There is a fruit farm out on the country roads of Milton that says "McDavid is coming".

So the rumo(u)r mill says the Panthros kicked the uncoachable Proverbial spare tire on Kessel, but essentially laughed in Nonis's face when he said it'd take Bjugstad or Barkov to get a deal done.

Personally, I think Huberdeau/pick would be a fair deal, but I doubt it'd ever happen.

Leafs getting outshot 31 to 9. Winning 2-0. Textbook 2012-2015 Leafs hockey.

BTW, is Nonis really still the guy "gettin' er done" anymore? Or is he just keeping the seat warm? I can't imagine he has much if any authority at this point.

He may have bought himself a little time with the Clarkson move. At least he buried the turd he put in the litter box.

Apparently Columbus approached him about it. He deserves about 0 credit for it.

I think Columbus wanted a sweetener for the deal.

CBJ initiated trade proposal with TOR. They wanted to lose Horton's financial commitment for player who couldn't play. CBJ wanted Clarkson.
7:00 PM - 26 Feb 2015

FIRST POSTED: THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2015 08:46 PM EST | UPDATED: THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2015 08:50 PM EST

The Maple Leafs front office was meeting the other day, as they do most days, talking about trade possibilities, kicking things around, when a stroke of genius was spoken aloud.



And everyone paused for just a moment to comprehend what was said about the seemingly impossible.

About finding a way to trade David Clarkson.

What about finding a team, it was suggested, that wasn’t up against the salary cap, that had a need to justify all its dollars, that had a player of similar contract being paid for not playing because of injury?

The concept was brilliant: Trade bad contract for bad contract — with a catch. Could they actually pull this off?

Was there such a team with a match?

They began their due diligence at that moment, going team-by-team, payroll-by-payroll, contract-by-contract, trying to find a home and a fit for a player who didn’t fit and couldn’t find a home with the Leafs.

They stopped at the Columbus Blue Jackets. Perfect, they thought. The Jackets had Nathan Horton not playing. His contract wasn’t insured. Money is tight in Columbus.

Then the phone calls began.

“We started discussing this with Columbus in the last couple of days,” said Dave Nonis, the Leafs general manager of the moment — and maybe longer after this heroic deal. “Internally, we knew this made sense for us. It turns out they were interested as well. (Some other teams were interested, but not in the same kind of way.)

Yeah Leafs need to wait out on Phaneuf. Off season, next TDL, or never but they can't take a 2million hit on the guy for that many years after he is gone.