Given their history and the surplus of cash in Toronto don't bet against Brian Burke striking a deal with the Lightning.
I'm a bit of a conspiracy theorist. So even though the playoffs are upon us I ask that you stay with me one more day while we rummage around in the Brian Burke-John Tavares attempted grab bag.
You know the story by now: The general manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs, Brian Burke, has declared that he thinks Ontario Hockey League standout John Tavares is the best player in the upcoming NHL Entry Draft and that he wants him.
A difficult wish considering Tavares is expected to go either first or second and Burke's ping-pong ball reads seven.
I don't put a lot of faith in the New York Islanders parting with the No. 1 pick, but they could. General manager Garth Snow didn't entirely rule it out to Long Island-based reporters Wednesday, but he seemed largely put off with Burke's public pronouncement regarding wanting to move up.
Now Snow could have ended any and all speculation by going the same route as the Lightning did last season in announcing that Steven Stamkos was its pick well before the draft and immediately went into a fan-education process, a marketing campaign and a negotiation venture.
We should take something from the fact that he didn't do that and something more from the fact that he knew he was the odds-on favourite to get the pick yet has been silent on whether he wanted a forward or a defenceman.
From that we can conclude that Snow is going to play this for what it is worth. If it's in his best interest to draft Tavares first overall, he will do so, but we can also conclude that he will listen to Burke, and why not? If he doesn't want Tavares and instead leans toward a defenceman, well why let it out? Wouldn't it be wiser to listen to Burke who might then have to offer him something just to be certain that he takes Victor Hedman or some other play not named Tavares?
Wouldn't you do that?
So even if Snow appears in a snit and he certainly sounded like he was judging from comments he made this week on Hockey Central@Noon where he said it was not his style to go public with his thoughts and that he would refuse to even mention Burke's name in the interview, it's fair to assume he will at least see what's in it for him.
That could at least be Step 1.
As for Step 2 well consider this: there are people in the NHL who likely would never make a deal with Brian Burke. I would have put Kevin Lowe in that class before he moved from the general manager's office to the President's chair and even with Steve Tambellini in that role I'm not convinced Lowe would allow it to happen given all the bad blood between the two men.
But Brian Lawton, that's another option and if you're Burke, it's a good one.
Lawton's Lightning won the second pick in the draft lottery and while it's likely they would be thrilled to get Hedman if the Islanders took Tavares and would be thrilled to get Tavares if the Islanders took Hedman or someone else, it stands to reason they too would listen to Burke's song and even want to have him do a little dance.
And unlike Snow, Lawton didn't growl when Burke launched what amounted to his trial rocket and why should he?
For one thing, Lawton and Burke have a relationship. At the trade deadline Burke took a pile of salary off of Tampa Bay's books and even may have even given Lawton a usable player in exchange for what amounted to cap relief and giving Burke a fourth-round draft pick that he was able to surrender to the NHL along with a fine in payment what the league said was an illegal signing of Jonas Frogren.
The Cap relief was huge for the Lightning which has had its own money problems since new ownership took over last offseason. Those problems continue and as recently as Wednesday, the Lightning had a staff purge, laying off 25 employees including longtime media relations specialist Jay Preble, one of the most respected media people in the business. Seven others were let go in a previous purge including marketing head Mark Gullett who is also well regarded.
Even Matt Hitchcock, the actor who dressed as Thunderbug, the team mascot, was dismissed in the budget letting that has swept over the franchise.
Do I think for a moment Burke doesn't see an advantage there?
Look, a player like Tavares or Hedman comes relatively cheap in today's NHL what with they are confined to the limits of an entry level contract. But every dollar counts for the Lightning which with Cap problems and cash problems have to be both smart as well as fiscally responsible.
Now you can't just give money to a franchise but you can, if you have cap space for your franchise, take contracts in a deal that could still leave the Lightning with, oh say, Toronto's first pick in this draft, the seventh overall and maybe the two second round picks the Leafs have. Or let's say Burke offers Snow the Leafs first pick in 2010 just for not taking Tavares and then convinces Lawton to move down to seventh for a package that includes that pick, two picks in the second round and the Leafs take some players from Tampa. That gives them cap and payroll relief in a market where, if the cap falls as expected, they will desperately need.
Seems a bit more of a doable project now doesn't it?
There are likely anywhere from 10 to 100 variations to this scheme depending on what it takes to make both the Islanders and the Lightning happy, but to say it's not possible is silly.
It's not only possible; Burke's biggest problem might well be putting together offers that are better than the ones other clubs might put up in an attempt to do the same.
It's a new and different world in the NHL trade market.
Picks matter, but so do money, cap space, the financial debt carried by some teams and the lack of same enjoyed by others. The economic climate of the day also factors into the mix as does the need to make moves not necessarily to improve a hockey team but to merely keep it afloat. Just ask Tom Hicks in Dallas if he couldn't use a little innovative help right now or George N. Gillett Jr. in Montreal.
Burke has a lot of high cards in a hand like that. It's not that great of a leap to see him play them even if it does seem outside the range of the norm.
It's even less of a leap for him to find partners with high draft picks willing to get into his game.
