The Leafs might be well served to investigate what else would be involved to facilitate a Kessel swap for Malkin. It might require giving up Gardiner too, but regardless what Gino says about wanting to stay in Pittsburgh, moving to T.O. to be the "go to" guy, might just be the motivation he needs to reach his potential. Kessel definitely needs a change in scenery, and a sniper on the wing might be just what the doctor ordered for Crosby.

Is this possible? I doubt it, but interesting to think about.

What packages do you see making this work, for both sides!?!
- InSutterWeTrust

Wow that's interesting. Kessell and gardiner for Malkin? I think that works for both sides.

They are very different scenarios. Kessel has 7 years left or 8 not sure when his contract kicked in at 8 per. Then factor in he has never hit forty goals and they way he acts, like what teams highest payed player doesn't have to speak to the media then when they do make asses out of themselves by being childish. He has no heart no defense game and went completely dry for the last twenty games. You will no doubt get a decent package but most times you trade a top ten player ( as leafs fans would argue he is ) you lose that trade. You forget the scraps kovalchuk went for ? I would take kovalchuk over kessel every day of the week and wouldn't even think twice about. Then factor in that ever gm in the league knows Phil isn't part of the leafs future plans and they will have to move him any ways and that = significantly less of a return then what you are asking for.
- blizzzard

Do you remember what Kovalchuck was like in Atlanta.... not exactly a model NHL citizen, only when he got to Jersey did he finally clean his act up and start becoming the player he was when he left your organization...

You are 100% right about Phil and his attitude... but he like Kovy could change and one thing is for certain any team like the Preds who need a skilled sniper to help put them over the top will pay for a guy LIKE Kessel.... the Leafs will get his worth just like Atlanta did when they delt Kovy...

Kovalchuk

For

Niclas Bergfors
Johnny Oduya
Patrice Cormier (Busted 1st rounder)
1st Round Pick

The 1st ended up being used in the deal with the Hawks

2010 1st (#24-Kevin Hayes) The pick acquired from NJ for Kovy
Marty Reasoner,
Joey Crabb,
Jeremy Morin, ,
2010 2nd (#54-Justin Holl)

For

Ben Eager
Dustin Byfuglien
Brent Sopel,
Akim Aliu


wouldn't call it a bad hall looks pretty impressive after the fact actually!

When the Leafs fans come here, the exchanges are colourful negotiations...

When the Rangers fans (other than Burton) come here, the exchanges become extremely uncivil... WHY? Why do we fight?!
- archromat

Cause (frank) them that's why.

If Hitchcock is fired from st Louis i want him behind the Devils bench
- shvingter88

I sort of do too. But than I think about how he has been bounced from the first rd the last three years with one of the most talented rosters in the league. Now do ya really want that guy? Not sure I do.

I sort of do too. But than I think about how he has been bounced from the first rd the last three years with one of the most talented rosters in the league. Now do ya really want that guy? Not sure I do.
- NickA

I'm in the same boat... I feel like he knows how to implement a system, but he doesn't know how to curve that system towards the team he's matched up against in the playoffs, which is a problem many coaches have.

Believe it or not, of all available coaches, I'm still liking Paul MacLean. The Leafs actually wanted him, but he said he wanted to take the rest of the year off, that's why they didn't hire a new head coach (which is why it was so baffling that they went with the interim in the middle of a playoff run).

Unfortunately, I think Edmonton might end up luring Babcock just because they won the draft (one of the many perks you get from getting hockey's prince come to your city)... if not, I'm sure Chiarelli is gonna call on Julien for the job if he's let go by the B's.

6th overall and gelinas or Merril
- shvingter88

(frank) off he's worse then kessel if the sixth was even mentioned I would hang up the phone. The guy us garunteed to be over payed for the next 7 years because of the offer sheet he was given. If we are moving the sixth + we better be going after someone who isn't available like hall.

Jaden Schwartz would be a hell of a grab if we could but if St. Louis where to shake things up I would have guess it would be a player like steen or backes or bowmeaster since they are all 30+

Cammalleri-Henrique-Kessel
Elias-Zajac-Bernier
Boucher-Gomez-Matteau
Ruutu-Josefson/Gio-Tootoo/Zubs

presto. Gomez would have fun with those kids. He's got a youthful spirit, but also has experience and knows how to play "Devils hockey"- responsible 2-way hockey and all that.

if all pans out.. this could be a bubble team.

with that said, do we go all in now with Kessel, Cam, Zajac and Greene having a few years of their prime left, while Schneider is in his, and use what's left of Elias/Gomez?
OR
do we draft Barzal and have a franchise center to develop along the same timeline as our young dmen.. and hope everyone can be good to go in a few years while Cam has something left to give? If Kovy and Parainen come over, that changes a lot. If Boucher, Matteau, even this Blandisi kid develop into at least 2nd line players, that changes some things. It's a gamble either way. I just see about 5 years of prime Kessel, vs. about 13 years of Barzal.

the true miracle would be Lou somehow getting Kessel, without sacrificing that 6th pick. If he can do that, we could be a playoff team this year, and maybe even contenders the year or 2 after once Barzal gets some NHL experience. Could we offer Merrill+ both 2015 2nd round picks + 2016 1st? It's a lot of picks, in years that we still may not even make the playoffs.. but we still get Barzal, who has a higher probability of being a top line center, than what we'll get in the 2nd round or next year's draft.
- MartysBetter88

Everyone seriously needs to forget about Kovy coming back to NJ. It's never happening. He'd need to sit out an entire year where he doesn't play hockey at all, so even if he wanted to come back, the earliest it could happen is 2016-17, at which point he'd already be 33. So not only would we be getting a 33 year old Kovy, but we'd be getting him after he hasn't played in an actual game for an entire year. On top of that, he's likely going to want a fairly big contract. I want no part of that.

Bottom line is that it's a total pipedream and everyone who thinks it's a good idea is way overrating the type of player he'd be at that point.

Kovy will probably come when he's 35, depending on what's going on in the world by then...

(frank) off he's worse then kessel if the sixth was even mentioned I would hang up the phone. The guy us garunteed to be over payed for the next 7 years because of the offer sheet he was given. If we are moving the sixth + we better be going after someone who isn't available like hall.
- blizzzard

He doesn't have the hands of kessel but ROR is a million times more well rounded than kessel. And he wins a poop load of faceoffs.

Jaden Schwartz would be a hell of a grab if we could but if St. Louis where to shake things up I would have guess it would be a player like steen or backes or bowmeaster since they are all 30+
- blizzzard

Oh my god you don't want ROR and want Schwartz instead? You're nuts

- StephaneRicher

What's not to like

Everyone seriously needs to forget about Kovy coming back to NJ. It's never happening. He'd need to sit out an entire year where he doesn't play hockey at all, so even if he wanted to come back, the earliest it could happen is 2016-17, at which point he'd already be 33. So not only would we be getting a 33 year old Kovy, but we'd be getting him after he hasn't played in an actual game for an entire year. On top of that, he's likely going to want a fairly big contract. I want no part of that.

Bottom line is that it's a total pipedream and everyone who thinks it's a good idea is way overrating the type of player he'd be at that point.
- ATLL765

like I've said over and over.. so? He'd still be the best player on our team! lol

Panarin about to sign with Chicago so there goes that.

Oh my god you don't want ROR and want Schwartz instead? You're nuts
- shvingter88

He's got a good point with ROR's contract. He could leave after a year or two and we'd have nothing to show for it.

He's got a good point with ROR's contract. He could leave after a year or two and we'd have nothing to show for it.
- rmdevil313

That was a point I tried to make a while ago but some guys are "ROR or bust". Not only is ROR asking for $7M per but he'd very likely bolt to the highest bidder when he hits UFA status. NJ hasn't had good luck in those situations.

Not sure if Schwartz is a UFA or not, but if he is, he's signed to term, if he signs he must want to be here, and he should be cheaper.

I like both players but unless NJ got permission to negotiate an extension before the trade & ROR was game I'd rather not play that game again.

Plus, ROR won't come too cheap. And as you pointed out, he leaves & it's a double whammy!

Panarin about to sign with Chicago so there goes that.
- K-dizzle

Kovy soon to follow

Wonder what the asking price on Sharp would be? I know he's 33 and that makes me hesitate, but he seems to be a guy that shows up in big games and outside of Camm he'd probably have the best shot & be the 2nd most skilled FW.

Kujawinski scored another OT winner in OHL semis...we really need to hope some of these forwards from 2011 draft on pan out lol

John Q with a goal too

like I've said over and over.. so? He'd still be the best player on our team! lol
- MartysBetter88

That still doesn't make it a good idea to sign him again. And it's not a sure thing that he'd be our best player if he did come back since the earliest that could happen is two years from now.

I'd rather trade for Semin than sign Kovy after he sits out an entire year from playing hockey. At least in that scenario we'd be acquiring a known quantity and likely would be able to dump a bad contract on top of having Carolina retain salary.

With Semin, he's only signed for 3 more years and despite his lack of production, his possession stats are still pretty good for a guy who's been stuck on a very bad team. His FF% over the past few years is much better than Kovy's ever were and his P/60 in the past two years are double what Kovy put up even in 2011-12.

Something like Clowe or Zubrus for Semin @ $4.75M for 3 years is more enticing to me than a Kovy who's a year removed from playing hockey at what would likely have to be at least $6M for at least the same term, if not more.

Despite Kovy's age and having to sit out a whole year before coming back to the NHL, a guy who has a track record of scoring 30+ goals per year would definitely get a contract for 3/$20M, if not something more like 5/$30M. That's way more than I'd be willing to pay for a guy who hasn't even been tearing up the KHL, a league that has significantly worse goaltending and defense. In the KHL, he may have been able to hide the effects of his back injury better than he could in NA, where there's more board battles. He might come back to the NHL and only be able to produce 25-30 goals and 50-60 points.

That was a point I tried to make a while ago but some guys are "ROR or bust". Not only is ROR asking for $7M per but he'd very likely bolt to the highest bidder when he hits UFA status. NJ hasn't had good luck in those situations.

Not sure if Schwartz is a UFA or not, but if he is, he's signed to term, if he signs he must want to be here, and he should be cheaper.

I like both players but unless NJ got permission to negotiate an extension before the trade & ROR was game I'd rather not play that game again.

Plus, ROR won't come too cheap. And as you pointed out, he leaves & it's a double whammy!

- FLdevilsFAN

He did lock up Schneider when he didn't have much time, but its a gamble. Schneider was a goalie so its not like the open market was that attractive for him, but teams will throw stupid money at a forward. ROR would have all the leverage.

Wonder what the asking price on Sharp would be? I know he's 33 and that makes me hesitate, but he seems to be a guy that shows up in big games and outside of Camm he'd probably have the best shot & be the 2nd most skilled FW.
- FLdevilsFAN

Normally something like this would give you an aneurysm. I wouldn't mind him if it was a cap dump move but at 33 I'd look elsewhere if they wanted anything valuable in return.

That still doesn't make it a good idea to sign him again. And it's not a sure thing that he'd be our best player if he did come back since the earliest that could happen is two years from now.

I'd rather trade for Semin than sign Kovy after he sits out an entire year from playing hockey. At least in that scenario we'd be acquiring a known quantity and likely would be able to dump a bad contract on top of having Carolina retain salary.

With Semin, he's only signed for 3 more years and despite his lack of production, his possession stats are still pretty good for a guy who's been stuck on a very bad team. His FF% over the past few years is much better than Kovy's ever were and his P/60 in the past two years are double what Kovy put up even in 2011-12.

Something like Clowe or Zubrus for Semin @ $4.75M for 3 years is more enticing to me than a Kovy who's a year removed from playing hockey at what would likely have to be at least $6M for at least the same term, if not more.

Despite Kovy's age and having to sit out a whole year before coming back to the NHL, a guy who has a track record of scoring 30+ goals per year would definitely get a contract for 3/$20M, if not something more like 5/$30M. That's way more than I'd be willing to pay for a guy who hasn't even been tearing up the KHL, a league that has significantly worse goaltending and defense. In the KHL, he may have been able to hide the effects of his back injury better than he could in NA, where there's more board battles. He might come back to the NHL and only be able to produce 25-30 goals and 50-60 points.
- ATLL765

This is crazy talk. Semin had a worse point per game rate than both Havlat and Ryder this past season. I don't know if I'd even want him at league minimum.

Realistically we won't know what Lou is going to do until he does it.