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Leaf Rumours

Oh God, 17. Damn you for bringing up that horrific possibility.

If St-Louis stole both Steen and Kadri from us in the space of 6 years, I think I'd have to burn that ****ing city to the ground.
 
LeafGm said:
Oh God, 17. Damn you for bringing up that horrific possibility.

If St-Louis stole both Steen and Kadri from us in the space of 6 years, I think I'd have to burn that ****ing city to the ground.
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If it makes you feel any better, the people of St Louis are doing their best to do it before you get the chance
 
The Leafs are capable of some pretty stupid shit, but they aren't that completely brain dead. Kadri for Backes would be a massive **** up ... beyond even the Steen trade. Gunnar for Polak was a minor screw up asset value-wise.

If there's any truth to this, it has to be Bozak + prospect going the other way. Maybe Blake Kessel is sticking around the Marlies to help Phil deal with the blow of losing his buddy?
 
I don't see the Leafs moving young players for anything other than young players. The system isn't exactly overflowing with talent.
 
Oh the Leafs brass are DEFINITELY capable of something stupid like Kadri for Backes.

Bozak + for Backes, OTOH, would not make sense for St. Louis ... why would St.L make that trade?! Backes is the better offensive player, having scored 30+G which Bozak hasn't come close to. And despite playing with Kessel, Backes still beats Bozak in points. Despite 30 years old, Backes has played in more games than Bozak the last 2 years and appears as the less injury prone player of the 2. Backes is also more rugged, more reliable defensively, and only make $250k more than Bozak.

No way Bozak is the centerpiece in a trade for Backes. As a Leaf fan, the best I can hope for is it's Lupul instead of Kadri. Bozak would be a pipe dream.
 
You're underrating Bozak. They are quite similar offensively and Bozak still has some upside -- he was 0.84 ppg last season (better than Backes has ever done). He's also 2 years younger. Bozak and a prospect if perfectly reasonable. The Blues have Stastny to fill the first line centre spot now.

No, even I can't believe they'd do something as stupid as Kadri for Backes.
 
BeLeafer said:
You're underrating Bozak. They are quite similar offensively and Bozak still has some upside -- he was 0.84 ppg last season (better than Backes has ever done). He's also 2 years younger. Bozak and a prospect if perfectly reasonable. The Blues have Stastny to fill the first line centre spot now.

No, even I can't believe they'd do something as stupid as Kadri for Backes.
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Oh I think you're VASTLY underrating the stupidity of MLSE brass and what they are capable of ... ;)

I actually like Bozak more than the average fans on this board, but when you're comparing POTENTIAL to ACTUAL PRODUCTION, there is a gap. I am not going to trade a 60 points forward for a player, who's only 2 years younger, who MAY produce at 60 points in the future (and even THAT is arguable without Kessel on his wing). And he'll still never have Backes's power game.

I agree there's very little chance Backes is traded, but if Nonis offers Kadri I'd jump all over that as the Blues GM.
 
It wouldn't surprise me to see Nonis make another dumb trade. Backes is a slight upgrade on Bozak and Kadri offensively is better than Backes. If we're going to make a trade for a center, go for an elite one(very difficult to pull off of course). We should be looking for Backes type players for our wing positions imo..It's where the real problems are imo(too many small/weak wingers).
 
Leafin' said:
If Kadri is getting traded, I hope we get Shattenkirk in the deal.
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We have our promising young d-men in Rielly and Gardiner, trading a young center for another young defenseman would require another trade to fill the holes up front.

Anyway - I'm sure if St. Louis was looking to get rid of anyone, it would be Berglund.
 
zeke said:
lupul for backes might make sense.

i think the blues would be looking more for a winger.
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Yeah, they have a glut of centres.... Steen, Backes, Statsny Berglund They lost Stewart to play the boards with some speed. I would LOVE a Backes for Lupul +. It could possibly even be Lupul and Holland for Backes, and Backes goes between Phil and JVR. Bozak moves to the second with a kid and Clarkson and Kadri creates an offensive third line with Komorov and say Frattin or Leivo
 
If words that Gunnarson is damaged goods and can't start the season with the Blues is true, don't expect another TO-StL trade anytime soon.
 
number17 said:
If words that Gunnarson is damaged goods and can't start the season with the Blues is true, don't expect another TO-StL trade anytime soon.
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Not necessarily. Gunnarsson's hip problem was public knowledge, and the Blues doctors would have had to give him a physical and give him the green light before approving the trade.

It's not like they tricked the Blues into taking an injured player.
 
number17 said:
If I were St.Louis I'll definitely ask for Kadri. And combine that with the Kyperous rumor where Nonis has been taking up offers on Kadri, it makes a lot of sense.

Trading Kadri would be a mistake unfortunately, especially if it's Backes who's coming back. Backes is a 25G 55 points center, nothing special about him, but his reported 'intangibles' could easily get Nonis & Co., similar to how they went for the Gunnar for Polak trade (and threw in $$ too .... ). I don't necessarily hate Polak, but you shouldn't have to overpay for 'role players'. Not to mention, Kadri is 23 and Backes is 30. That's 7 years of difference and it's huge. The style Backes play I expect his body to start breaking down right about now.

Anyways I hope it isn't true. Any trade that bring us a second line center with ~ 50-60 points production makes no sense at all. If the Leafs trade for a center it would only make sense if we trade for a true #1 center, or a prospect with potential to be a #1 center and not another #2 center to go with Bozak.
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Gigga what? 50-60 points from a 2nd line centre is very respectable to above average numbers IMO, I don't see the problem with that at all. Right now, Kadri is at the bottom scale of the 50-60 point range albeit he's young and can still improve his totals but realistcily if he's in the 2C role IMO he'll be within the 50-60 point range most of his career unless somehow he can be elevated to the top line. Backes brings decent numbers but he also brings other intangibles to the table such as a physical element, and more importantly he plays a 200 foot game which is something this team badly lacks currently.

I do agree though, that given his style of play he's a higher risk to break down then Kadri is, the types of players like Backes and company tend to be broken shells of themselves by the time they're in their early 30's and pretty much done by their mid 30's, so yes that's a huge concern and plays a part in this. However, like others have said Backes so far (knock on wood) has been surprisingly durable so far but regardless to me its a very huge risk going forward that he COULD break down if he comes here.
 
PKForce81 said:
It wouldn't surprise me to see Nonis make another dumb trade. Backes is a slight upgrade on Bozak and Kadri offensively is better than Backes. If we're going to make a trade for a center, go for an elite one(very difficult to pull off of course). We should be looking for Backes type players for our wing positions imo..It's where the real problems are imo(too many small/weak wingers).
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To me its not even about getting an "elite" centre, I don't care if the centre can get 60ish points but he a) has to be above average on faceoffs and b) excel in his own end of the rink too. We are BADLY lacking a Bergeron-esque type centre on this team, if we can get a type of player like that IMO it will go a long way to helping this team truly improve.
 
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