Leafs sign Kenny Ryan, Burke looking to trade up at Entry Draft
A few tidbits of Leafs news are surfacing as Burke and his colleagues begin team operations again in the coming days. First off, the team has signed prospect Kenny Ryan to a three year entry level contract.
From the mapleleafs.com release:
Ryan, 19, was originally the Maple Leafs’ second choice, selected 50th overall in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft. The 6-0, 210-pound right-winger played the past two seasons for the Ontario Hockey League’s Windsor Spitfires. In 2010-11, he collected 58 points on 21 goals and 37 assists with 42 penalty minutes in 60 games played. He ranked second on the team with a (+16) rating. In 18 playoff games with Windsor, the native of Franklin Village, Michigan registered four goals and eight assists for 12 points along with 25 minutes in penalties.
And in some other interesting news, Brian Burke had this to say at the Memorial Cup game the other night, regarding his plan to move 2 of his top three picks in order to solidify a higher spot in the draft;
Burke also had a few things to say regarding where the team is in terms of trades, and looking ahead to the July 1st free agency period. From Ken Beckett of Hockeybuzz.com:
“It’d be better to do it on July 1st because you get the player for free. All it costs you is salary. You don’t give up any assets, you don’t give up any players or picks. Prior to July 1st, you’ve got to pledge assets.”
“While you can get the guy on July 1st for free, the flip side is he may not be there. He may not even get there and he may not pick your team. There could be six teams all trying to put something together. We are exploring adding a player via the trade route, but if that’s not successful, then we’ll see what’s there July 1st.”
It seems as though our constant search for Leafs news is finally starting to turn up some results. Things should start to snowball from here, at least with any luck.
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