TORONTO (June 30) — Irrespective of cries for conservatism from this corner, or elsewhere, it seems a virtual certainty that Brian Burke will attempt to alter the veteran nucleus of the Toronto Maple Leafs in free agency, beginning tomorrow.
I spoke to a well-known executive of a Western Conference team this evening, who happened to be listening, on line, to THE FAN-590 during the noon hour today. Though I do not advocate Burke spending mega-dollars at this premature stage of the Maple Leafs’ restructuring, I ended the HOCKEY CENTRAL AT NOON program by offering a gut instinct: That if Swedish twins Henrik Sedin and Daniel Sedin are available on the open market at 12 o’clock tomorrow — thereby remaining unsigned by the Vancouver Canucks — they’ll both be members of the Blue & White by 3 p.m.
“I can’t say for sure, but the chatter I’ve been involved with over the past few days — really, since the draft began in Montreal — is that Burkey will make an immediate play for the Sedins, and your time frame could be dead on,” said the NHL executive. “I still do favour the Canucks re-signing them. [GM] Mike Gillis went over to Sweden to get a deal done, and the pressure of the noon deadline could work to bring the sides together. But, there won’t be any kind of ‘home-town’ discount for Vancouver, I can almost assure you. I’m told [agent] J.P. Barry is holding firm to a contract that will take the twins right to the end of their careers.
“Would Burkey offer the same sort of package?” my source wondered. ”That I don’t know, but he’ll definitely be in the thick of negotiations. The twins have a very close bond with him and have always been grateful for the last-minute maneuvering he did to draft them in ‘99. I tend to think they’d look directly at the Maple Leafs in free agency.”
If this gentleman’s read is accurate — and who doesn’t believe Burke will pursue the two players he worked so hard to select for Vancouver ten years ago? — it will be most interesting to see how the Maple Leafs structure the Sedins’ contract. As much as he probably covets the twins, Burke does not seem at all inclined to grant the excessive package they are reportedly seeking. In fact, the Toronto GM has been more ouspoken than any of his colleagues when it comes to the Rick DiPietro/Johan Franzen/Henrik Zetterberg-type deals — committments of more than a decade without any knowledge of salary cap trends during that time.
It’s one of the main reasons I’ve suggested Burke wait at least one more summer before taking the plunge. It’s conceivable that Henrik and Daniel could nudge the Leafs into playoff territory after a four-year absence, but they could also struggle in the absence of a supporting cast. Better, in my mind, to play the living daylights out of youngsters such as Jiri Tlusty, Christian Hanson, Tyler Bozak, Nikolai Kulemin and (potentially) Mikhail Grabovski, all of which will assume secondary roles to the Sedins in key offensive situations.
Would that limit their development, or does it really matter?
If Burke feels he can restructure the club by spending ample cap space on established players — this year and next — then perhaps he can reverse the franchise direction by skirting the model analogous to the post-lockout NHL. Attempting to purchase a winning club hasn’t previously worked in this town, but neither has double-B done the buying.
Whatever the case — the Sedins; Mike Cammalleri; Francois Beauchemin; Chris Neil, or players that haven’t been speculated on, it seems all but certain that Burke will jump feet-first into the annual free ageny derby. If nothing else, it will make for an interesting day.
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