Today Ron Wilson was approached about whether the Leafs have had any contact with the Blue Jackets, and he essentially said that it's not his job to deal with that stuff.
That being said, Burke is busy right now moving his family from Anaheim to Toronto. Indeed, Wilson also made a good point by saying that right now the teams that want to make an upgrade to their rosters can't because of cap restrictions.
That's why it's understandable that Columbus is a primary target for Columbus-Toronto trade rumours. Columbus has a decent amount of cap space left, about 6.4 million. Just enough to fit a puck-moving defenseman like Pavel Kubina, or an Antropov plus someone else.
Columbus is a team that wants to prove to its fans that its committed to making the playoffs, and their fanbase and attendance is slowly easing away after a long honeymoon since they began as a franchise in 2000.
Burke Busy With Family; Ron Wilson Speaks About Possible Trades in Leafland
Burke at the World Junior Game Today; Burke Wants Draft Picks
For anyone who was watching the Russia-Czech Republic game today would have seen that Brian Burke was there, as was Daryll Sutter. Could be interesting to know if the two talked about their respective teams. Probably nothing, though. The two are simply good friends. Seems odd that the two would get the time to watch this game, but there are a few prospects to watch in this one - notably Tomas Vincour on the Czech side, and Dmitri Kulikov on the Russian side.
From what Burke said to the TSN panel, he hasn't heard any offers of real value yet. That will change, the closer we get to the trade deadline. Burke admitted he wants more draft picks, and said he is unlikely to trade up in the draft - mostly because it costs you later draft picks. Seems like hes got his head on straight!
Kubina and Antropov to Columbus...Could it go Down?
Here's something to mull over. I'm hearing from a few sources that Blue Jackets scouts were watching the Maples Leafs game when they took on the Buffalo Sabres tonight. Who might they be looking at? Some around the web are saying they are looking at Antropov and Kubina.
Burke and Columbus might be a good mix - a GM who wants to make a mark and an organization that wants to show its fan it wants to once and for all make it to the post-season.
This could get interesting.
Leafs Rumour Mill for December 23rd 2008
Well, the trade freeze is in place at the moment, but the Leafs rumours keep churning.
I'm hearing strong reports that Justin Pogge will not remain as a backup to Vesa Toskala. He recently got the call due to an injury to Toskala, but the reason he got the start was more because "Burke wants to know what to do with both Joseph and Toskala, short term and long term".
Hmm. I imagine Burke is keen to figure out what Pogge's ETA is with the Leafs, and IF he's going to look for a backup to replace Joseph, for what length of contract.
Points Race Prediction 2008-2009 season: 71-80
This is an interesting bunch here in my ongoing predictions of this year's points race. I've got people jumping up and down all over the place. The ones that jump out are probably Sakic, Antropov and Cogliano. Sakic is so low down because I'm not expecting him to play the whole season. Either he will join late or get injured. I just feel that there's a higher chance of that then him actually playing a full season. Cogliano and Antropov will jump because their teams need them. If Sundin leaves Toronto, who else are they going to have turn to? Jason Blake? I like Cogliano making a jump in production this year because he's older and maturer. He's also going to be at the top of the depth chart - he is a big part of that team's future. It seems like just a few days ago that we were watching him on Team Canada.
71. S. Kozlov, 62 points
72. Cogliano, 62 points
73. Antropov, 62 points
74. Wolski, 62 points
75. McDonald, 62 points
76. Satan, 61 points
77. Boyes, 61 points
78. Michalek, 61 points
79. Dumont, 61 points
80. Sakic, 61 points