Burke Brewing Big Acquisition?

The Fan 590 had a very interesting interview with Burke this morning. He stated that he was not interested in pursuing any of the free agents still on the market, but would more likely use the Leafs remaining cap space to make up the salary differential in a trade for a top flight forward.

What that means is that Burke would look at trading an excess defenseman for a prime forward on a team that wishes to save or open some cap space. This type of trade would not be an even talent for talent trade, but would be as much about the other team moving a contract that they no longer like.

Looking at the possibilities with this type of trade is interesting. An immediate team that comes to mind is San Jose who has just taken the captaincy and assistant-captaincy away from Marleau and Thornton. These players have led the Sharks to great regular seasons but the constant playoff flops has soured the team on both of them. Marleau is on the last year of his contract earning $6.2 million, Thornton has two years left at $7.2 million and the Sharks have no cap space left. The Leafs obviously do not have talent on defense to match up with those players, but a Van Ryn or White coupled with a high draft pick might give the Sharks something to think about. For the Leafs it would mean taking on an oversized contract for soon to be free agents, but those are the type of players that would look great on the front line and could be resigned.

The other thought that keeps popping up is Phil Kessel. Training camps are less then a month away and Kessel still remains an unsigned RFA controlled by the Bruins. The Bruins have stated that they will match any offer made to Kessel, but they have less than $2 million of cap space available. The Kaberle/Kessel trade did not work out this summer, but might the Leafs and Bruins be interested in a trade that sends Kessel to the Leafs for White and the Leafs number one pick next year? Kessel is likely a $4 - $5 million player and that appears to be more then the Bruins are willing to commit to him. The Leafs could make that trade, sign Kessel to a long term deal and pen him in on their number one line for the next five years. Spending a number one pick for him makes sense since there are no sure things in the draft and Kessel will only turn 22 at the start of the season.

One other situation that could involve the Leafs is the eventual trade of Heatley. While the Leafs do not have interest in Heatley, they could become involved as a third team in a trade where they pick up a pricey young forward allowing the other team to afford the Heatley contract.

Other teams worth keeping an eye on include Chicago, Los Angeles, Phoenix and Pittsburgh. All these teams have an excess of young talent up front and could either use back end help or additional cap space.