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Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Pure Toronto speculation

Interesting Burke quote from the following source:

Sports Reporter

Moments after the Maple Leafs announced they'd signed free agent blueliner François Beauchemin on Monday, an email landed in Brian Burke's inbox.

"We got our first serious trade offer – not for (Tomas) Kaberle, for a lesser defenceman," said the Maple Leafs general manager.

"But that's the next thing, to see if we can parlay a defenceman into a forward."

I think it's fair to speculate that this could have been a CBJ offer, the request was for a D-man and Burke is looking to swap or trade a defenseman for a forward.. According to the article the leafs currently have 10 NHL level defensemen under contract which would make it very likely they are looking to trade some of these players in exchange for forwards.

Looking at the roster, the only player which looks interesting and available is Mike van Ryn.

Scouting Report

Assets -- Moves the puck well up the ice, has a good point shot and is always willing to dish out punishment.

Flaws -- Needs to become more assertive on offense, since he has the talent to produce big numbers.

Career potential -- Top four defenseman.

Additional info -- Has been very injury prone over the last couple of years.. 1 year left on his contract with a cap hit of 2.9M, 30 years old.. (He does fit the Hitchcock mold 6'1", 202.. defensively sound and gritty)..


6 comments:

Skraut said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Skraut said...

Van Ryn is tempting because he's a righty, but he's missed more games the past 2 seasons than Modin. Yes there is a certain buy low/sell high mentality, but that's a huge risk.

I don't want to get into another Brian Berard situation.

eplagge said...

Yep I agree.. I personally think he has a very nice offensive upside.. he can be a PPQB.. plus he's gritty... but he has a horrendous injury history dating back quite some time... BUT it could be a fair deal if we send Modin the other way... overall I think we can land something a bit younger and along the same lines..with a lot less risk...

BZArcher said...

Given Burke's history of wanting big and tough guys, do you think a deal for Kaberle involving Boll and Modin might be possible?

eplagge said...

Probably not, they already added Colton Orr... and the last known deal for Kaberle involved Kessel from the Bruins, a 21 year old player who put up 60 points last year.. that's a pretty hefty price tag for Kaberle in my opinion.. The Kessel deal will probably be the best deal Burke will get for Kaberle..

LTL said...

Great first post!

It definitely wouldn't surpirse me in the least if Howson is kicking the Toronto tires for a d-man.

With 9 d-men under contract something will have to give and out of the available bodies I agree that you'd think that Van Ryn has to be of interest.

I just can't see Howson giving up the assets it would take to land a Kaberle unless Burkes demands come way down.

-LTL