D-Day Wrap Up
Final Deadline Trades:
Alexei Ponikarovsky to Pittsburgh for Luca Caputi and Martin Skoula
Martin Skoula to New Jersey for a fifth round draft selection.
Lee Stempniak to PHX for 4th and 7th rounders.
Joey MacDonald to ANA for a 7th rounder in 2011.
Wrap-Up: That looks to be a wrap on Brian Burke’s trade activity for the 2009-10 season. The Stempniak deal was obviously a form of loss-cutting on a pending UFA, but it’s a bit painful to remember who we sacrificed to acquire him in November of 2008 in two albeit underachieving first rounders in Alex Steen and Carlo Colaiacovo. The Leafs will not draft until the third round this year, and Burke did not succeed in that sense, however he moved the only piece realistically capable of fetching a second rounder for a semi-established young asset with the potential to replace Poni at an immediately cheaper price in Luca Caputi. It looks as though no takers could be found on either Wayne Primeau or Garnet Exelby, who look sure to now enter the FA market July 1.
There seems to be details yet to unfurl surrounding the Tomas Kaberle situation this deadline, as once again Leafs fans were teased into believing a deal was pending (involving Hodgson, as it was reported, or possibly Alzner from Washington) only for what looked to be an imminent deal to be flatly denied by Brian Burke in the end. There are rumblings that Kaberle might have nixed a deal in similar fashion to the Jeff Carter situation at the ‘08 deadline.
From Garrett Bauman:
A.M. Quick Hits
A quick morning update to the Leafs’ rumour mill.
Don’t forget to join our live chat starting at 10am today! MLHS writers will be dropping in throughout the day; I will be checking in around noon myself. See you all there!
Early Morning Rumor Roundup
Good morning, die hards, and welcome to Hockey Christmas. And what better way to kick off the day than with more rumors! Here we go!
McKenzie: I won't be overly surprised if Ray Whitney doesn't get traded. If he does, I suspect it will be to L.A. but final call on that will be his. Anything possible today, but Tomas Kaberle has not submitted list of teams he would go to. If Leafs get good offer, they may take it to him. And Kaberle has expressed no desire to leave Toronto. He'll take his chances in the summer when NTC expires.
Caputi for Poni? Done, says TSN
The deal is believed to be all but sealed, but the Penguins may have to first clear cap space. New reports suggest Toronto will take on the salary of Martin Skoula if they can’t work something else out elsewhere, but that it could cost the Penguins an additional pick.
Now from Dreger and McKenzie:
ponikarovsky to Pitt for Luca Caputi and Martin Skoula…pending trade call.
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A Collection of Rumors
This involves the Leafs, as well as around the league.
TFP: The Los Angeles Kings, Pittsburgh Penguins and Nashville Predators are among the teams to have serious interest in Alexei Ponikarovsky. Various reports suggest the Leafs are looking for a first-round pick in exchange for Ponikarovsky, though it’s believed Burke is willing to accept a second-round pick and a top prospect.”
5:00 PM Update – Mueller, Roloson, Hamhuis, Voros/Lisin.
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Retain One, Or Trade Both?
With the National Hockey League’s trade deadline looming, names like Alexei Ponikarovsky and Lee Stempniak are becoming increasingly popular in the Toronto Maple Leafs brass.
Fans of the Blue & White have been playing armchair general manager and have formulated a number of trades since the Olympic break. But amidst the excitement of the yearly spectacle, I’m beginning to wonder if it’s in the Leafs’ best interest to trade both Ponikarovsky and Stempniak.
After all, were they not serviceable players for the Leafs?
Finger for Huet?
Sources (here and here) are floating the possibility of a Jeff Finger trade to Chicago. The Leafs would receive Cristobal Huet and possibly a draft pick in return.
Quick March 1 Recap
Although the Maple Leafs did not dip into the trade waters just yet, there were a couple events of importance that may determine how the next two days will shake out:
- Alexei Ponikarovsky left practice with a knee injury but did later return to finish it, albeit gingerly. Nearing its conclusion, he did head into the locker room accompanied by the team’s trainers, but it appears as if he was walking under his own power. Needless to say, any potential injury scares may affect the number of bidding for the Ukranian winger, particularly if teams are unable to get one last look at him on Tuesday night.
- The Penguins swung a trade for some veteran help on the blueline, sending a 2010 2nd round pick to the Panthers for Jordan Leopold. Later on during the day, the Predators sent their 2010 2nd round pick to the Oilers for Grebeshkov. This certainly puts an interesting twist on things if you believe the rumors and speculation. The Leafs were apparently offered a 2nd round pick and prospect for Ponikarovsky a few weeks ago, but now two of the most prominent teams mentioned in rumors (Pittsburgh this year and Nashville at last year’s deadline) have dealt that selection away.
With Wilson, Burke and Kessel all taking the day to fly back from Vancouver, we might expect to finally see some action on Tuesday.
Updating The Rumour Mill
With the Olympics wrapping up (and in the process Canada securing the record for most gold medals, capped off by our Men’s and Women’s hockey teams), the focus among hockey fans now shifts to the NHL trade deadline.
While there are few untouchables on the Maple Leafs’ roster, speculation is that only a handful of players are likely to be dealt between Monday and Wednesday. Here’s a look at some of the speculation surrounding the most-talked about candidates to swap jerseys.
Canada Out For Revenge
The gold medal game is upon us, and fittingly, Canada will face off against their US rivals in a battle of hockey’s elite. The US team, led by Zach Parise, Patrick Kane, and of course Ryan Miller, will look to grind out another victory over Team Canada, while the Canadians will seek to avenge a tough 5-3 loss to the Americans in the round-robin phase of the tournament.