wingsfanincan

Leafs got Franson for Lebda only because the Leafs were willing to take Lombardi and his 7-million cap hit over the next two years. Preds said they didn't want to let Franson go but they need Lombardi's cap space if they hope to sing Weber, Suter and Rinne. I doubt Wings could make a deal like that because of lack of cap space. As well, Leafs have to take risks like injury-prone Tim Connoly at a high price because they haven't made the playoffs in years. Wings are not in that situation.

I saw White a lot with the Leafs and thought he was pretty good on a lousy team. Don't know why Calgary and Carolina gave up on him but he looked good with the Sharks last year. As for his attitude, which some said was lousy as a junior player, a writer for the San Jose Mercury wrote recently that he was the first player he ever recalled who went out of his way at the end of the season to say goodbye to the PR staff and the writers who were around. In any case, the price was right. You don't want a bunch of expensive long-term contracts when the current CBA expires especially if the the NFL and NBA owners hammer out hard caps with their players. That would mean the NHL owners would want similar concessions and a much lower cap. I can believe how much some NHL teams paid long-term for average players. I guess it was because of the law of supply and demand and because the minimum cap is now $48 million forcing poorer teams to spend money.