It always takes a few days for rumors of deals nearly made to filter out. The Maple Leafs were unable to complete a transaction before the Wednesday trade deadline, but were in the mix to acquire long time nemesis Thomas Vanek from the New York Islanders.
Offers from Toronto and the Minnesota Wild were rebuffed by GM Garth Snow, not because they were worse than the Montreal Canadiens offer, but because the notoriously frugal Islanders were not interested in retaining any of Vanek’s $5.5 Million salary to get a better return.
"They (Leafs and Wild) in their heart of hearts believe they offered significantly more to the New York Islanders for Vanek than Sebastian Collberg and a conditional pick.… TSN’s Bob McKenzie reported on Thursday. "The …ªLeafs and …ªWild were at least two of a number of teams that believed their offer for Vanek was considerably better than the one they took, but because the Islanders wouldn't take back money on Vanek's contract, those teams couldn't do that."
Other Eastern Conference teams had similar problems completing deals that would have added impact players.
Pittsburgh felt they had the inside track on Vancouver’s Ryan Kesler, offering center Brandon Sutter, a defensive prospect and draft choices for the former Selke Trophy winner, but according to the Tribune-Review’s Rob Rossi, Canucks ownership would not sign off on the deal.
Sportsnet’s Nick Kypreos reported that the Canucks demanded that Penguins star rookie defenseman Olli Maatta be part of the trade.
Boston was directly affected by the Penguins deal falling through, according to the Globe’s Fluto Shinzawa, as the Canucks were prepared to ship out defenseman Alexander Edler had the Kesler deal gone forward.
In the short term, these deals not going through could benefit Toronto in that the two top Eastern Conference contenders were not able to bolster themselves for the upcoming playoffs, but the long-term outlook is that Leafs GM Dave Nonis will be in a better position to acquire either of his former players when unencumbered by the salary cap in the summer.
“I’m not against adding players at the deadline, we’ve done it before in certain situations.… Nonis said on TSN Radio Wednesday afternoon. “I do think that the best chance, the best time to build your team and add to it and maybe fill some holes you have as an organization is generally in June, it’s often not at the deadline.…
Toronto’s two main areas of vulnerability are defense and center. The Leafs benefited from the addition of veteran Tim Gleason, but have a crying need to add another top-four blueliner to be more dependable in their own end. Both Jake Gardiner and Cody Franson have struggled defensively, but their offensive abilities make them attractive commodities in a possible trade. The 27-year-old Edler was drafted and developed during Nonis’s tenure in Vancouver and is under contract until 2018-19 at $5 Million per season.
The future status of veteran Dave Bolland will depend on how he plays for the remainder of the regular season and playoffs. If he is unable to return from the ankle laceration injury suffered in November, it is unlikely that Nonis would be willing to offer the two-time Stanley Cup winner anything more than a short-term deal. The Leafs also will have to determine what kind of player Nazem Kadri is and whether he would be more valuable as a long-term answer at center or in a deal to acquire someone like Kesler.
By no means are Kesler and Edler the only potential targets of the Maple Leafs. MLSE Chairman Tim Leiweke has indicated that the club’s financial resources could be brought to bear in the right situation to add a star player.
One possible target could be Nashville’s Shea Weber. According to Sam Carchidi of the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Predators received some calls regarding their team captain on Deadline Day. It would take a very substantial offer to pry the 28-year-old star out of Nashville, but with Preds likely to miss the playoffs again and Weber due a $13 Million signing bonus at the end of June, there could be interest in swapping the the two-time Olympic gold medalist for three or four assets.
*******
Leafs defenseman Dion Phaneuf was absent from practice after falling awkwardly into the boards on Wednesday in New York, but according to Leafs coach Randy Carlyle, it was a maintenance day for the team captain.
"He's got some bumps and bruises." Carlyle said at the Mastercard Center on Friday. "We feel it's in his best interest for him not to skate today."
Phaneuf is expected to take the morning skate and be in the lineup against the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday.
INTERESTED IN TICKETS TO THE GAME???: Get Toronto Maple Leafs Tickets For Any Game At FanXchange.com.
*******If you are interested in sponsorship or advertising your business in the Greater Toronto / Southern Ontario area on this column, please send a message for more information by clicking on the “Contact… button at the top of the page.*******
For Those on Twitter: Follow @mikeinbuffalo
KINDLE USERS: Please sign up for Maple Leafs Buzz, which includes a free-of-charge 14-day trial and is just 99 cents per month afterwards. For more information click here.