McCabe Trade Showcases Leaf Problems

The long awaited Toronto Maple Leaf trade of Bryan McCabe was announced yesterday. McCabe and a 2010 4th round draft pick were traded to the Florida Panthers for Mike Van Ryn. McCabe is a pretty good hockey player. He made the second team all star in 2004. He is a very good offensive defenceman and a capable power play quarterback. He is prone to making some errors in the defensive zone and as a result earned some negative press in Toronto last season, but he was clearly one of the better defencemen on the team.

For whatever reason, the Leafs decided they had to get rid of him. It didn't matter that he had a no trade clause in his contract. McCabe was threatened with being sent home from the Leafs and not allowed to play unless he waived the clause. These kinds of moves serve to make Toronto an undesirable location for free agents. Why sign with a city that has a history of treating players poorly and reneging on contract clauses negotiated in apparent good faith?

I believe that this trade was demanded from ownership. Cliff Fletcher is too smart a hockey man to telegraph to his opponents that a key player is about to be traded regardless of the return in the deal. He has no history of doing this and would not have achieved success with this strategy. Ownership decided that McCabe was a liability because of bad press and a couple high profile mistakes. It was Fletcher's job to do this in the best method he could find.

In order to trade McCabe, Fletcher had to wait until the Leafs paid him a $2 million bonus due at the beginning of September and throw in a draft pick to bring back a lesser defender in Mike Van Ryn. Van Ryn is a 29 year old who was once a top prospect. He had appeared to develop into a pretty solid defender until injuries wiped out his last season. He was limited to 20 games played and only two points with the Florida Panthers. His career best total of 37 point would be McCabe's fifth best season. Given his recent injuries and two wrist surgeries, it is unclear if he can ever regain his previous level of play. A level of play that is well below McCabe's established level.

Anytime a team can grab a player who is being sold when his value is at its lowest (as McCabe is right now) they make a good deal. It might be that the player never regains his old value, but it is very hard to give up so much in the deal that you wind up losing the trade.

Toronto took a player who was for a while thought of as one of the top defenders in the game and turned him into one who will hopefully be above average if he can overcome injuries. For this honor, they had to give up an extra draft pick and wait around to pay him a bonus that no other team was interested in. If you wonder why the Leafs are one of the worst teams in the NHL - look no further than how they handled the Bryan McCabe situation.

Here is TSN's story on the trade.