Well, it looks like the Leafs aren’t waiting for good ol’ Bryan Burke to start wheeling and dealing, as current interim GM Cliff Fletcher would say.

Causing John Ferguson Jr. to probably slit his wrists and write emo songs for the next few days, the Leafs have given up on young guns Alex Steen and Carlo Colaiacovo. (For those who don’t know, JFJ rejected a trade that would send Steen to the Oilers for Chris Pronger, and another that would send Steen to the Flyers for the 2007 2nd Overall Pick. WHOOPS!)

What will the Leafs get for the overrated-to-many Steen and made-of-glass Colaiacovo? Well, just ask the St. Louis Blues, their new team. The Leafs are getting 25 year old stud forward Lee Stempinak, who has 3 goals and 10 assists in 14 games this year(which puts him on pace for 72 points on the year).

Personally, I like the move for the Leafs. Steen wasn’t going anywhere. He was stuck on the third line, and for the love of god, Matt Stajan surpassed him on the offensive depth chart (however, Stajan looks like a beast now with 19 points in 19 games).

As for Colaiacovo, he just can’t stay in a lineup. In the span of six years, he’s played 111 games. This is about a year and a half full time, meaning he’s missed about 75% of the games he could’ve played in that time, pretty much entirely due to injury.

Eklund is speculating that the Leafs are also trying to Acquire Jay Bouwmeester from the Florida Panthers, however, I have my doubts that they’d jump the gun and get him before July 1st.

However, interestingly enough, the trade *does* remove 500k off the leafs salary cap, meaning they could theoretically bring Sundin back and take in Jaybo…