Having blown a two-goal (or more) lead for the second night in succession - and being unable to rescue a win in the latter - the Toronto Maple Leafs were rewarded with a day off yesterday in the Florida sunshine.
Your agent, being a glass-half-full sort of fellow, was onboard with this, as the poor lads were on the verge of being overworked. It also afforded the opportunity to set about seeing what other small rays of sunshine may be penetrating the gloomy Leafs castle (3-7 in their last 10 games).
The brightest spot is the play of centre Matt Stajan's line.
He and wingers Alexei Ponikarovsky and Niklas Hagman go into tonight's game against the Tampa Bay Lightning as Toronto's hottest scorers (which makes them lukewarm). In the previous two games of this five-game road trip, Stajan, Hagman and Ponikarovsky have two, three and four points, respectively.
This has not translated into a Leafs win streak. Alas, the art of winning two games in succession continues to elude the lads, but it does carry the import of something more meaningful than this lost NHL season: The little surge sent the meter on the trio's market value pointing upward again, or at least horizontal. (December's slide took the gauge down farther than head coach Ron Wilson's lower lip at his postgame media scrums.)
If the trend continues, Leafs general manager Brian Burke might be able to move at least one or two of those three players for a middling draft pick or a prospect of whom another GM has grown weary.
Both Ponikarovsky and Stajan are headed toward unrestricted free agency and both are long-time Leafs, which makes them prime targets to move in the eyes of the current regime.
At present, though, Burke's cellphone is not buzzing with solicitations from rival GMs for any of them. The fellow they are calling about, as always, is defenceman Tomas Kaberle.
Since Kaberle is the only Leafs veteran who would command a first-round draft pick, at minimum, the possibilities of a trade provide endless fascination for the fans and media.
The problem is Burke insists he will not ask Kaberle to waive the no-trade clause in his contract; and Kaberle says he does not want to go anywhere.
But the GMs keep calling because Kaberle has scored 42 points in 51 games, fourth among NHL defencemen before last night, and has one year left on his contract at a reasonable $4.25-million (U.S.).
"He's young enough [31] relatively injury-free and he has a good salary," Burke said yesterday. "There are a lot of reasons to keep him."
That does not mean a trade is out of the question. If the Leafs miss the playoffs, there is a window in Kaberle's contract that allows the team to trade him during the summer.
The trouble is elite, puck-moving defencemen are the rarest commodity in the NHL - so the immediate question would be how to replace Kaberle if he was moved. Then again, the price he could command is tempting.
Last year, hoping to control where his client could potentially be dealt when the summer contract window opened, Kaberle's agent asked Burke if he would accept a list of teams the veteran blueliner would find palatable.
Burke said okay, but it had to be at least 10 clubs. And such a list was delivered.
On Burke's side of the equation, there was no great rush to trade Kaberle. But if some serious offers arrived, he wanted at least 10 teams to be in contention in order to get a serious auction going.
Burke said yesterday he will not be "finagling a list" out of Kaberle's agent this summer, because he is not itching to trade him.
But there is no reason to think a list will not be offered again, and again it will not be turned down just in case another GM wants to pay a price high enough to get Burke's attention.
GAMESHEET
NOTES Toronto Maple Leafs centre Wayne Primeau was held out of the game against the Atlanta Thrashers last Tuesday, but it looks like he will play today against the Tampa Bay Lightning. The veteran forward has been on the shelf since Jan. 2 with a knee injury. … Also out since Jan. 2 is defenceman Mike Komisarek (shoulder). He is more likely to return Saturday against the Florida Panthers, which will finish the Leafs' five-game road trip. … Tampa Bay rookie defenceman Victor Hedman has been struggling lately. He will probably be a healthy scratch against the Leafs in favour of either Matt Walker or David Hale. … Bolts defenceman Paul Ranger, out since Oct. 23 because of a personal issue, may be getting ready for a return. The team said an announcement was coming. … Antero Niittymaki will start for the Bolts today.
NEXT Thursday, at Tampa Bay Lightning, 7 p.m. (EST)
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