Thursday, June 3, 2010

Free Agents I'd like to see the Leafs target

A month away from free agency, this is not a good year in terms of star power but there are a handful of solid role players who could help a lot of teams including the Leafs. Here's my wishlist

Depending on what kind of trades Burkie makes at the draft and throughout the summer, this wishlist could change but I'd like to see him add a couple pieces to make the team competitive for next year:
FIRST LINE FORWARD:
This is a must. I think he'll go the trade route but if he does go with a free agent I'd be interested in the following -
Ilya Kovalchuk - ya I want him. 6 years $45-50 mil, something like that (7.5-8.2 cap hit roughly)
Patrick Marleau - I don't love the guy but he would be a good pick up, 6 years $33-36 mil would be the highest I'd go (5.5-6 cap hit), or 3 years $21 mil.
Ray Whintey - I love him, look at his point totals in each of the last 5 years, and I was really impressed with the way he played in the couple of Canes games I watched. 1-2 years only for the 38 year old, under $2.5-3.5 per season.
Vinny Prospal - He'd be a 1st/2nd line guy, and would only be a 'plan B' for me. I don't think he's a Burke type guy, but he's a decent two way player and can score goals.
TOUGHNESS/SECONDARY SCORING:
I like the idea of Burke adding some muscle up front, preferably a player or two who can also score up around 20 goals.
I'd like to see one or two of these guys signed to 1/2 year deals:
Bertuzzi, Holmstrom, Modin, Cullen, C.Armstrong, Cooke, Artyukhin, Boogaard (maybe), Nichol, Burrish, Malholtra, Nystrom, Ivanans, Pyatt.

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