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How real is the Stamkos talk?

I sense that most Maple Leaf fans look in the mirror often enough to realize a few things, including:  we often over-rate players (the ones we already have, and the ones we lust after from afar…).  It’s kind of a Toronto hockey tradition.

And when it comes to making deals, we generally want to trade a couple of third-line guys for a first line player. 

That said, most of the time we’re realistic enough to know that if we have players we’d like to see the Leafs move, other teams also have well-paid scouts who know exactly what’s going in.  They watch even more closely than us, and their job is to know what guys can and can’t do.  As fans, we don’t have the same pressure, obviously, as do those who makes these decisions for a living, but we do have plenty of opinions.

We also tend to want the blue and white to get any good player that’s out there, whether they’re a UFA or an RFA.  (We're OK with getting guys in trades, too- see the second paragraph above...)  And that’s fine.  As a fan, what else do we have to cheer for, if not for the club we like to go out and get the best players available and then hope the coaching staff to mold them into a great team?

When it comes to rumors, much of the time we can dismiss the chatter as idle talk, even in today's media age.  It used to be that the mainstream media would conjure up something and then people would run with it as gospel.  Nowadays, especially with twitter, “possibilities” are thrown out there and before we know it, if it's written often enough, it sounds pretty credible.

But I will say this: when you hear certain things long enough, you start to think that just maybe there is something to it.

Recent example?  Philadelphia forward Jeff Carter’s name had been “out there” for quite some time, as apparent trade bait.  I couldn’t believe the team that had drafted him as a premier talent in the first-round, groomed and developed him—and saw him becoming a real “Flyer”—would trade him in his apparent prime.  So I pretty much dismissed the idea.

Yet, not long ago, he was dealt by the Flyers to (of all teams) the lowly Blue Jackets.  Wow.

There was obviously something to those rumors, especially when we all heard Columbus GM Scott Howson in an interview saying he had been talking to the Flyers about Carter for a long time, going back well before the trade deadline.  Teams don’t just negotiate deals with one other club, so you have to know other clubs, including the Leafs, were involved in trade talks about Carter.  And word gets out.  It almost always does.

Which brings me to the Stamkos talk.

I have no idea if the guy I really “in play”.  Reports seem to suggest Tampa Bay has made him some very lucrative offers, but the guy wants huge money—and long term.  Are things actually at an impasse?  Can Yzerman afford to let him go?

As an offer sheet appears unlikely from any team, is it actually possible that the Leafs (who could afford an absurdly high contract, it seems) would make a trade for his rights, with the knowledge that they would in fact be able to sign him?

And for those who like a good conspiracy theory, what does it man that Schenn has not been re-signed as yet?

Have the Leafs, as many have surmised on chat forums, offered a package to Tampa Bay?  Are we to believe that Schenn is on the table?  (If I’m Yzerman, I want Schenn in any deal with the Leafs. Young defensemen are not easy to come by, obviously.) What about Kadri?  I believe he has been on the table in any number of deals for weeks now.

So there it is.  We armchair GM’s can offer, on Burke's behalf, Schenn, Kadri and, say, a number one pick for Stamkos.

If I was Yzerman, that wouldn’t do it for me.  I’d need Reimer, too.

And that’s a whole other conversation, eh?  But fun to consider about when there is not a whole lot of substantive hockey talk to keep us occupied.

What say you?  Do you really want Stamkos?  But if so, at what price?



  1. It seems to be the general consensus that to have a Stanley cup team, you need that shut down defenseman (Chara, Pronger, Stevens), and I tend to agree. But. But a 50 goal scorer, that has the potential to be a Crosby, Ovechkin type player is probably the one thing that is almost impossible for Burke to get without having a 1st overall draft pick.

    I am not a hockey expert, but I think that every player (Stamkos, Schenn, Kadri) has played up to his expectations so far based on where they have been drafted. I look at it this way, If Burke was given the chance to get a franchise player in Stamkos, would he give up a 5th, 7th, and a 20th pick? Hell Yeah!

    It would be hard to trade Schenn, especially after the many harangues the media and fans have placed out there around Schenn being the future of the Leafs. But with the depth we have in the defense position, wouldn't right now be the only time that we may be able to recover? Many franchise players have been traded, and some teams have flourished after the fact... (educated guess,lol)

  2. I don't think we have the support personnel for a player at Stamkos' level yet. And the price we'd have to pay would cripple us for years to come.

  3. About the closest I'd get is something straightforward like Schenn, Kessel and maybe a draft pick for Stamkos. Still not sure if I'd do it though. I agree with Gerund - we've worked for a couple of years to get a base-level team going, and although we could afford to take key bits out and the result would be exciting, I think it would set it back.

    Perhaps a more interesting point is: if Stamkos is as keen to play in Toronto as hearsay would have us believe, why not wait a few years, see if Burke's grand plan pays dividends, then try to sign Stamkos as a UFA at the earliest opportunity? (Of course, that could be at age 30+, and this could be our best chance. Tough call.)

  4. Do whatever it takes to get him! He's a franchise player...better yet he's one of the top 3 players in the league. I don't know if Toronto has had a player like tsince the original six! Gilmour...maybe for a year...Sitler...not sure, I wasn't born yet. If there is a chance (and that's a big if), do whatever it takes.

  5. Another good reason to get him is that he is a local boy and almost all our local talent gets shipped to the US somewhere. It would really give the fans something to rally behind! Oh yeah, and he could score some goals too :) And help the power play!

  6. Stamkos has/had Martin St. Louis to feed him the puck. Who do the Leafs have?
    Stamkos and Kessel on the first line? To whom does the centre dish the puck to first?
    The chemistry is wrong right now.
    No deal.

  7. If it is possible to get a talent like Stamkos, I would do it in a minute. What I am not sure about is if Schenn, Kadri and a draft pick would do it. If this would do it I would pull the trigger on that deal. Yes you need someone to feed him the puck, but he is a centre and can also dish it off. To me that is a real good option for the leafs especially now with a full compliment of D men.

  8. The only player that would prevent me from making a trade for Stamkos would be Schenn. I would be willing to part with Phaneuf and maybe even Kessel, heck just about anyboody, to a point. but if you're Tampa or any team that has a franchise type player you're never going to get fully compensated. Teams just won't cripple their own roster for one player. It's bad form. At the most I could see Burke giving up a good NHLer, a top prospect, a first rounder, and another first or second. Something like Grabbo or Kulemin, Kadri, and some picks.

  9. Stamkos is a friend of mine (we went to HS together) and was with him this past weekend. He told me (and pretty much everyone around at the bar) that he wants to stay in Tampa and that Tampa has made it clear that they are not going to let him go under any circumstance, its just a matter of numbers now.

    What i suspect is that Yzerman has told the other GM's that they will match any offer and has told them to pretty much back-off as to not tamper with his own negotiations which is why no other GMs are tendering offer sheets.

  10. What bar were you at? Stamkos played in Sarnia and probably went to HS there too. So you guys were at a bar in Sarnia? Thought Stamkos would be home in Markham? Give us some details Pinnoccio.