problem than any feasable solution. I look at Steve Yzerman operating more or less on his own. He’s wheeling and dealing and the team is progressing. Then, turning to the Leafs, look at what Burke has done. He has surrounded himself with a hired team of alleged experts and former GMs and a coach that has long been out of touch. Among them, methinks that they spend far too much time back slapping, sipping cocktails and noshing business lunches. Now, less than 72 hours before the trade deadline is NOT the time to accomplish very much as we all watch them fall out of (at least!) a play off spot. Seriously folks, it’s time to recognize that Burke’s grand plan was in reality no plan. Let’s cut the tie with Burke and move along.
#2 by AJ at February 25th, 2012
Pang’s idea doesn’t seem to be so bad, Peca’s opinion is the same old story, except the Ribeiro part. I’ve been thinking for a while Leafs could use him, he could be grabbed now.
MacArthur+Grabovski+Franson for Ribeiro+Ott? Fine tune it if you will.
#3 by hotwings at February 25th, 2012
i cant agree that yzerman or any gm for that matter is operating on their own… with yzerman, he has not exactly been “wheeling and dealing”… the team has not been terribly active since he took over and id have to disagree with a lot of the decisions that the team made (not all under yzermans watch mind you..) ie: eric brewer, mattius ohlund, guy boucher (overrated it seems and not finding much success this year), not shoring up the goalie position or defence position…
i cant see how you think the leafs are not progressing.. its a tight league for one thing and he has stock piled the team with lots of prospects and tradeable assets…
and burke would agree with u, that so close to the deadline is not the time for deals to be made.. but he even said, that it is the current nature of the trade market.. you cant force teams to trade with u..
i highly doubt that the leafs brass spends its time back slapping and throwing back cocktails.. honestly. burke put together a contender before.. and needs additional credit if vancouver can win it this year as well… since he helped build that team too…
id also disagree that the people burke hired are *alleged* experts — obviously they are experts… involved in hockey their whole lives at the professional level.. so ya,they are experts..
#4 by Wunschkind at February 25th, 2012
Dustin Brown > Rick Nash
(Not in terms of talent)
#5 by Too Old to be Fooled at February 25th, 2012
A response to Wunschkind , I think Burke has accomplished very little in Toronto. Apparently those marketable assets and/or prospect are of quite a different value than most other GMs recocgnize, otherwise trades would have happened long ago. This team with all of its marketable assets and/or prospects is one entirely assembled by Mr. Burke. For the past full season, watching those marketable assets and/or prospects, the only changes made have been to surround himself with underlings. Absolutely trade deadline is the wrong time to begin shuffling and trading. The question is, where has Mr. Burke and his underlings been for all these months and exactly how do they explain their time. A trading deadline is a time designated for trading to END, not to begin thinking about trading. I think we all expect and demand too little from Burke and place too much importance for whatever he claims to have done before. Easier, Mr. Burke to show us what you are doing NOW.
#6 by Captain Ahab at February 25th, 2012
I would entertain a Grabovski, MacArthur and Reimer to Vancouver for Hamhuis or Ballard (Burke’s choice) Raymond and Schneider. Both teams get something, both teams give up something and most of all the Leafs get a very good goaltender.
#7 by Captain Ahab at February 25th, 2012
I have to agree with “Too Old to be Fooled” about Mr. Burke. While I do give him credit for wheeling and dealing back in the day to get both the Sedin’s at the draft, no one not even Mr. Burke knew that they would turn out to be as good as they are. They were both projected to be good “second” liners. The teams that he has put his personal stamp on and I always wondered why he was sought after by the Leafs. His long time association with coach Wilson looks like it might have to be severed if the Leafs do not make the playoffs or maybe even if they do. Ultimately the coach is responsible for how the players given to him by the GM perform on the ice and you know Mr. Burke won’t be taking the fall.
#8 by Too Old to be Fooled at February 25th, 2012
Repeating myself BUT it is never wise for an investor to become emotionally involved with his/her portfolio. Worst misteak I eve made was with some Nortel stock where I believed that I saw something that was not there. As the schedule judges each team based on performance, I think that we need also judge the body of work produced by the current management. That too is part of rebuilding. We are watching other GMs judging what Burke and the new Muskoka Five (Burke, Nonis, Poulin, Loiselle and Wilson) have attempted to fob off as a competitive team says more than any fan. My opinion is that the ownership needs to take a long hard look at the performance of the NEW MUSKOKA FIVE and determine if that group’s sense of entitlement has kept them from doing a thing since September