Gonchar to Bruins
 

Gonchar was traded to the B's for Shaone Morrisonn and 1st and 2nd round draft picks in 2004. Pretty good deal from both sides. Caps get yet another solid defensive prospect and now they have 3 1st round picks. B's get the offensive Dman that they needed.

IMO the Leafs choked big time by not trading for Gonchar. If they couldn't offer up more than Morrisonn and 2 picks then they don't deserve a SC.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/news/story?id=1749847

Luckily the Leafs picked up Brian Leetch.

at the price of Immonen, Kondratiev a first and a second for Leetch and a conditional pick. IMO that's a lot to give up for Leetch. He's still a good dman though and will help them in the playoffs.

I think the leafs made a good decision not getting Gonchar. They would have given up way too much, Coliaccovo (sp?), stajan or steen, plus some picks. Their team is old enough as is without dumping all the young talent. Plus they don't need what he offers, which is increased scoring capability. Leetch is a better choice because hes a solid veteran defensemen which is exactly what they need. Unfortunately hes 36, and the Leafs have a ton of old players so they're gonna be screwed in a couple years. But i think the GM is going all out for a cup this year and trading for talent we can use right away (Brad Boyes/Alyn McCauley for Nolan deal is an example) because heaven knows it hasn't been in TO for a longass time.

I agree 100% Leetch is old, but still a solid defensive defenceman, and they do have many old players, but the Caps wanted way to much for Gonchar I'm curious why they traded him to the Bruins for so little, at least now the leafs will be a little more sure footed in their own end and not have to depend on Belfour so much

Word 'round the campfire is that the Caps wanted a young defenseman for Gonchar, so they took Morissonn off of the B's. I think the trade definitely helps the Bruins, specifically the Power Play. Thy've been trying to operate with Boynton on the point with Rolston. Love both those players, but Gonchar is a definite upgrade over either of those guys.

With Jersey hurting on defense, one has to wonder why they didn't go after one of these guys (Gonchar or Leetch). :hmm:

I can't blame the Leafs for not trading for Gonchar, Coliacavo is going to be too good and they need to keep thier youth that is already developing, instead of trading it away to rent a player, they could always ger Eric for dirt cheap,

the gist of the trade is that the future is now!
gonchar will be a group 2 free agent this summer, meaning he'll assure himself a raise to near double his current pay as the highest scoring defenseman, should it go to arbitration...
boston may very well walk away from that, meaning gonch is a very expensive rental
the B's still need a scoring forward

SI had a cute piece in Yesterday's issue that the Caps are going to have a promotion coming up called slap Ted Leonsis in the Face Night. I have tickets to four games remaining and I can't give them away now.

Shit...if you're giving them away I'll take one. I've only ever seen AHL hockey live in Baltimore, so I won't know the difference :p

At this point most AHL teams could beat the Caps.

Woo, Leetch picked up 3 assists last night, great start...

Great move by the Leafs, Leetch is still the man and he will prove it now that he's not stuck in a horrible franchise. It's a great day for American hockey even though he's going to Canada... Leetch is a master on the power play and McCabe's got to be the happiest man on earth right now.

He will make an already good defenceman in McCabe look great and make the Leafs leaps and bound better.