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Trade deadline day has come and gone and Mats Sundin remains a Leaf, much to the disappointment of many Leafs fans who seem to forget all he’s done for the team. The real problem that needs to be examined though isn’t Sundin’s refusal to leave, but the entire concept of a rental player and why the league needs to put some countermeasures in place to make “rentals” a thing of the past.

First let’s define a rental. In a rental situation, the idea is that a player going into unrestricted free agency from team X is traded away at the deadline to team Y. Then, in the summer, the player re-signs with team X. In essence, team X gets something for nothing.

There are multiple problems with this. First of all, it could technically be done multiple times. Mats Sundin for instance has voiced that he is only interested in one year contracts. That means that in theory, had he been willing to be a rental, the Leafs could have rented him out over and over again, each time gaining without loss, until they were in a position to make a good playoff run. The real problem however is that in rental situations, it is very likely that the team acquiring the rental could essentially be getting cheated. If a team tells a player about to go UFA that he’s being traded as a rental, but he’s “welcome back next year, wink wink, nudge nudge”, then that is tampering. A rental situation in which a player is traded only to return to the team that traded him reeks of tampering and (more…)

Today Mats Sundin announced that he will not waive his no-trade clause and will remain with the Maple Leafs. Sundin said, as quoted from TSN, “I have carefully considered the team’s request that I waive my no-trade clause,” Sundin said in a statement. “I have always believed I would finish my career as a Toronto Maple Leaf so the actual request was still a very difficult one for me to contemplate.”

“I have spoken to and listened to my family and those closest to me about this issue. In the end, there is no right decision in a situation like this one.”

“I cannot leave my teammates and join another NHL Club at this time. I have never believed in the concept of a rental player. It is my belief that winning the Stanley Cup is the greatest thing you can achieve in hockey but for me, in order to appreciate it you have to (more…)

Today Sundin talked to reporters about the pressure he’s been under to waive his no-trade clause. If I was Sundin I’d do two things. First I’d tweak and take out that entire crowd of reporters, and then second I’d tell the Leafs to go screw themselves. I’d be so fed up with the team, the media and the fans trying to push me out, that I’d refuse to waive my NTC out of spite and then sign with a new team next year and play the best season of my career. I can’t believe the crap this guy is getting. He’s clearly fed up with the whole issue.

Thanks to Jeff at FaceOffCircle.net for putting the video on YouTube.

Today was the last day of the NHL’s annual General Managers’ meeting and Cliff Fletcher left Naples, Fl with no deals made. “Maybe some seeds will have been planted, but there won’t be any deals” said Fletcher yesterday adding that talks were preliminary and no firm offers had been received.

Some fans might see this and start to panic. After all, the trade deadline is just days away and this is supposed to be Cliff’s time to shine! Shouldn’t he be saving the franchise with a flurry of trades?

Well yes, and no.

The nice thing about having Cliff Fletcher sitting behind the GM’s desk is that in a situation like this, Leafs fans should feel confident. Fletcher has a track record of being a good trade-man in the NHL and buds fans should take comfort in this.

If John Ferguson Jr. was still handling the team’s affairs, his general incompetence would make it a good time to be affraid. With Cliff making the phone calls, you can safely assume that if no deals are being made, it’s because the Silver Fox is waiting for the right offers and is unwilling to liquidate the team for bargain basement prices.

That really is the key. While a less experienced General Manager might have come into this situation and started pulling the trigger on whatever deal he could - something some fans would like - Cliff knows better. He isn’t going to sell (more…)

Deadline time is approaching and the media is ablaze over what will happen to players in regards to waiving their NMC’s or NTC’s. The problem is they rarely, if ever, take the time to explain the terms. I’ve had a few people ask me what each one means and what the differences are so I thought I’d address that here.

No-Trade Clause (NTC):

No-trade clauses protect players from being moved through trade to another team without their consent. Examples of Leafs holding such contracts are Mats Sundin, Tomas Kaberle and Darcy Tucker. For any of these players to be traded, they have to consent to waiving the clause in their contract. The waiving of an NTC is not a black or white decision, as players have the right to (more…)

On Monday night TSN reported that Cliff Fletcher and Islanders GM Garth Snow had discussed a deal that would involve Jason Blake and Bryan McCabe being moved to Long Island. Apparently McCabe is willing to wave his NMC for a trade with the Islanders. As it stands, Snow has declined the offer due to the return Fletcher has asked being too high.

Cliff needs to start budging on his end big time. Dumping McCabe’s monstrous salary would be a Godsend for the Leafs, and should allow Fletcher to accept less in return than if McCabe was making reasonable money. While there isn’t any point in trading the pair if the return would be a pittance, any reasonable return should be taken if it means the Leafs can shed those two players and free up valuable cap space.

Since apparently the Islanders are (more…)

Imagine you are a General Manager of an NHL franchise. You have just finished watching the Leafs lose 8-0 to the Florida Panthers.

The phone rings.

“Hey, [you], how are you, it’s Cliff Fletcher. Listen I’m calling to see if you have any interest in Hal Gill, what can you give us for him?”

What’s your answer? Maybe the last overall draft pick. A couple sticks and a puck? Maybe an empty soup can?

While guys like Sundin and Kaberle will always have solid value on the market because of years of proven play, the rest of the team doesn’t quite have that luxury.

At this point, what is Darcy Tucker worth? What are guys like (more…)

With the rumors flying about Sundin possibly being dealt to the Detroit Red Wings, I felt it would be a good time to do an analysis of the team composition of a current serial-winner, the Red Wings, vs. a perennial loser, the Toronto Maple Leafs. The analysis will concentrate on salaries dispersed between team draft picks and non-draft picks, and shows a stark difference between the composition of these two teams.

Detroit Red Wings:

The Wings totally salary commitment for the 07/08 season is $42,280,833. Out of that entire salary commitment, here is a list of players drafted by the Detroit Red Wings and their contribution to the overall number (more…)

Some fans need to get their heads out of their asses on this Sundin issue. You hear talk about it every day. Will Mats Sundin waive his no trade clause to allow the Leafs to trade him to another team in exchange for some assets at the trade deadline? The idea is that Sundin will go to the other team, finish out the season and likely playoffs with his new club, and then return to Toronto for next year via his unrestricted free agency.

If it happens, great, the Leafs will benefit from some new talent, hopefully young and with a long future, and some other team will benefit from having a guy who really can offer it all.

Where I start to get disgusted is the attitude you hear from a lot of Leafs fans who say (more…)

All I can think of when I look at this move is “why?” Is there any point to this move what so ever? Does the team really think that a guy who was cast away from the Wild, having scored three points in 30 games, is going to have any kind of effect to help the team climb out of the huge hole they’ve fallen into? Dominc Moore? Who? Here’s who, a 27 year old centre whos’ career high season in points was 18 in 82 games with the Rangers in 05-06.

Moore will undoubtedly become one of the handfull of players that the Leafs move up and down between the big club and the Marlies, seemingly at random, just hoping to God that (more…)