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By Andrew Echevarria…
A couple of weeks ago, Brian Burke announced that he was going to try to move up in the draft and go for Tavares.
Before I go on, let me make it clear that the word “try” is present. “Try” means he will attempt, but there is no guarantee it will happen. It seems that everyone’s already saying “Burke said he’s going to go for Tavares! Tavares is coming to Toronto!”
Unfortunately, Brian Burke is not God (apologies to those who think otherwise). He cannot make a trade happen out of thin air. Sure he can propose a great deal, but if the team doesn’t accept, it doesn’t happen.
There was actually a rumour flying around that the Toronto Maple Leafs were going to make a trade with the Tampa Bay Lightning which would include sending Kaberle, Schenn, and their first rounder for Ryan Malone and a first rounder. However, Burke doesn’t seem ready to give up Schenn just yet, and he still wants to look at other possibilities.
A while back, it seemed like Brian Burke was basically saying he was willing to package Luke Schenn in a deal to get the Isles’ or the Lightning’s first round pick this year. However, all he has said was the Luke Schenn was the closest player to being untouchable.
What does untouchable mean?
It means that he will not be traded no matter what. If a player is untouchable, it means he is a great asset to the team and the team seems to rotate around him. He is worth too much to the team to be traded.
Brian Burke doesn’t seem to think of Luke Schenn that way.
But just because a player isn’t untouchable doesn’t mean he’s up for grabs. Burke definatly values Schenn and sees him as a great player to build around which probably means he will try his best to keep him in Toronto.
So, who exactly is available other than Schenn? Well, a couple of months ago Cliff Fletcher said Nik Antropov was the only top six forward on the team, but he’s gone now. So is a team of third and fourth liners all we have? Of coure not, there are guys like Mikhail Grabovski and Nikolai Kulemin that still have bright futures ahead. Even Ponikarovsky has stepped up and shown what he can do.
If Burke wants to make a good deal, he’ll have to throw in Luke Schenn because we all honestly know that Burke does not want to start giving away draft picks, and there is no way that a team is going to accept a trade just involving current Leafs. Of course, we have our first round pick this year that Burke seems to not mind giving up, but once again, he’ll only give it up if it means Tavares.
Right now everyone’s thinking Burke is going to pull off something big, but he probably won’t. Remember the trade deadline? Everyone thought that he was going to end up bringing in prospects and draft picks, when all he really brought in was acouple of second rounders. Of course, not all of us thought he would be very active at the trade deadline, but the majority did (you know who you are).
So in my opinion, the draft is going to be a big disappointment for those thinking that Burke is going to land Tavares. Maybe if the Leafs still had Mats Sundin, they could pull something off without having to give up Schenn, but for now, Burke is probably going to play it safe, and keep Schenn.
Stay tuned for an interview with Ryan Ellis.
by Andrew Echevarria…
Was Brian McCabe really more of a Toronto Maple Leaf than Mats Sundin? The answer is yes. I’m not going to start by telling you why, because then most of you won’t bother to read the rest of this article to find out how I arrived at this conclusion.
Let’s start off by taking a look at our controversial character here: Brian McCabe.
The gritty defenseman started his career with the New York Islanders, only two years after being drafted. Years went by and so did his name. He just couldn’t seem to find a home, and the fact that he only managed to get 20-29 points per season didn’t help. He had grit, but that still didn’t make up for it.
Just like a stray dog looking for a new home, Brian McCabe arrived in Toronto. There was no way Brian knew Toronto was going to be his home for the years to come, so he had to show them what he could do.
In his first season in Toronto, he achieved the same number of points he made in his second season in the league; not very impressive with all those years he should’ve improved on, but yet, it he had tied his career high in a new place.
For some players, the higher their PIM is, the better they are, but this didn’t apply for McCabe. Brian McCabe was more of a skilled defenseman than a gritty one. He slowly began to take less penalty minutes and that might’ve been one of the explanations for his improvement.
Getting back to the story, on his second season in Toronto, he achieved a career high of 43 points. During the Leafs’ playoff runs that 2002 year, he also got 10 points in 20 games. Brian McCabe was red hot, but was that as hot as he could get?
His following season seemed to prove some analysts right. Although he only started in 75 games, he finished the season with 24 points.
His penalty minutes increased that season by six, despite having played more games the prior season. There might be a link between penalty minutes and how well he plays eh?
This shouldn’t have taken long for McCabe to figure out, during his next season, he only summed up a total of 86 PIM. His stats were pretty impressible that year; he dug up 53 points out of nowhere. In the playoffs that season, he contributed with eight points in 13 games, better than he had done in previous seasons.
The following season was even more incredible, he piled up 68 points in only 73 games. If Brian McCabe had that season all over again this season, there’s no doubt he would end the season as the No. 1 defensemen in the NHL; points-wise.
You can see that until that point Brian McCabe was a descent player. Everyone thought McCabe would stay in Toronto until he retires, and everyone would live happily ever after.
The End…Or is it?
Nearing the trade deadline of the ‘07-’08 season, Brian McCabe was asked to waive his no trade clause, but he refused.
Brian McCabe was traded to the Florida Panthers in the summer of 2008. In return, the Leafs acquired defenseman Mike Van Ryn and a draft pick.
