Toronto Maple Leafs

Leafs Demote Kulemin - Trade For Brad May

Today is the first day of the rest of our Maple Leaf lives: Brian Burke made his first asset and player transactions of note as President and GM of the Toronto Maple Leafs.  It doesn’t necessarily look like building through the draft is on the docket just yet.

Earlier today, Nikolai Kulemin was demoted to the Toronto Marlies in what was a fairly obvious precursor to the more major story that occurred later on in the day.  This should not be taken as an outright evaluation of Kulemin’s skill level or play thus far this season, 7 goals and 7 assists in his first 40 games in the NHL is far from horrible as a rookie, ranking him in a tie for 16th amongst rookie scorers, tied with Fabian Brunnstrom (the one that got away) and Steven Samkos (1st overall draft pick from 2008)… how many prognosticators expected that when the season began?

What the move should be evaluated as, is an astute allocation of resources.  Two things should immediately become apparent to anyone watching the Leafs.  This team lacks toughness and grit, and they have zero intensity at the beginning of their games so far this season.  They are the worst team out of the gate in the NHL, having given up 51 goals in the opening frame, and scored 27.  That works out to -24 for those of you struggling with the maths.

Kulemin, while defensively sound, and far from a negative on the ice so far this season, would benefit from taking a larger role on a team that is playing on a North American ice surface.  He can grow into a comfort zone, perhaps playing alongside future team mate Jiri Tlusty.  If the two of them can forge some chemistry in the minors, then they can perhaps bring that along with them to the NHL down the line.  He can take more risks, he can grow more confident in his game, and he can polish any areas of weakness that he needs to work on, outside of the lime light of the Toronto media glare.  As a rookie, the Leafs lose nothing in sending him to the AHL.  He doesn’t have to clear waivers, and thus is not a risk to be snatched up by another franchise.

Yes I agree that ditching a player like Hollweg or Mayers might make more sense, but considering what the team wants is MORE sandpaper not less, we all know that isn’t the move Burke was going to undertake.  Think of it as ice time for Kulemin to hone his craft on this side of the pond, and a way to make room for someone who can drive the team a bit harder from the ice.

Which brings me to the second major announcement of the day.  The trading of a conditional 6th round pick in 2010 to Anaheim for the services of 37 year old veteran, and Brian Burke circle-of-trust member, Brad May.  May is exactly the prototypical Burke player.  He is hard nosed, plays with an edge, and will take a vocal leadership role on the team.  He has zero problem speaking to the media (as long as you don’t consider making veiled threats on behalf of his team-mates a problem), and he won’t hesitate to stand up for his team-mates on the ice either.

The loss of a 6th round pick is a calculated risk.  Generally speaking, only four to six players from the 6th round of a given draft year will make the NHL, and only two or three of those tend to be of a high caliber.  Some years, players like Andrei Markov, Pavel Datsyuk, Ryan Clowe, Trent Hunter, or Marek Zidlicky turn up.  Other years, very little is in the offing for those taken in the 6th round.

The main issue most should take with this deal is that it means there are now three rounds in which the Leafs are without a draft pick in 2010: The 2nd round, 4th round, and 6th round.  That is two years away, and that gives Burke time to trade for OTHER picks in that draft, but considering the fact that the Leafs are a rebuilding franchise, those picks will likely feature near the top of each of those rounds and hence should be of reasonably high value - relatively speaking.

They have already lost their 2nd round pick in 2009 to the Islanders in the Luke Schenn trade, and their 4th round pick in 2009 in the Vesa Toskala trade.  They had gained a 5th round pick in 2009 from the Penguins in the Hal Gill trade, but they promptly gave that one to the Rangers in exchange for Ryan Hollweg.  Thus they still control their own 5th round pick.  At this point, for the upcoming 2009, and 2010 drafts, the Leafs are a combined -5 in draft picks.  Teams like the LA Kings and Nashville Predators are up 6 picks and 5 picks respectively in the 2009 draft alone.

The idea that the Leafs plan on building through the draft looks to be a tad off base thus far.  Especially when one considers the fact that the player obtained for the 6th round pick is 37 years old, and fairly far removed from his best seasons as an NHL’er.  I (and I assume most Leafs fans) certainly hope that this is far from the only deal to be made by the Leafs, because considering the players in their system, and the potential of draft picks, one would hope more garbage will go out than come in.

The Leafs need to make deals that divest them of underperforming players, and promotes the potential to bring in solid young talent.  Right now Burke has yet to do that.  He’s got a long leash this early in his rebuild, but if he ignores the requests that the Leafs build for the future, he might find the majority of fans turn against him relatively quickly.