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Tampa Trade Puts Toronto In Good Bargaining Position

June 17, 2012, 9:05 PM ET [1311 Comments]
Mike Augello
Toronto Maple Leafs Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
The first major trade of the off-season did not involve the Toronto Maple Leafs, but it undoubtedly will have a positive effect in their pursuit of a starting goaltender.

On Friday, one week in advance of the NHL Draft, the Tampa Bay Lightning obtained restricted free-agent goaltender Anders Lindback, minor-league forward Kyle Wilson and a seventh round pick from Nashville for two second-round draft picks, a 2013 third-round selection and goaltender Sebastien Caron.

The acquisition of the 24-year-old Lindback, who backed up Vezina Trophy nominee Pekka Rinne the last two years, would seem to solve Tampa’s need for goaltending, as the lanky Swede joins veteran Mathieu Garon and young prospect Dustin Tokarski in the mix for next season.

It also eliminates one of the buyers in the goaltending market this summer, which is not welcome news to the agents of numerous free agents netminders or teams like Los Angeles, Vancouver and Boston, who were hoping to drive up the price for youngster Jonathan Bernier or veterans Roberto Luongo and Tim Thomas.

This should be welcome news to Leafs GM Brian Burke, as it puts him in an advantageous negotiating position in any trade talks.

Teams like New Jersey, Chicago and Florida are also looking for help between the pipes, but all will be looking for a younger or more inexpensive option.

The Devils are dealing with financial issues, while at the same time trying to re-sign pending UFA Zach Parise and find the heir apparent to Martin Brodeur. The future Hall of Famer has said that he would like to return to New Jersey for one more season and it would make sense if GM Lou Lamoriello made a play for Bernier, who could play understudy to the 40-year-old for one season before taking the reins.

The Blackhawks have not been able to get past the first round since Corey Crawford took over for Antti Niemi as the number one, but they would be hard-pressed to bring in an established veteran goaltender unless they found a home for Crawford's $2.66 Million contract that has two seasons left or move a core player like Patrick Kane, Dave Bolland or Patrick Sharp to open up space.

The Panthers are also dealing with financial problems, but spent liberally in free agency last summer. GM Dale Tallon is letting backup Scott Clemmensen test free agency, but they have veteran José Theodore under contract for one more year at a reasonable $1.5 Million and have prospect Jacob Markstrom in the system.

Lindback and Bernier were likely not at the top of Toronto's shopping list, as both of them have less than 50 games experience at the NHL level, making them as big a question mark going into next season as Jonas Gustavsson and James Reimer were last summer

With the current landscape, if Burke is looking to land the big fish like Luongo, he can be relatively sure that Canucks GM Mike Gillis is bluffing if he says that another team is expressing considerable interest in taking on his decade-long contract.

If Vancouver or Boston is dead set on simplifying their goaltending dilemmas next season, each club cannot expect to get a top prospect or inexpensive young player in exchange. They would likely have to take back a significant contract, which in Toronto's case would be someone like Mike Komisarek, Tim Connolly, Colby Armstrong or Matthew Lombardi.

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