Derek21 Posted February 14, 2006 Share Posted February 14, 2006 http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentSe...ol=970081593064 Kaberle deal a typical Leaf mistake Toronto's management has rewarded mediocrity once again. What they should be doing is figuring out how to trade away Darcy Tucker before the deadline Feb. 12, 2006. 07:05 AM DAMIEN COX The Maple Leafs have been in freefall for six weeks, but you wouldn't know it by the inactivity of the club's management group. Other than minor-league call-ups, the club has engineered one significant transaction all season, and it came yesterday when rearguard Tomas Kaberle was signed to an eyebrow-raising, five-year contract that will almost double his pay to more than $4 million (all figures U.S.) per season. Kaberle's a nice player, clever offensively with an average shot, and often less than average in his own end. The Leafs have never won anything with him on their blue line, but then again, you could say that about dozens of players. That the decision to overpay a one-dimensional defenceman more than Dan Boyle, Robyn Regehr or Sergei Zubov was announced on the same evening the Maple Leafs were going down to yet another defeat in a season gone seriously sour, however, was a linkage too symbolic to ignore. That it is the only significant transaction the team has made all year while gradually tumbling out of a playoff spot by the Olympic break tells you an awful lot about the manner in which the team appears utterly adrift. Either GM John Ferguson is content with the state of his team, or he is helpless to do anything about it. Neither choice is particularly flattering. Meanwhile, the club is now in a fragile position in a variety of ways. First, the Leafs have to play sizzling .620 hockey over the remaining 25 games to hit the 90-point plateau, the likely level a team will require for an Eastern Conference playoff berth. More awkwardly, with the club sitting outside the top eight in the East, the Leafs will have only four games after the festivities in Turin conclude before the March 9 trade deadline. That's just four games to decide whether to be a buyer or a seller or neither. Selling makes the most sense to anybody not paid by this team. You have to believe, for example, that Darcy Tucker would be a very attractive commodity on the trade market, particularly with a contract that pays him $1.6 million this year and $1.6 million next year. Some team would almost certainly peg him to be their playoff catalyst. That's how you could get a good young player, or a good high draft pick. But Ferguson's got pressure to bring in playoff income no matter what. The Leaf board would never accept sacrificing money in the short-term to strengthen for the future. So Tucker, more valuable now than he'll ever be again, almost certainly stays. In 2006, the Leafs are 5-11-2, allowing more than 3.6 goals per game, and they followed a predictable script last night. The Rangers outworked and out-goaltended the Leafs for the second straight night, while Jaromir Jagr feasted on Ed Belfour for four goals in 48 hours to become the first NHLer to hit the 40-goal mark. The Leafs had no checking answer for Jagr, no energy line to turn the momentum of the game and terrible body language by key players. When the Leafs decided to pull Belfour with 55 seconds left, the best extra attacker the Leaf staff could nominate was Nik Antropov, a chronic underachiever with one goal in 18 games. Defenceman Bryan McCabe, headed for Turin as part of Quinn's blue-line corps with Team Canada, had the kind of high-risk, high-reward evening that will make him a truly interesting study at the Olympics. He scored his 17th goal with the game far out of reach, but took two bad penalties when it was still a contest, one for blasting Jagr to the ice when the Czech superstar didn't have the puck, and the other for hooking Jagr after being badly beaten to a loose puck. He's being rewarded for an excellent offensive season with a berth on Team Canada, but it makes you cringe to imagine the errors he makes on a regular basis with the Leafs might be made over the next two weeks with the entire country watching. Not surprisingly, of course, he's the next Leaf in line for a big raise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MantaRay Posted February 14, 2006 Share Posted February 14, 2006 Ouch! Kaberle must be scratching his head. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
annabelle Posted February 14, 2006 Share Posted February 14, 2006 when anything has "Leafs" and "deal" in the same breath it is always a mistake..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devil Fan Posted February 15, 2006 Share Posted February 15, 2006 Giving Belfour 20M/ 3 years is the worst one by JFJ so far. If Belfour doesn't play next season, he would receive 1.5M. That means Belfour earned a total of 8M for playing one (mediocre) season for the Leafs. (He received some signing bonus in the first year of the multi-year deal) Kaberle worths 4.25M is overpaying without debates. Dan Boyle or Aucoin do not even earn as much as him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LOTCB Posted February 15, 2006 Share Posted February 15, 2006 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sammyk Posted February 15, 2006 Share Posted February 15, 2006 Ah yes, it's the little things that make Clown happy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
annabelle Posted February 15, 2006 Share Posted February 15, 2006 Giving Belfour 20M/ 3 years is the worst one by JFJ so far. If Belfour doesn't play next season, he would receive 1.5M. That means Belfour earned a total of 8M for playing one (mediocre) season for the Leafs. (He received some signing bonus in the first year of the multi-year deal)Kaberle worths 4.25M is overpaying without debates. Dan Boyle or Aucoin do not even earn as much as him. Hey I may hate the leafs but i love Eddie...just supportin a fellow Manitoban and his hustle..yeeeehaaaaww!! ok not sure what the yeehawwing was all about but..umm yeahhhh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jursylegnd Posted February 16, 2006 Share Posted February 16, 2006 Sorry but this made no sense. Kaberle is a terrific defenseman and the Devils would be blessed to have him on their squad. The Laffs would be an even sorrier team without him. What they SHOULD do is trade away Sundin and drop Tie Domi and Quinn already. The writing is on the wall. http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentSe...ol=970081593064Kaberle deal a typical Leaf mistake Toronto's management has rewarded mediocrity once again. What they should be doing is figuring out how to trade away Darcy Tucker before the deadline Feb. 12, 2006. 07:05 AM DAMIEN COX The Maple Leafs have been in freefall for six weeks, but you wouldn't know it by the inactivity of the club's management group. Other than minor-league call-ups, the club has engineered one significant transaction all season, and it came yesterday when rearguard Tomas Kaberle was signed to an eyebrow-raising, five-year contract that will almost double his pay to more than $4 million (all figures U.S.) per season. Kaberle's a nice player, clever offensively with an average shot, and often less than average in his own end. The Leafs have never won anything with him on their blue line, but then again, you could say that about dozens of players. That the decision to overpay a one-dimensional defenceman more than Dan Boyle, Robyn Regehr or Sergei Zubov was announced on the same evening the Maple Leafs were going down to yet another defeat in a season gone seriously sour, however, was a linkage too symbolic to ignore. That it is the only significant transaction the team has made all year while gradually tumbling out of a playoff spot by the Olympic break tells you an awful lot about the manner in which the team appears utterly adrift. Either GM John Ferguson is content with the state of his team, or he is helpless to do anything about it. Neither choice is particularly flattering. Meanwhile, the club is now in a fragile position in a variety of ways. First, the Leafs have to play sizzling .620 hockey over the remaining 25 games to hit the 90-point plateau, the likely level a team will require for an Eastern Conference playoff berth. More awkwardly, with the club sitting outside the top eight in the East, the Leafs will have only four games after the festivities in Turin conclude before the March 9 trade deadline. That's just four games to decide whether to be a buyer or a seller or neither. Selling makes the most sense to anybody not paid by this team. You have to believe, for example, that Darcy Tucker would be a very attractive commodity on the trade market, particularly with a contract that pays him $1.6 million this year and $1.6 million next year. Some team would almost certainly peg him to be their playoff catalyst. That's how you could get a good young player, or a good high draft pick. But Ferguson's got pressure to bring in playoff income no matter what. The Leaf board would never accept sacrificing money in the short-term to strengthen for the future. So Tucker, more valuable now than he'll ever be again, almost certainly stays. In 2006, the Leafs are 5-11-2, allowing more than 3.6 goals per game, and they followed a predictable script last night. The Rangers outworked and out-goaltended the Leafs for the second straight night, while Jaromir Jagr feasted on Ed Belfour for four goals in 48 hours to become the first NHLer to hit the 40-goal mark. The Leafs had no checking answer for Jagr, no energy line to turn the momentum of the game and terrible body language by key players. When the Leafs decided to pull Belfour with 55 seconds left, the best extra attacker the Leaf staff could nominate was Nik Antropov, a chronic underachiever with one goal in 18 games. Defenceman Bryan McCabe, headed for Turin as part of Quinn's blue-line corps with Team Canada, had the kind of high-risk, high-reward evening that will make him a truly interesting study at the Olympics. He scored his 17th goal with the game far out of reach, but took two bad penalties when it was still a contest, one for blasting Jagr to the ice when the Czech superstar didn't have the puck, and the other for hooking Jagr after being badly beaten to a loose puck. He's being rewarded for an excellent offensive season with a berth on Team Canada, but it makes you cringe to imagine the errors he makes on a regular basis with the Leafs might be made over the next two weeks with the entire country watching. Not surprisingly, of course, he's the next Leaf in line for a big raise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devil Fan Posted February 16, 2006 Share Posted February 16, 2006 Sorry but this made no sense. Kaberle is a terrific defenseman and the Devils would be blessed to have him on their squad. The Laffs would be an even sorrier team without him. What they SHOULD do is trade away Sundin and drop Tie Domi and Quinn already. The writing is on the wall. No says Kaberle sucks. In fact, Kaberle is a good solid 2nd pair defenseman. But 4.25M is overpaid and that is the topic we are discussing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jursylegnd Posted February 16, 2006 Share Posted February 16, 2006 YEAR GMS G A PTS +/- PIM SOG SPCT PPP SHP TOT DEF 2006 57 6 39 45 -2 36 110 5.5 33 0 33 51 Maybe he is overpaid but then what is "overpaid" for hitting a black rubber disc into a net? These are his stats for this season. Which are comparable to Rafalski. Now what would he be able to do if the Laffs didn't suck so bad? Thats all I meant. No says Kaberle sucks. In fact, Kaberle is a good solid 2nd pair defenseman. But 4.25M is overpaid and that is the topic we are discussing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devil Fan Posted February 16, 2006 Share Posted February 16, 2006 YEAR GMS G A PTS +/- PIM SOG SPCT PPP SHP TOT DEF 2006 57 6 39 45 -2 36 110 5.5 33 0 33 51 Maybe he is overpaid but then what is "overpaid" for hitting a black rubber disc into a net? These are his stats for this season. Which are comparable to Rafalski. Now what would he be able to do if the Laffs didn't suck so bad? Thats all I meant. Rafalski is overpaid too. 4.1M??? Even Jason Smith didn't worth that much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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