Burke’s Summer Search Story

Thought some of you might enjoy this little mock-summer:
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Burke says he wants to augment team toughness, add to the size on the roster, add a top six-forward, and hopefully add a 1st round pick for his scouts. He also says he will take offers on Kaberle, and will go to town in free agency. Somewhat contradictory to his other statements, Burke has also repeatedly said he will have to replace Kaberle if he trades him. He also says he will explore salary dump trades that bring back picks/prospects. So:
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1.) Augmenting team toughness
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To CHI: Rosehill, Oreskovic, 5th in 2010
To TOR: Sopel, Eager, 2nd in 2010
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Hawks dump some salary and add roster-fill-in type players at the cost of a player they can’t afford to resign anyways, and a downgraded pick. Toronto gets another menacing force for their 4th line, and gets his scouts some work to do in the 2nd round.
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2.) Adding to the size on the roster
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To NJD: Hayes, 5th in 2010 (NJD)
To TOR: Clarkson (rights)
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If it’s true that Clarkson wants to explore his options, perhaps Lou can accomadate his friend Brian Burke. Hayes is pretty much on pace to become a carbon copy of Clarkson but has a little ways to go. Burke always says he would take the proven player over the mystery box anyday. New Jersey didn’t really miss Clarkson in his 40 game absence this year.
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3.) Add a top six forward
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If Patrick Marleau cannot be made a Leaf, Burke must look to deal Kaberle for a left-winger who can accomadate Bozak/Kessel on the top line. So basically, either sign Marleau, and explore packages for Kaberle, or pull this off:
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To DAL: Kaberle
To TOR: Neal, 2nd in 2010
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Again, Burke adds another pick to the fold for draft day, giving his scouts more work. Dallas gets their puck-mover. Everyone’s happy.
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4.) Draft Day
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To NYR: Mitchell, 4th in 2010 (NYR)
To TOR: 2nd in 2010
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Rangers add a Ranger-Killer to the roster in hopes that Mitchell will step it up on a more consistent basis at the MSG. It costs them a downgraded pick, which isn’t a big deal considering their current wealth of prospects. Lots of work for Leaf scouts now.
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Burke selects Kabanov (40th), Pulkkinen (41st), Knight (56th), Thomas (62nd)
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5.) Free Agency
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In order to make Grabovski expendable, Burke has to find a more suitable third line center. Grabo is a good player, but he needs to be on a team that has a leader to fire him up. He can’t be on a team where he is the veteran presence on the third line. So:
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-sign Saku Koivu, 2 years, 6 million
-sign Raffi Torres, 1 year, 1.75 million*
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From here, Burke spends the rest of the summer shoping Grabovski, Stefanovich, and next year’s 2nd for a powerplay quarterback, or a defensemen with a booming shot from the point. My preference would be Jack Johnson, who might be on the outs with Dean Lombardi.
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Roster:
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J.Neal – Bozak – Kessel (pretty slick scoring line)
Stalberg – Kadri – Torres (crapshoot of a 2nd line)
Kulemin – Koivu – Clarkson (very good checking line)
B.Eager – Hanson – C.Orr (terrifying 4th line)
Sjostrom
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Phaneuf ‘C’ – Schenn (great top pairing with loads of potential)
Komisarek – Johnson (Johnson would primarily be a point shot D man with small TOI)
Gunnarsson – Beauchemin (we already know this pair works great)
VanRyn
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Gustavsson – Giguere (this pair is the key to our season)
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CAP HIT – 57.9 million
* I would hope for anyone but Torres to fill that UFA role. Jagr would be fantastic.

@ brokensilence:
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I dunno, I think Clarkson might be one of the most realistic options. He’s from Toronto, and Lou and Burke are very friendly. If there’s contract trouble there, I could see that getting done for sure.
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Kulemin could be in the top six for sure, but then, where does Stalberg go? I prefer to run with three scoring lines until we get a little more established top six, and have the third line be more on the defensive side. Kulemin is really proving to be a heart and soul kind of player, so who better for him to continue to learn from than Koivu (who is also a fantastic playmaker). Think of Koivu as trade-bait. We sign him, he comes in and helps us, mentors Kulemin, and then gets traded for picks.
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Sjostrom often would be in the lineup, depending on who we’re facing or who’s playing well. Having a guy like Sjostorm as the 13th really makes you step up your game if you’re in the lineup, because you know a super responsible, gritty forward is waiting to take your space. A lot more of a threat for our young players than Rickard Wallin.

@ Quinten:
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I honestly think Kabanov will fall very far after his actions and what’s been said about him, and the whole development of the KHL. He’s currently ranked 31st of all North American skaters. That doesn’t even account for the “russian factor” or any of the European skaters (Mikael Granlund and so forth), or goalies. So he could easily fall to 40th.
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However, Burke drafted a bunch of guys who look like they will be NHL’ers regardless of what capacity they end up making it in. But Kadri, DiDomenico, D’Amigo, Blacker and Aulie all look like sure fire bets to be Something. So I think this year we try to bat those picks out the park by taking the risk on Kabanov and Pulkkinen.

@ Schenn:
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signing Marleau is the obstacle that really stops us from predicting any of Burke’s move. If it’s really impossible, then some of the aforementioned stuff is prety good, but if he’s Toronto bound, it changes the mentality behind all trades, and who is expendable.

@ Kostas:
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slight modification to your plan:
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to ana: kaberle, grabovski, didomenico, 2nd in 2011
to tor: b.ryan, sbisa
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to lak: beauchemin, sbisa
to tor: j.johnson
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to njd: hayes, 5th
to tor: clarkson
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to chi: rosehill, mitchell
to tor: sopel, eager, 2nd
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sigin Koivu (3 mil), Jagr (2.0), Hamhuis (3.75), Cervenka (0.9)
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B.Ryan – Bozak – Kessel
Stalberg – Kadri – J.Jagr
Kulemin – Koivu – Clarkson
B.Eager – Hanson – C.Orr/Sjostrom
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Phaneuf – Schenn
Komisarek – Johnson
Gunnarsson – Hamhuis
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Gustavsson – Giguere
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CAP HIT – 58.3 million