Friday, February 16, 2007

Trade Tucker


Considering the price that was paid to acquire Peter Forsberg (2 prospects, 2 draft picks) and Ladislav Nagy (1 prospect, 1 draft pick) and the contract that Shane Doan just signed (five-year, $23 million), the Leafs should unload Darcy Tucker this weekend. He will never be worth more than right now.

Anaheim and Detroit missed out on Forsberg and are desperate to find a player to narrow the gap between themselves and Nashville. Darcy Tucker had good offensive numbers this year and last but he turns 32 next month and he will not likely to repeat that feat too many more years. The Leafs will otherwise have to lock themselves into a long-term expensive contract similar to Doan's as his offensive numbers return to traditional levels. The fact that the Leafs have been successful the past two months without him indicates that they can live without him in the short-term. If they can pry loose something like two prospect and a draft pick from a real contender that would go a long way to rebuilding this team. There are other players I would consider moving as well but none will reap the benefits like trading Tucker.