Savard to Leafs?

by on June 26, 2010 in League News - 545 Comments

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According to Howard Berger, who reported live from the NHL Entry Draft this weekend, there is a ton of steam behind the Leafs and Bruins looking to make a trade for forward Marc Savard. It seems the Leafs understand he could have a long-term effect from a concussion injury, but the upside of putting him and Kessel back together is just too good to pass up on. Berger explains that the deal does not involve Tomas Kaberle and that Kaberle talks are actually down to minor whispers at this point. Expect that situation to become more relevant as the off-season continues. The trade for Savard surrounds the availability of forward Nikolai Kulemin, who is a pending RFA and is seeking more money than the Leafs are willing to offer. That said, the Bruins could move forward with a $3M dollar Kulemin if they shed the contract of $5M plus from Savard. All in all, it becomes a win/win with the Bruins getting younger and cheaper, adding a player with high potential to become a solid defensive forward, while the Leafs would get their number one center, elite playmaker, and instant chemistry with Phil Kessel. SilverSevenSens now state he has waived his NMC to play for either the Leafs or Senators. ESPN chimes in on it as well. “Reports started to surface that Bruins forward Marc Savard and his agent have eased off the player-s limited no-trade claue that allows the Bruins to deal Savard to only five undisclosed teams. Chiarelli would not confirm or deny the reports. ‘I’m not really into speculating that kind of stuff,’ he said.”

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  • Charlie

    Boston should quickly get Bowman’s help, cause somehow he managed to turn their salary dumps into a first rounder, great prospect plus more. And that wasn’t for a top playmaking centre.

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  • rustynail

    darenmillard

    RT @RealKyper: Definition of soft deal; combination of draft picks/ secondary prospects/players. It would clearly be a salary dump.

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  • Blogtastic

    @ Tim:Bb said kaberle is avaliable. Doesn’t mean he HAS to be traded. All I’m saying is savard will cost more then kuleman. I see the savard situation as the exact
    same as kabs. There respective teams have no need to move them but have the luxury of having enough depth to make a trade to bring back assets. Both are arguably elite one demensional players who are still in there prime but nearing the tail end of it. Savard will fetch a good return if a team is willing to gamble on his concusion issues. If bb wants to pull the trigger then so be it. But you have to give something to get something, and if savard stays a bruin then any other centers they have will be shifted to the wing.

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  • Jordan

    If the main idea for Boston is to dump salary, I would offer this
    Savard+Ryder
    FOR
    Grabovski
    That saves them 5.1 mil. Then we can turn around and dump Ryder or bury him or something. Then without any other moves we still have
    Kulemin-Savard-Kessel
    Stalberg-Bozak-Kadri
    Caputi-Hanson-Sjostrom
    Brown-Mitchell-Orr
    Thats without doing anything. I would much rather look for a better 3rd line center or maybe Paradis looks good in camp and comes in, who knows. Caputi could also start with the Mariles and we could sign a guy like Torres who knows

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  • 2 Minutes for Looking so Guru
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  • Jordan
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  • offside12

    Man, if we ditch Finger and Kabby and bring in Savard and Kovy for 8 mill, we’d still be under the cap if we cheaply fill in our roster

    Kovalchuk-Savard-Kessel
    Kulemin-Bozak-Kadri
    Stalberg-Grabovski-Caputi
    Sjostrom-Mitchel-Orr

    Phaneuf-Gunnarson
    Schenn-Komisarek
    Beachemin-Holzer

    Gustavsson
    Guiguerre

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  • Cameron

    @ Amoroq:
    -
    I believe it’s actually 12-8-5, which is playoff pace. That puts us on pace for a 95 point season.

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  • Mike84

    If the Savard trade is for mid to late round pick and 2nd tier prospect like McKenzie is talking about then no one should really have a problem with the trade.

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  • Doorman

    Charlie wrote:

    Doorman wrote:
    If we realy need a center that bad. Pick up Koivu on Jul. 1st. Costs us nothing.
    And produces nothing. Hurray!

    Have a look at his stats. he still has some life left in him; I think he would be good for the kids.
    Like I said he costs us nothing, and brings some leadership to the team.

    But if you can pick up Savard for a bag of Pucks: Im in!

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  • Cameron

    @ Charlie
    -
    Bowman didn’t have to worry about the NTC like Chia does. He also didn’t have to sell concussions or 7 year deals, and he had the Stanley Cup championship rings to use in his corner. Chia’s got nothing here.

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  • Jordan

    If we get Savard, I can bet Burke holds on to Kaberle, because Savard makes us a good team right NOW and Kaberle does as well. But I dont know, it would be nice to swap him for a young winger I would have to admit. If Grabovski and kaberle are gone, A sweet lineup could also be
    UFA-Savard-Kessel
    Stalberg-Bozak-Kab trade
    Kulemin-Kadri-Sjostrom
    Brown-Hanson-Orr

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  • Charlie

    A soft trade would be great and perhaps if Chiarelli is hesitant we take on Ryder as well rather than giving up a better prospect. That’s another salary dump that could easily play on a top 6, depending on how he plays because he has played quite well in the past.

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  • Jordan
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  • Charlie

    FriedmanHNIC

    Biggest issue w/Savard is not contract, or trade itself. It’s concussions. He’s got a history.
    -
    I hope that settles that debate.

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  • shezbot

    Mike84 wrote:

    If the Savard trade is for mid to late round pick and 2nd tier prospect like McKenzie is talking about then no one should really have a problem with the trade.

    Agreed. His contract is very front loaded.

    Year 1: $7 million
    Year 2: $7 million
    Year 3: $6.5 million
    Year 4: $5 million
    Year 5: $1.5 million
    Year 6: $525,000
    Year 7: $525,000

    If Savard’s play degenerates badly he could be an asset to a team looking for a player with a larger cap hit, and low salary owed.

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  • Jordan

    @ Charlie:
    It should, I am totally aware of the concussions, but every trade is a gamble. This one is a bigger one, but the reward is huge. If he comes with the same passion he did the last 5 years and scores PPG like he did, that is HUGE for us. If we get him for pennies…..well I might turn gay for being in love with Burke lol

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  • Jordan

    @ shezbot:
    How bad could he really get though for 4 mil? Jason blake was pretty bad at 4 mil, but that was when the cap was 44, 49 and around there. Its wasnt so bad last year and even this year 4 mil is 6.7% of the cap. Thats nothing. Take in consideration in 2005-2006 6.7% of the cap would have been 2.6 mil lol. Thats nothing and if the cap goes up even more in 4 years its a joke

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  • 2 Minutes for Looking so Guru

    The fact of thematter is we all know about the concussions. If we can move non impact players (ahlers or bottomliners) or a late picks, I’d love to.

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  • Reether

    I am more than down with taking the risk of bringing Savard on board. It just makes sense. We need an elite center to help the young guys learn and develop. Who do Bozak and Kadri have to look up to right now among our forwards? No one!

    Not to mention his history with Kessel, and on the off chance (very slight) that we are looking to get Kov, then there’s that too.

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  • Jordan
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  • canucksnaphook

    @ 2 Minutes for Looking so Guru:

    plus with a cap hit of 4 million this guy is a steal.

    I am scared of his concussions to be honest.

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  • BloodonIce

    Jordan wrote:

    If the main idea for Boston is to dump salary, I would offer this
    Savard+Ryder
    FOR
    Grabovski
    That saves them 5.1 mil. Then we can turn around and dump Ryder or bury him or something. Then without any other moves we still have
    Kulemin-Savard-Kessel
    Stalberg-Bozak-Kadri
    Caputi-Hanson-Sjostrom
    Brown-Mitchell-Orr
    Thats without doing anything. I would much rather look for a better 3rd line center or maybe Paradis looks good in camp and comes in, who knows. Caputi could also start with the Mariles and we could sign a guy like Torres who knows

    If the cap space is there to pay him, you may as well play Ryder. He’s capable of scoring 30 goals when all goes well. Let Kadri center line three, preferably with Torres or Armstrong, so he has a semi-skilled finisher with him, rather than trying to make a winger out of him. Hopefully also flip Kabs for a skilled LW.

    Kabs Trade-Savard-Kessel
    Kulemin-Bozak-Ryder
    Stalberg-Kadri-Armstrong
    Brown-Hanson/Mitchell-Orr

    Because lines 2 and 3 are fairly evenly matched, they could have similar ice time, and healthy competition between the two centres for who plays where. I know Burke likes to have two lines of talent and two lines of thugs, but I’d like to see Kadri centre a line with a nice combination of toughness and skill, where he can adjust gradually to the league rather than being thrust into a starring role, or pulled out of position.

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  • kb

    We also have to remember that if there is significant concussion after-affects, and Savard can’t play anymore – his cap hit is gone either via retirement or reallocated via LTIR. Either way, it’s not costing MLSE anything, and we get his cap space back. I like the risk, especially at what the asking price appears to be.
    .
    Amazing how that one Matt Cooke hit might alter the future of 2 franchises. If Savard comes here and rips it up, Boston might well be picking in the mid teens next year in a supposedly very weak draft when they were thinking top-10 for sure – or even top-5 again. And if he has a lot left in the tank going forward? This could be one of the bigger steals in a long time.

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  • reversethecurse67

    I think Chiarelli shit the bed when he didn’t accept EDM’s offer of Hemsky + Eberle for 2nd overall pick (Seguin)
    .
    Unless there was more to the deal, the Bruins line-up would look ridiculous with Hemsky and Eberle:

    Lucic-Savard-Hemsky
    Wheeler-Krecji-Eberle
    Sturm-Bergeron-Recchi

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