What Do You Do?

Recent discussions surrounding the current calamity that is the Toronto Maple Leafs has led me to openly wonder, and subsequently call out for answers from Leaf Nation. While it’s too early to get any serious trading done in today’s NHL landscape, with most GM’s preferring to wait until at least December before making any moves, my question to Leaf Nation is, given the reigns to this club, what do you do?

Now, this is obviously going to draw some responses from the realm of fantasy, and I’m sure we’ll see some wholly unreasonable trade scenarios projected as a result, but for now I’m going to lay out some options that I think may have some merit, and dispel a few rumours along the way.

In watching the club over the past few weeks, the need is obvious. Scoring forwards, with size, that can go to the front of the net. Colby Armstrong was a lunch pail version of this player before he went down with an injury and the Leafs haven’t had as much punch up front ever since. Luca Caputi has tried unsuccessfully to fill that role on the team. The team could also use this presence on their power play.

A positive sign is that this club is top 10 in goals against, with JS Giguere and Jonas Gustvasson combining to give us solid options. The defensive play of this unit has been much improved, but the injury to Dion Phaneuf set the team back a little in this department. It’s clear that defense is now an area of strength for this club when so long it had been an area of weakness.

The Leafs prospect charts are pretty much a mirror image of the team itself, having solid depth in goal and on defense, while the forward corps are thin at best. Nazem Kadri and Jerry D’Amigo have the most top 6 potential on the Marlies, with players like Brayden Irwin, Greg McKegg and Marcel Mueller needing time to develop. This is where the current Leafs club finds itself. Loaded with potential, struggling to find their scoring touch, but showing improvement on the back end.

With that in mind, I’d like to present a couple of options and scenarios that I feel could possibly work, given the current NHL landscape:

Do nothing, solve the problem from within

This is not likely to play out as I don’t think management wants another season of experimental hockey, but with players like Schenn, Kulemin and MacArthur showing noticeable improvement, and with Armstrong and Phaneuf due to come back before the holidays, it’s possible that the ship will right itself and the team will remain somewhat competitive throughout the rest of the year. Buffered by a 4-0-0 start, the Leafs still sit at .500 and are a full 6 points better than they were at this point last year.

Call up some players from the Marlies

While not out of the question for this season, once December rolls around it may be time to give other guys a shot. Korbinian Holzer got a one game tryout with Phaneuf out, while Carl Gunnarsson continues to struggle in his sophomore year. Christian Hanson and Luca Caputi have come up and played well at times, but if you’re looking for offensive help, Brayden Irwin and Nazem Kadri are your best bets, but you only call them up if they’ll play in your top 6. We should expect to see Kadri up at some point this year.

Sign a free agent

There are still a few names out there without an NHL contract right now, veterans that can contribute and help the youth on this squad, like Bill Guerin, Darcy Tucker, Adam Mair, Owen Nolan or Miroslav Satan. We’ve seen it happen in the past and it’s happening right now, as you can point to guys like Brendan Morrison in Calgary or Doug Weight with the Islanders as examples of veterans making contributions. The Red Wings have done it in the past as well, pairing veteran Brett Hull with the younger Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk. Veteran leadership is lacking in the forward group, and this would be a low-cost option for the club.

Sell cap space

With the waiving of Jeff Finger, the Leafs have over 4 million in available cap space that they can use to entice cap-strapped teams to make a deal beneficial to the club. Will it be enough to garner a top 6 forward? Not without giving up additional assets in return, but selling cap space could be a way to generate some additional assets in the form of draft picks or prospects, who in turn could be flipped for a scoring forward. Teams like the New Jersey Devils and Boston Bruins will likely have cap issues once some players return from injury and could be primed for a move.

Make a deal

This is probably the most obvious route to take, but it’s harder than ever in today’s NHL. Let’s take a look at some possible trading partners for the Leafs:

• The Florida Panthers – The Panthers are in full rebuild right now, and will look to capitalize on any remaining assets, like Tomas Vokoun. David Booth, Michal Frolik and Stephen Weiss are the team’s best offensive players, and it would seem that Weiss would be the most available. Would the Toronto-born center flourish back in Canada? Would he solve the Leafs’ problem? At 5’11, 193, he’s not much bigger than Kadri, and his career best is a 28 goal, 60 point season last year. Would the Leafs be able to make a push for Booth?
• The Tampa Bay Lightning – The Lightning are off to a fantastic start, and with Steven Stamkos becoming the future of the franchise, would that make captain Vincent Lecavalier available? His name came up in trade talks with Montreal a few seasons back, and the Lightning would certainly not be sad to see his hefty contract go. The same applies to winger Ryan Malone. Both would provide size and pedigree, but would their contractual obligations handcuff the Leafs? At the very least, the Leafs have the assets to address Tampa’s needs, both in goal and on defense.
• The New Jersey Devils - Off to one of the worst starts in franchise history and with injuries to key players in Zach Parise and Anton Volchenkov, the Devils are also in a cap bind thanks to the blockbuster Ilya Kovalchuk signing. The Leafs could certainly provide the Devils some cap relief. Many rumours persist that they would be open to trading Parise, but with both Jason Arnott and Jamie Langenbrunner coming off the books at the end of the season, it seems the Devils will have the room to re-sign him. Having said that, Travis Zajac would be the perfect fit between Kessel and Versteeg, and even a Langenbrunner or Dainius Zubrus would be helpful in a top 6 role with the Leafs. Once again, the Leafs meet the Devils needs in cap space, defense and goaltending prospects.
• The Boston Bruins – With two young stars already on the Bruins roster in Tuukka Rask and Tyler Seguin courtesy of the Leafs, many fans would shudder to hear that the two teams would be talking again, but the salary cap makes for some strange bedfellows. Having locked up Patrice Bergeron and Zdeno Chara long-term, and exhausting the first year of Seguin’s contract, the Bruins will need to free up cap space, and that could come in the form of a deal with the Leafs. Would Marc Savard’s contract be too heavy? Could we acquire a Blake Wheeler or big center prospect Joe Colborne? How about Milan Lucic? The Bruins have the depth at center to help the Leafs, and the Leafs have the cap space and defensive depth to help the Bruins.
• The Dallas Stars - Brad Richards is off to a blazing start in what is a contract year. However, reports indicate he is happy playing in Dallas, and with the current streak of player extensions, it’s likely he’ll put pen to paper before the end of the season. Mike Ribeiro, while without a goal, has 13 assists on the year. Dallas is in the midst of an ownership restructure and want to minimize costs. Brendan Morrow could also provide the Leafs some veteran presence, but it seems unlikely that they will be a willing trading partner in the weeks to come.
• The Edmonton Oilers – The Oilers purged a lot of talent in the off-season, and have started the season with their big three rookies up front. While they possess a lot of firepower and play an exciting game, Nikolai Khabibulin only has a few years left in the tank, and their defense is nothing to write home about, with no blue-chip prospects on the horizon. Could an Ales Hemsky, Sam Gagner, Andrew Cogliano, Dustin Penner, or a prospect like Linus Omark become available should the Leafs offer up some defensive and goaltending prospects? The situation does make sense, but would a Gagner or Cogliano be the answer up the middle for the Leafs?
• The Calgary Flames – While many would consider the Dion Phaneuf deal to be very one sided in favour of the Leafs, it hasn’t quite played out that way yet this season. With talks of a major rebuild imminent in Calgary, could the Leafs get in on Jarome Iginla? Would he even be moved? How about Rene Bourque? Needless to say, Calgary would have to be in a pretty dire situation, and I don’t think the Leafs would have the assets to compete with other bidders for Iginla.
• The Colorado Avalanche – The Avalanche are another club with a wealth of young offensive talent, but they are sorely lacking on the back end. Kevin Shattenkirk, their top defensive prospect, has just made his debut with the club, but they are in the waning days of the Adam Foote era and don’t have a true shut down guy to replace him. With Paul Stastny, Matt Duchene and Ryan O’Reilly up the middle, as well as the injured Peter Mueller and prospect Kevin Porter, it seems the Avalanche could make a center available for the right return.

While there are certainly options available, no one knows for sure what kind of trading opportunities present themselves throughout the season, as last year’s 9 game losing streak prompted Calgary to move Dion Phaneuf, a player previously thought untouchable. This will make for an interesting few weeks early on in the season, as we know Leafs GM Brian Burke likes to put a trade freeze around the Christmas holiday, giving him an even shorter window to get a move done after the 20 game mark.

So let your comments be heard Leaf Nation, if you were in the driver’s seat, what would you do? Are there any other potential trading partners that you could realistically see emerging as the season wears on? Do any of my examples intrigue you? offend you? Give me your feedback.

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