National Hockey League: Maple Leaf defence gets Brett Lebda
General Manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs, Brian Burke, is the man of this year’s free agency. He has been revamping the Maple Leaf roster and has been the man to watch but his work in the free agency market might finally be coming to an end. As a result of all the trades and deals Burke has been making, the Maple Leafs now have just over a million dollars in their cap left.
The latest cap hit came in the form of defenseman Brett Lebda. Burke signed the Former Detroit Red Wings player for a two year, and appreciably more than what he was previously getting, 2.9 million dollars contract. Some will argue that Lebda is not worth the money. His career with the Red Wings and in the NHL overall has not been something to sing about, yet Burke signed him for an impressive sum of money.
The Maple Leafs already have a strong defensive line. Too strong maybe and Lebda does not add much too it. With his 18 goals and 50 assists in his entire NHL career the defenseman cannot be said to have much offensive skills and at 5’9 and 195 lbs his size does not stand out in the Leafs. Considering that the Leafs are spending a whooping 27,750,000 dollars, now including Lebda’s contract, on defence, what exactly is it that prompted Burke to conclude the deal?
A possible explanation could be that the Lebda’s deal came after Burke got something promising with regards to Tomas Kaberle. Burke has heard 5 deals for Tomas and rejected all, going so far as to say that one of them was an insult. Tomas at 4.25 million a year is a much more significant salary concern than the newly acquired Lebda, but then he is also a far better player. If Burke was hoping to replace Tomas with Brett Lebda, he simply cannot. Lebda does not measure up but the Maple leaf defence will not be taking much of a hit with Tomas’ departure.
Tomas was the only one on the Maple Leaf defence who no longer has a no-trade clause on his contract. If Burke has not already made headway in terms of a Tomas deal, his need has suddenly become a lot more aggravated. Burke had previously said that to keep Tomas on the roster was not an unwelcome outcome, but with the addition of Lebda, someone has to go and it appears that it will have to be Tomas.
Teams interested in a trade would also have realized this and that makes it more difficult for Burke to get a good deal, or at least one better than the 5 he turned down. Burke had a good thing going for him when Dan Hamhuis, Sergie Gonchar and Paul Martin signed, Tomas was the offensive player still available for grabs and that made him more valuable. Now that advantage in Burke’s favour competes with disadvantage that Burke absolutely needs a trade because the Maple Leaf forward still needs work. Recently the Leafs acquired Kris Versteeg and Colby Armstrong, possibly for more than he was worth thanks to the cold free agency market this season, to beef up their offense but there is room and need for more if the Maple leafs are to make their mark in the coming season. Unless Tomas is traded, there just simply is not any room for Burke to manoeuvre.
Burke has made great strides in the improving the Maple leaf and there is only just a little more he can do. If the Tomas deal goes through and he can find someone on to add to the forwards, Burke will be all set to do the impossible. He will have actually delivered on the fantastic promises all GMs make.
Tags: