Leafs made strong pitch to acquire Ryan, Schneider from Ducks

[12Newf 0]

TSN Article

Sources tell TSN the Toronto Maple Leafs made a strong pitch to acquire 21-year-old forward, Bobby Ryan and 39-year-old defenseman Mathieu Schneider from the Anaheim Ducks.

The Leafs offered a conditional first round draft pick in 2009 along with two prospects.

To stay in the hunt for John Tavares, Victor Hedman or one of the projected top 5 players in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft, Toronto attached a condition that would guarantee the pick the Ducks received couldn't be higher than 6th.

According to a secondary source, Bobby Ryan is a young player the Toronto Maple Leafs are very eager to acquire and Schneider had to be included in the package to give Anaheim cap relief.

It's likely, had the deal gone through, Toronto would have aggressively tried to trade the veteran defenseman for a draft pick.

Ryan, now 21-years-old was drafted second overall in 2005 behind Sidney Crosby and is considered ready to step into the NHL.

He scored 10 points in 23 games with the Ducks last season and recorded 20 points in 16 playoff games with Anaheim's AHL affiliate, the Portland Pirates.

[RainingBlood 8]

Ive known Ryan for years. Hopeully he continues to take a step in the right direction.

[12Newf 0]

i just came across this and damien cox of the toronto star shares my thoughts exactly on this proposal.

http://thestar.blogs.com/thespin/

The Future, Always a Slippery Notion

Ah, its always fascinating to watch the Maple Leafs "build."

We're into, what, the sixth or seventh rebuilding phase since the '67 Cup triumph, and sometimes there's been the patience to at least try and do it right, and sometimes not.

Jim Gregory tried to do it right in 1970s until Punch Imlach tore it all down again.

In the 1980s, there was an attempt to draft high, keep the kids and let them develop, but the organization and owner Harold Ballard were too unstable and it didn't work.

Now they say they're doing it again. But how much patience is there to do it right?

Clearly, Luke Schenn is a young blueline gem, perhaps the most impressive Leaf top draft pick to come along and show this well in his first Leaf camp since Wendel Clark in '85.

And he should still go back to junior if the Leafs want to do this right. But you can sense a little wavering on the part of the Leafs, a little wondering about, well, what if we keep the kid for just a while? You know, five or six games? What's the potential damage from that?

Anybody who believes that should go back and review the Luke Richardson saga. Similar stories, not the outcome the Leafs wanted.

Then comes a published report this morning that suggests the Leafs were willing to trade their 2009 first rounder on a conditional basis and a couple of prospects to Anaheim for Mathieu Schneider and youngster Bobby Ryan.

It's an interesting tidbit since Anaheim GM Brian Burke did say last week that he had such an offer, but didn't identify the team. He also acknowledged, however, that because of all the rumours swirling about his possible future in Toronto, the Leafs were a team with which he likely would not deal this season.

Given the nature of the deal, a salary cap swap involving huge futures, it would have been complicated and controversial if such a transaction had gone down between the Leafs and Ducks.

Gary Bettman would not be pleased.

But if the deal was out there, what does that say about Cliff Fletcher and his group? That they can't sit back and let the draft-and-develop process move along, but are already trying to accelerate it by moving first round picks for players, although the '09 first rounder would certainly have been protected if it turned out to be a top five pick.

I've often suggested the Leafs need to declare a five-year moratorium on trading first round picks just to let the situation stabilize. But they traded away their '07 pick, and this story suggests they're already looking to move the '09 pick.

It fits with the public pronouncements of chairman Larry Tanenbaum that being competitive every year, not just winning a Stanley Cup, is the goal.

Yes, it's always fascinating to watch the Leafs build.