The Mess in Toronto

While we all wonder what the heck is going on in Toronto, it is important to note that some good can come out of the circus for the New York Islanders.

In case you haven't heard, last week the Anaheim Ducks denied a request by the Leafs to interview Ducks' GM Brian Burke for the same position in Toronto. Burke's all-but-coronation had been all the talk in Canada for weeks and many considered it to be a foregone conclusion that Burke was going to land there.

Of course, no one had officially asked the owners of the Ducks. Now Burke is allegedly trying to hammer out a longer-term deal with Anaheim and is going to work through the last year of his contract.

What does this mean for the Islanders? Well, speculation was that Burke had already made noise about buying out the remainder of defenseman Bryan McCabe's contract; just as the Isles did with Alexei Yashin last summer.

McCabe as a free-agent would lead to more "he's returning to Long Island" talk since his wife is from the area and her family is all on the island. Every time the TO media needed to move McCabe and his suffocating contract, they always speculated that Bryan would be good with returning to the Islanders because he got his start there.

Would this be a good move for the Islanders? Well, I suppose it would.

McCabe has developed into a dangerous power-play defenseman with a hell of a shot and a bit of a nasty streak. He had one great season where he was scoring goals like a bigger Paul Coffey and the Leafs decided to drop a bank safe full of teachers' pensions onto his lap. So he signed a long-term deal for like $5m a year like anyone should. This money--and the stranglehold the fans thought it put on the Leafs' salary cap--made him a bit of a whipping boy in Toronto. Hey, remember, these are the fans that booed Larry Murphy out of town and to Detroit where he won a Stanley Cup!

If I am Garth Snow--and I am not--if McCabe is bought out and expresses a desire to come back to the Islanders, I think he can expect a bit of home-town discount. He may have been making over five million bucks a year to get his pride stepped on up north but on the Islanders, I think a three-year deal is ok to make. There is no way that Bryan McCabe should make more money than a warrior like Brendan Witt so for 3 years I am thinking between eight- and 9.5 million is about right. He is younger than Witt and is tough player but Witt means more to the leadership core you're developing with the young guys.

My wife asked me if there were any other former Islanders that I hoped would find their way back to the Islander. I guess it is worth noting is that Calgary defensemen Adrian Aucoin will be unrestricted pretty soon (after next season) as well and he may want to return to where his career took off. Of course, Chicago signed him to a four-year, $16m deal as a free agent when he left NY but I doubt that he is going to see that kind of scratch again. Aucoin has been hassled by injury since leaving the Isles and worse, he was exposed as being a much better player when paired with Kenny Jonsson on the Isles. Jonsson had a way of making the heavy-lifting look easy, didn't he?

Mike Milbury didn't think Aucoin was worth what the Blackhawks gave him and even though I was a fan of Aucoin's, I didn't either. If he wants to play for the Islanders again, I'd give him just over $2m a year. Someone else might give him more but as much as I like Aucoin's game--it's similar to McCabe's but perhaps less nasty--we already have younger guys who are ready for bigger roles on the Islander blueline. Another year of development for the guys next season and the Isles will know what kind of players they have for the future. We see guys like Bruno and Campoli who are regulars when healthy. Andy Sutton is still a young guy and so is Radek Martinek. Aaron Johnson is young and proved himself capable at times last season as well.

Mike Peca will be unrestricted this summer, too, you know. Don't think he should come back.

Tonight at 8:00PM on the NHL Network is a show I have been waiting to get for a while: Classic Series 1993--Penguins vs Islanders. Two words: David effing Volek. Make sure you check it out. They're also playing the 1984 playoff game vs. the Rangers where Ken Morrow won it in OT on a little snap shot toward the net. Just like Pierre McGuire says, you don't always have to drill it.

Also worth nothing is that beginning May 16 the NHL Network will be broadcasting games for this year's Memorial Cup. Having never really seen too many Junior games aside from stuff online, I am really looking forward to this.