92
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — When defenceman Pavel Kubina agreed and then later refused to waive the no-trade clause in his contract, Cliff Fletcher lost his last chance to move any of the five Toronto Maple Leafs with those clauses in their contracts and had to settle for three smaller deals on trade-deadline day.
However, the Leafs interim general manager vowed there will still be many changes on the NHL team by the start of next season. He also managed to clear almost $3-million (all currency U.S.) from next season's payroll in the three trades and add four picks in the NHL entry draft. Defenceman Hal Gill went to the Pittsburgh Penguins for two draft picks and forwards Chad Kilger and Wade Belak went to the Florida Panthers for a draft pick each.
"I can assure you that come October the face of this team will be different than it is now," Fletcher said. "We have to change this team to move forward and believe me, we will move forward."
Fletcher added that he will consider buying out the contracts of at least some of those with no-trade clauses in their contracts.
Toronto Maple Leafs' Wade Belak is congratulated on his first goal of the season during the Leafs'3-1 win over the Nashville Predators in Toronto on Dec. 4, 2007. (Adrian Wyld/CP)
Related Articles
Related Information
- Toronto Maple Leafs
- Wade Belak
- Hal Gill
- Chad Kilger
- Pavel Kubina
- Bryan McCabe
- Mats Sundin
- Darcy Tucker
After Mats Sundin refused to drop his no-trade clause on Sunday night, the Leafs' interim general manager tried hard to trade at least one of the other Leafs with no-trade or no-movement clauses — chiefly defencemen Bryan McCabe and Pavel Kubina. Fletcher said there was no interest around the NHL in McCabe and then he dropped an interesting scenario.
According to Fletcher, he had a deal in place with another NHL team on Monday for one of the players with a no-trade clause. He said the player agreed to the trade on Monday afternoon but after the Leafs' 5-0 win in Ottawa over the Senators that night, the player told Fletcher he changed his mind and would not move.
It was later confirmed by The Globe and Mail's Tim Wharnsby that the player was Kubina. Kubina admitted to reporters at the Leafs hotel that he spoke to Fletcher but said their chat would "remain private."
None of the other Leafs with no-trade clauses — McCabe, Kubina, Tomas Kaberle and Darcy Tucker were available for comment after Fletcher's comments.
The biggest trade of the three Fletcher did make saw Gill, a 6-foot-7 defenceman, go to the Penguins for a second-round pick in the 2008 NHL entry draft and a fifth-round pick in 2009. That deal was completely overshadowed by the Marian Hossa trade, of course, which saw the star winger go from the Atlanta Thrashers to the Penguins.
However, the trade is significant for Leaf fans, since it restored the second-round pick in the 2008 draft that former Leafs GM John Ferguson traded away on deadline day two years ago. He gave up a second-round pick in 2008 plus defenceman Brendan Bell for centre Yanic Perreault on the NHL trade deadline as part of a playoff push. The Leafs fell short of the playoffs and are now about to miss them for a third consecutive season.
Fletcher made two trades with the Panthers, which should make Wednesday night's game between the teams mighty interesting. Fletcher received a third-round draft pick in 2008 for Kilger and a fifth-round pick in 2008 for Belak.
Gill, who signed as a free agent with the Leafs in 2006 after spending his career with the Boston Bruins, now finds himself in the hunt for the Stanley Cup, as the Penguins loaded up for the playoffs.
"A little bit of everything," Gill, 32, said when asked what he was feeling about the first trade of his career. "I'm a little excited, a little shocked. It's tough because I enjoyed Toronto but I'm also excited to go to Pittsburgh because it's a good team."
Kilger, who did not make himself available to reporters, was picked up on waivers by Ferguson from the Montreal Canadiens on Mar. 9, 2004. He proved to be a useful player, providing a physical presence on the checking lines and chipping in from time to time as a scorer. He had the best season of his NHL career in 2005-06 with 17 goals.
Belak was the first player dealt on Tuesday and he took news of the trade with his customary good humour. He was informed of the deal after the Leafs arrived in Fort Lauderdale to prepare for Wednesday night's game against his new team. Neither he nor anyone else saw the trade coming, since all of the talk was about the five Leafs with no-trade clauses in their contracts.
"I was thinking to myself there was no one left to say no to a trade so I was the next guy," Belak said. "I was joking with the guys when we got off the plane that since I was a UFA and didn't have a no-trade I'd be the guy."
UFA means unrestricted free agent, which is what Belak is set to become on July 1. Naturally, he was asked about being a classic rental player and re-signing with the Leafs on July 1.
"I'd love to be back in Toronto," said Belak, 31, who had seven years as a Maple Leaf after being claimed on waivers from the Calgary Flames. "Toronto has been good to me over the years. Who knows?"
