First of all, Happy New Year! As Chemmy reported yesterday, there seems to be growing interest in several Maple Leafs throughout the NHL. It's obvious to any and all that the Leafs are completely out of the playoff picture. Brian Burke has admitted recently that his team is under performing, and he's looking to make changers. Is this the start of a fire sale? Possibly, although I doubt it. My greatest hope is that Burke has scrapped the "accelerated rebuild" and will take a longer, more patient approach. MapleStirup has some thoughts on the trade market:
Burke has been backed into a corner here really, and I don’t know if I can say it’s purely his fault. You can take the stance that Burke failed to address the issues with talent up front earlier, but we really have no idea what’s been out there with regards to available players anyway. Now that the season is in full swing, there are probably some options opening up that weren’t there a few months ago.
The return in any trade Burke makes will be a big indicator of the direction he wants to move in. Regardless, the Leafs are sellers this year and can hopefully pick up some decent assets. It's somewhat sad that we've reached this point so early in the season....but hey, at least we aren't Calgary.
Links after the jump...
Saturday links:
MLHS has a few more tidbits on the Leafs' trade front
Calling for an end to overtime and the shootout
VLM wants a return to older times in the regular season
DGB helps you ring in the New Year
MLHS interviews Joey Robb: waffle thrower
Biz of hockey has an update on league-wide attendance through mid-season
