Savard to Leafs?

Hey guys,

This is my first post here. Long time reader. I really enjoy the passion that you guys have for the team and I look forward to continued discussions.

My two cents re: Savard. IMO you make this trade in a heartbeat. I hear people saying “he’s soft, he’s got health issues, he’s expensive and he’s old.” We need to put this trade in context.
1. Making this trade makes us INSTANTLY better and gives us a legitimate first line center
2. His contract is frontloaded, in the last 3 year, it’s $2.5 million total
3. He’s been durable for all of his career and is almost a point a game player so I’d take that softness on my team.
4. He will give us another center to extract the most out of Kessel, production wise.
5. In responses to their being better options, I ask who? What evidence do we have to base that on? Do we know that a) guys like Thornton are available, and b) we have the assests to get them (would require a lot more than what it would take for Savard e.g. Grabo, Kulemin, long end prospects)? And this feeds directly into my next point
6. The issue of trading Kulemin for Savard. I would rather trade Grabo than Kulemin but no way do I deem Kulemin a dealbreaker. He’s a solid player and I like him but at $3 million he’s being paid too much and we have enough players like him. I think we grossly overrate our own players and we are again falling into that trap. I recall a similar debate with Pronger for Kaberle and Steen. A lot of Leaf fans were against it because the fear of trading young assets (in the case of Steen at the time) for a veteran. Savard has more of an impact on this team for the next 3 years than Kulemim does. It will be easier to find a Kulemin replacement than a Savard replacement. That’s the simple truth of the NHL.
7. Lastly, trading for an older player does not mean we abandon the youth movement. We need to get out of black and white, all or nothing thinking. All good teams have a balance of youth and veterans.

@ B Leaf:

What if Burkie doesn’t want to pay him what he thinks he’s worth? So the better question is then what other player is better return (realistic) for Kulemin? If you offered me a point a game first line center for a player who would not be coming back I’d take it and run.

Again what is short sighted is looking at this trade without considering all angles. And If Kuelmin is that good why haven’t the Leafs deemed him worth $3 million?