You Be The GM

OMG Im sick of you guys not wanting Kessel. Hes a top scorer in the league. Why on earth would you rather have Brayden Schenn? If we EVER have a player like Kessel we will be luck, and Burke should jump on that in a second while the offer is still there. 21 year old who scored 36 goals, and on pace for 40. Thats sick. How else are we suppose to have a top line when you want to trade the ONLY guy we could have away? Just so you know, everyone (including me) are stoked to see Tlusty this year because of his numbers last year in the AHL. Well Kessel was in the same draft as Tlusty and he has a 36 goal season already. Some leaf fan who do not have as much knowledge have to stop undervaluing pther players. You all want Jordan Staal for Kaberle, but not Kessel? Kessel has more upside the Staal does

they dont need kaberle now. they have a bunch of defencemen coming up the pipeline. preissing wasnt in their plans so one of hickey/teubert/voinov/drewiskie will take quinceys place

@Jordan

Kessel is another Jason Blake. He’s a puck hog, he’s selfish and tends not to be a team player. In his last thirty games of the season excluding the very last where he had a hat trick, he had 9 goals in 30 games. He tends to be streaky and can go very cold. He is not the player we want in Toronto ever, he has exactly the same qualities that Blake had when he showed up.

@ Josh

Go up about 20-30 posts and read what Staples has to say in part 3. Will explain why I feel that this could increase their interest in Kaberle.

@Jordan To make that comment about Kessel you know nothing about hockey ,you should watch him play sometime he plays with Boston ,just in case you didn’t know. LOL

@Largus

You might be right about LA needing another offensive defenseman now that Quincey has been shipped out to Colorado. Smyth’s contract is not inexpensive, but Lombardi worked wonders to convince the Avalanche to take Preissing too and his $2.75M cap hit for the next two years (keep in mind, Preissing would have been forced down to the minors had he stayed, notwithstanding his salary). So in the end, if my calculations are right, adding Smyth adds about $3M to our cap total, leaving us with about $7.5M of cap room left, which will be further depleted once we re-sign RFA’s Johnson and Teddy Purcell and figure out who takes that sixth D position. So, there’s definitely room to fit Kaberle in.

BUT I still doubt Lombardi would move for Kaberle. First, Kaberle is surely an upgrade offensively, and losing Quincey hurts in that he was (along with Doughty) one of our two most productive offensive defensemen last year. That leaves Doughty and Johnson, and maybe Hickey if he proves himself quickly. Hardly ideal at the moment, but there’s a boatload of potential there, and sometimes you need to give kids of this pedigree (#2, #3 and #4 overall picks) the chance to play and see how it all works out. For an upcoming season where merely making the playoffs would constitute a success, this seems to be a risk worth taking. Second, Lombardi intimated today to a local beat reporter that he’s not trading B. Schenn at all — “teams know better than to ask me for Schenn” — which, if true, removes from the trading block the asset most coveted by the Leafs. You could say Lombardi was posturing to drive up the price to acquire B. Schenn, and I’ve never been very good at mind-reading. But I will say that a few of the commenters here have made a bit too much of Lombardi’s joke about picking B. Schenn to piss off Burkie. In terms of talent, character and style of play, the kid definitely fits in with what Lombardi has been saying he wants to build. I’m not saying B. Schenn can’t be moved at all, but I still can’t see him being dealt for Kaberle. Of course, if I’m wrong, I’ll be sure to come back here and admit my mistake! Third, Lombardi has been on the record many, many times saying he needs to leave cap room to pay our younger players as they mature into solid NHL’ers. The cynics among Kings fans have accused him of using this as an excuse to avoid adding payroll since he arrived, but to his credit, he has locked up Kopitar, Brown and Greene; and he’s trying to lock up Johnson this summer. Unless he has other deals up his sleeve, I have to think he will guard the remaining cap room jealously.

Maybe one of you will be kind enough to explain Burke’s fixation with B. Schenn, apart from the obvious brother connection. Surely Burke can find a return of equal or better value elsewhere?

I do, I have always watched Boston games, and he has huge potential. Led his team in playoff scoring too. Hes going to be one of those guy who are always in the top 10 scoring in the league, and we will all say “remember when we couldnt have had him? I just dont get it, you all want top 6 talent, but when we have a chance to get it you pick them apart. I have not seen one Bruins Blog were they think giving Kessel up for Kaberle is worth it. Theres a reason for that. The only guy in our organization we have now that close to his potential is maybe Kadri is he develops well

I agree with Jordon on Nash. Nash could have been a UFA and had his pick of team and contract, but instead signs to play in some worthless, podunk hockey town?? And forgets his Hockey Night In Canada roots?

I expect a MAJOR drop-off in his stats having received that BIG fat, cushy contract – especially, in combination with the lame Phoenix-like hockey environment. He’s as good as retired now. I can’t even conceive of him as a star player anymore. For no true star lowers his sights for the armpit of success.

Columbus should have been the springboard to something greater. Now it’ll be where he quietly fades into obscurity.

What a waste.

I agree that Staal to the leafs for Kabby and Stajan makes the most sense by far and I really think that may happen. But just for fun let me throw this one out there!
Leafs need a #1center. Just one. What about Kaberle and Stajan to Philly for Briere(if he’s back to full health) and 2010 2nd round pick?. For Toronto, Briere fills the #1 center role for a few years, he’s a point per game player and line up probably with Hagman and Blake. Grabs, Poni, and Kulemin had a pretty good run late in the year so i’m comfortable with them as a second line. You then have 3 spots on the third line for the ufa’s and young guys to fill. Don’t forget Van Ryn…he’s no Kabby, but he can play and has the potential to be a real good PP guy. Philly’s close to the cap and sheds 4 million in salary, and instantly have one of, if not the best, blueline in hockey. The Flyers got pretty good depth up front and could live without Briere and did for most of the season.

And actually Quincey was used in the Ryan Smyth trade and to Staples and Jordan about 30 posts up if you don’t think the kings are gunning for the playoffs this season why would they bring in a 33 year old in Smyth if they were’nt making a push for the playoffs? My bet is there going full out and a Kaberle to the Kings deal is a very real possibility.