Leafs Acquire 2nd Round Pick, Gearing Up for Dubinsky?

In a move that most might overlook, Toronto GM Brian Burke traded two picks from 2011 to reacquire the Leafs original 2010 2nd round pick. But, when you realize there are two key RFAs still available for the plucking, one can only speculate what this move might lead to.

The much talked about rumors of Phil Kessel beind shopped around are relentless. Pretty much all 29 teams have been involved in some sort of rumor around the unsigned winger. Every team knows that the Bruins are over the cap as of today, and simply cannot afford to sign Kessel without dumping salary. Simply put, the Bruins are in a lot of trouble.

With the trade for the second round pick, the Leafs now have enough compensation to simply sign Kessel to an offer sheet (1st, 2nd, and 3rd round picks). But then again, the Leafs are also over the cap as of today, if Jeff Finger is included on the opening day roster ($3.5 million? Really?). It makes you wonder if the Leafs are really targeting Kessel.

Actually, for Ranger fans, Kessel might not be the guy Burke is interested in (Note: This is PURE speculation on my part. I’m not even categorizing this under Rumors.). With the limited cap room, unsigned center Brandon Dubinsky may be Burke’s target. He is considerably cheaper, both in salary and compensation, as that newly acquired 2nd round pick would be all the compensation required. The upper limit on the 2nd round pick compensation is an average of $2.6 million annually. With what we know about the Dubinsky negotiations, it seems like $2.6 million a year is out of the Rangers price range.

The coming few days will be quite interesting. I wonder what Burke is playing at.