During his tenure with the Toronto Maple Leafs, Brian Burke made numerous trades with the Anaheim Ducks, the club that he managed to a Stanley Cup and knew inside out. Burke’s familiarity with players like Brad May, Jean-Sebastien Giguere, Francois Beauchemin, Joffrey Lupul and Jake Gardiner provided a higher level of confidence and a comfort level in acquiring them.
Burke’s mentor and current Leafs GM Lou Lamoriello operates in much the same way and brought players who he drafted or acquired in New Jersey such as Petr Sykora, Scott Gomez, Alexander Mogilny, Cam Janssen and Scott Clemmensen back into the fold after they have departed from the organization.
Lamoriello added two-time Devils defenseman and former Leaf Mark Fraser to the training camp roster on a PTO last week and Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports there are rumors that the Leafs may be interested in acquiring veteran center Travis Zajac.
The 28-year-old defenseman played for Albany and New Jersey last season after splitting time with Toronto and Edmonton in 2013-14 and could be signed to an AHL contract to provide veteran depth after the club moved defensemen Tom Nilsson and Matt Finn to the NY Islanders last week.
Zajac, 30, is entering year three of an eight-year, $46 Million contract provides a big-bodied two-way presence up the middle, but his offensive numbers have declined since scoring a career-high 25 goals and 42 assists in 2010.
The only way a Zajac deal makes sense for Toronto in their current transitional stage is if Lamoriello is able to move a player off the Leafs roster that does not fit in their future plans with a hefty salary, such as Joffrey Lupul or Tyler Bozak or if Devils GM Ray Shero is willing to retain a large portion of the center’s $5.75 Million annual salary.
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The Leafs play their second straight home exhibition game on Saturday, a match against the Montreal Canadiens at Air Canada Center. The club will play their next two games on the road, on Tuesday in Buffalo and on Friday in Detroit before the pre-season finale against the Red Wings next Saturday.
The expected roster for Saturday, courtesy of TSN’s Jonas Siegel :
Forwards
van Riemsdyk-Bozak-Setoguchi
Hyman-Nylander-Komarov
Matthias-Holland-Boyes
Glencross-Froese-Kapanen
Watch Friday’s edition of Leaf Buzz, as CTV London’s Norman James and myself discuss the All-American Prospects Game in Buffalo, William Nylander and the exodus of the Burke/Nonis draft picks
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