Checking From Behind Pulling No Punches

As we begin play after a two week Olympic break, the Toronto Maple Leafs found themselves 15th in the Eastern Conference, or 29th in the NHL. They were only ahead of the lowly Edmonton Oilers squad by 5 points for the last in the league. After Brian Burke made two significant trades back in January which saw them send forward Jason Blake and goaltender Vesa Toskala to Anaheim for J.S. Giguere and then a blockbuster deal which saw them land forward Keith Aulie and "superstar" defencemen Dion Phaneuf for Niklas Hagman, Matt Stajan, Ian White and Jamal Mayers, much was expected in way of more trades on deadline day. Especially since Burke had the chance to see the play of many NHLers as he guided his American team to a Silver medal just three days before the deadline.

Though much was expected in the start of the day, it ended up to not be that big of a day for the Maple Leafs. Burke only made minor trades to mostly acquire draft picks to make up for the picks he lost earlier this season when he traded his first and second in 2010 for sniper Phil Kessel. Two picks which now seem as if they could be put to good use, because as we creep closer to the end of the season, the possibility of drafting Taylor Hall or Tyler Seguin seems even more likely. A gift that the Bruins will no doubt put to good use.

Trades big or small are still trades and we now look at the break down of what Burke has accomplished in the past three days.

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  Breakdown:  

Toronto gets: D-Martin Skoula, F-Luca Caputi

Pittsburgh gets: F-Alexi Ponikarovsky  

-Ponikarovsky was a top point scorer for the Leafs. So far he has played in every game this season, and had played all 82 games last season. During that span he scored 42 goals and 102 points. He has been a great leader for the Leafs and has been a member of the Bud's squad since being drafted in 1998 by the Maple Leafs. Martin Skoula has been a consistant player who has played 80 games or more for the past 4 seasons, but only averaging 13 points a season over that span. Caputi has spend most of his time in the AHL. In the 2008-09 campain he registered 18 goals and 45 points in 66 games.

Toronto gets: 2010 5th round pick

New Jerseys gets: D-Martin Skoula  

-Yes, this was not a mistake. After acquiring the great defence known as Skoula, Toronto decides they not need anymore defence and then ships him out a day later for a 5th round pick. We all know that Burke is trying to get some picks back after losing his main two earlier this season in the season, but this is New Jersey, a team with a lot of talent, especially up front, and for a team looking for some good defence, Burke could have demanded more, it would seem as if he jumped the gun on this one.

Toronto gets: D-Matt Jones, 2010 4th round pick and a 2010 7th round pick

Phoenix gets: F-Lee Stempniak  

-After Lee Stempniak said he wanted a trade, there wasn't much that Toronto could do in persuading him to stay. The 27-year old winger played 122 games for the Leafs registering 25 goals and 60 points. He led the Blues in goals (27) in his first full season as he played in all 82 games in the 2006-07 season but has come nowhere close to that feat since. Regardless, he was to become a unrestricted free agent at the end of the season anyways. In 58 games with the San Antonio Rampage of the AHL of the 2008-09 season, Jones recored 2 goals and and 4 assists. Jones was chosen in the 3rd round (80th overall) in the 2002 NHL draft by the Phoenix Coyotes. Jones will also be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season. Once again Burke gets some draft picks, a fourth and a seventh.

Toronto gets: 2011 7th round pick

Anaheim gets: G-Joey MacDonald  

- Joey MacDonald was really just a just in case goaltender, his role was simply to be ready just in case either Gustavsson or Toskala (at the time) were to get injured. He did not prove himself when given the chances, posting a weak 1-4-0 record in 6 games with a .892 save percentage and a 3.20 GAA. He was just no cut out to be a leader anyways as he only had an 18-38-9 record with .900 save percentage and a 3.30 GAA in his 72 career NHL games. Depite playing poor in the NHL his alltime AHL record is 104-76-4 with a .911 save percentage and 2.47 GAA. If he were to get some more starts, or given more practise, he could potentially be a good backup. Once again Burke seems to have pulled the gun early as he could have recieved more than a 7th rounder in 2011 as a 7th round pick is pretty much just cap dump on Toronto's part.

Toronto gets: D-Chris Peluso

Pittsburgh gets: 2010 6th round pick    

-Peluso, a 23-year old Minnesota native, has yet to play in a game for the Penguins since being drafted in the 7th round (194th round) in 2004. He currently plays for Bemidji State University in the NCAA. In 24 games he has recored 7 assists and totalled 14 penalty minutes. Burke gives up a 6th round draft pick in 2010 in return for the young defencemen.

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 Overall: 

Toronto gets: 

F-Luca Caputi, D-Matt Jones, D-Chris Peluso, 2010 4th, 5th and 7th round 2010 draft pick and a 7th round pick in 2011

 Toronto loses: 

F-Alexi Ponikarovski, D-Martin Skoula, G-Joey Macdonald, F-Lee Stempniak, 2010 6th round draft pick

-For a team that had hoped to make the playoffs this year, and were still able to mathematically make the playoffs, the first initiave was to bring in someone to play with Kessel, instead we get three prospects and lose one of their best forwards over the past two seasons. Also we picked up 2, 7th round draft picks which could have easily been bumped up to a 5th or 6th even. Rather than keep Skoula and possibly make a better trade we also ship him out right away. The three propects we picked up have barely had any NHL time and really don't stand out, or atleast on paper. If this was Burkes attempt of righting this ship for the playoffs, it wasn't enough, and his grade on this weeks trades is certainly low as his trades looked to get worse as the day progressed. Atleast they have the offseason to look forward to.

Adam Reid

adam_mapleleafs@hotmail.com