Youngsters to the Leafs?: The Rangers' Trade Rumor That Has Me Roiling

(Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

I've been stewing about this rumor for days.

If it happens to be in any way reliable, I'll be huddled under my bed drowning in tears until October.

Darren Dreger of TSN reported (reportedly) in a broadcast that Glen Sather was engaging in trade talks with the Toronto Maple Leafs.

The Rangers would be trading Marc Staal, Brandon Dubinsky, and Wade Redden for Tomas Kaberle, Anton Stralman, and the Leafs' 1st round, 7th overall draft pick.  Unlikely.

Right now, I'll treat the rumor as though it is a possibility.

I'm not going to lie.  I was fervently hoping to buy either a Staal jersey or a Dubinsky jersey this summer. 

Sather continues to preach (as he did last offseason) about making the team faster and younger.  Does this include trading away Fedor Tyutin and acquiring Wade Redden? 

Apparently this doctrine now includes trading away two of the Rangers' younger core players.

Marc Staal is a player the Rangers need in their organization.  New York has depth as far as offensive defensemen go (Girardi, Sanguinetti, Del Zotto, etc.).  Staal is a defensive gem.  He may never be a big points guy, but I can only hope that Tortorella will be able to turn him into a true shutdown blueliner.  Staal has shown that he has the potential and work ethic to make that happen.

I believe Dubinsky is immensely important to the future of the Rangers.  He does everything.  He hits, he's clutch, and he stands up for his teammates.  The Rangers need fire?  Here it is.  Keep Dubinsky with Callahan.  Trading either of them would be like wiping the sauce off a Big Mac.  It wouldn't quite be the same.  All or nothing.  I'd prefer the "all".

Kaberle is a proven offensive defenseman.  I repeat my statement from above.  We don't need anymore of those, especially one who is 32 years old.  I don't find Stralman exciting.  The draft pick could be interesting, but only if we then traded both first round picks for a top three pick. 

Good riddance to Redden, but not at the expense of Staal and Dubinsky. 

The only way I'm happy with any trade involving the Maple Leafs is if Schenn is included and we all know that Burke is never parting with Schenn.

I do realize that this is only a rumor, but I find it to be a singularly nasty one.

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