It’s slightly more than half-way through October and even
though the season has barely started, there is still a lot of chatter in Leafs
Nation about why more of the “rotten core” hasn’t been moved out to make way
for the youngsters down with the Marlies.
For those of you who don’t live and breathe Blue &
White, or simply have relegated the Leafs to a distant second after the Blue
Jays (Let’s Go Blue Jays!), let’s define who comprises this “rotten core”. Most
Leafs fans would agree that the “rotten core” is made up of the following players:
- Tyler Bozak
- Joffrey Lupul
- Dion Phaneuf
As the list is only comprised of 3 players, most of Leafs
Nation is wondering – if the new management group is so committed to a rebuild, what’s
taking them this long to move this “rotten-core” out?
As the business of professional hockey is by no means
simple, that means there are no simple answers to that very simple question.
The first obvious answer – at the moment no one wants
them!
If that’s not enough of an answer, then we’ll need to
look at recent moves by other organizations in the NHL. Starting last year with
the high-profile waiving by the Kings of Mike Richards to the A.H.L. and
followed up this year by the waiving to the A.H.L. of Andrew MacDonald by the
Flyers and Daniel Cleary by the Red Wings, it seems teams are no longer willing
to carry what they see as “dead-weight” salaries against the salary cap. Not
good news if you’re the Leafs and you’re trying to unload guys being paid $4.2,
$5.25, and $7.0 million against the salary cap for the next 3, 3, and 6 years
respectively. Yikes!
After the tire fire which ended their 2014/15 season, realistically the
best that can be hoped for by the new management team of the Leafs, and Leafs
Nation for that matter, is that Mike Babcock will be able to “rehabilitate” the
perceived “poor” play of the previously mentioned “rotten-core” and make them
tradeable at some point in the future – hopefully later this season at the
trade deadline.
Even though the new season is only five games old for the
Leafs, the results so far seem promising. Dion Phaneuf is tied for the team
lead with 4 points. Tyler Bozak (once) and Joffrey Lupul (twice) have both hit
the back of the net, and more importantly, Lupul has managed to stay injury
free! If this level of injury luck and offensive production can be maintained
until the trade deadline at the end of February 2016, the Leafs might be able
to unload two (Bozak & Lupul) of the three as depth players for teams
hoping to make a deep push into the playoffs. Similar to the Phil Kessel trade,
both of these players have limited no-trade clauses and this could complicate matters somewhat.
Dion Phaneuf will present more of a challenge as he has a
relatively high cap hit ($7.0 million) and extended term (6 years) still left
on his deal. It’s almost a foregone conclusion that if the Leafs are to trade
Phaneuf, they are going to have to take back either a similarly “bad” contract
(but hopefully on a shorter term) and/or absorb some of the $7.0 million cap
hit. Complicating Phaneuf’s situation is his no-movement clause.
What’s the reality check alluded to in this article’s
headline?
Leafs Nation - be prepared for all three of this so-called “rotten-core”
to be Maple Leafs for the duration of each of their contract’s term. For Bozak
and Lupul, that is two more seasons after this one – a time-frame the Leafs can
probably live with as no one is expecting them to be serious contenders before
that time. Phaneuf’s term of five more seasons after this one could present a challenge
as he is already on the wrong side of 30 and realistically projects to hit
rapid decline in his play over the next 3-4 years – a potentially bad time-frame
coinciding with when the Leafs are hoping to at least become contenders.
What are the take-aways from this whole “rotten-core”
situation?
- No more over-paying, in either dollars or term, for border-line players.
- No more no-trade or no-movement clauses.
