Week 24 Torontosaurus Rex

@ Alex Tran:

Dallas has set a self imposed cap of 45 million dollars. Which means they only have 7 million dollars in space to resign Neal, 2 goalies, find a puck-moving defensemen (Martin as you suggest, who will cost about 5 million), and fill out their roster with about 4 or 5 additional filler players. That’s a tall order, and even if they had money, you can hardly depend on signing Martin, when all other teams, including the Devils, will attempt to sign Martin. Anyways, one of their wingers will certainly be in play, and Neal makes the most sense, as Benn looks like he could pot 30 next year too, but for the meagre price of 822k (whereas Neal will cost about 4 million).

@ Andrew R:

One of the first things Burke said upon arriving in Toronto, is that he wishes that he would have been the one to have drafted Luke Schenn. Burke isn’t going to let the fact that Fletcher drafted him interfere with who he trades. Beauchemin will be gone long before Schenn. I know you’re basing this on the fact that Burke has traded away Stralman, White, and Tlusty, all guys he did not draft, but outside of White (who he basically traded for Phaneuf), those were Euro players who could not play his system. Schenn is not even close to being in this category. He will not be moved.

To top it all off, he’s probably currently our best defensemen.

Burke would be foolish to trade major assets (like Schenn) for any sort of star players, be it Bobby Ryan, or Steven Stamkos. The oppurtunity to grab these players for packages that don’t center around us losing a major cornerstone will present themselves. No one trades cornerstone pieces for other cornerstone pieces any more; you tally up a package and deal that for what you want. Or, like with Kessel, you wait until a player WANTS to play in Toronto, and you lay out an offer sheet (which could very well happen with Stamkos).

@ Schenn:

No, I wouldn’t turn down Schenn for Stamkos, obviously, but I’m saying, other ways to acquire such an asset will present itself. If Vincent Lecavalier refuses to waive his NTC, which many are saying he will, then the Lightning management may find themselves in the position where they cannot afford to pay Stamkos 7 million, on top of Lecavalier’s 10, and then the next year, Hedman’s likely 4-5 million (or more).

They are not hockey managers, and they see assets in terms of dollars and cents. If Lecavalier won’t move, Stamkos will become expendable. Plus, if he doesn’t want to sign in Tampa, he can sort of force his way out of there. The Leafs can front end any deal in such a way that Tampa cannot match. I would rather give up up 4 first round picks for STamkos than Schenn. With Stamkos and Schenn, plus Kadri, Kulemin, Bozak, Stalberg, Phaneuf, and all our other solid talent, those would be 4 late round picks for ultimately, one of the league’s best young players and highest scorers.

I’m just saying, we don’t have to rush to improve by trading Schenn for the biggest package available. Other oppurtunities will come along.