Bryan McCabe, the Heat Is On

Big-contract blueliner Bryan McCabe is being forced out of T-dot.

McCabe, 33, has spent the last eight years under contract with the Toronto Maple Leafs, playing as a top-four defensemen with the club for seven of the past eight seasons as well as playing as a first-liner with HV71 of the Swedish Elite League during the lockout.

There is no doubt that McCabe is a top-quality player, but fans and new management in Toronto believe he is being overpaid and they are looking to pinch their pennies.

McCabe has for the past year been the itch the Maple Leafs could not scratch, refusing to wave his no-trade clause. But it now seems the Leafs have a clever solution.

Management in Toronto say that McCabe will not be bought out of his contract, which has three years remaining at $5.75 million per season. But he also will not return to the NHL in Leafs' blue and white.

It's said that the pricey McCabe has played his final game as a Leaf. While the Maple Leafs' will not buy him out of the final three years of his contract, they won't be inviting him back to the team, either. This move is made in an effort to force McCabe to waive his no-trade clause.

Leafs GM Cliff Fletcher is doing quite the opposite of what John Ferguson, Jr. did during his years at the helm. Instead of going on a spending spree, Fletcher is looking for refunds.

He is demolishing all the bagage left behind by Ferguson, recently unloading fan-favorite Darcy Tucker and creating major spectulation about the man who now seems to be nothing more than a former Leafs captain, Mats Sundin.

Fletcher is looking to drop the bomb on McCabe by boarding up the doors and saying "Get out of town."

Still, he won't do anything without some return for McCabe, so now all that can be done by the blueliner is waive the no-trade or take a nice break.