McCabe Deal Done

At long last, the deal to send Toronto Maple Leafs' defenseman Bryan McCabe to the Panthers is now official.

According to Toronto's Fan 590, Florida has sent 29-year old Mike Van Ryn north and in return, McCabe and a fourth-round pick in the 2010 entry draft are coming back to Florida. The Panthers will be happy to pick up a pick to soften the blow from the Kilger debacle. Ultimately, the Panthers will take on an additional $2.85M against the cap.

The deal was held up while the league reviewed the $2 million bonus that McCabe was due from the Maple Leafs.

The Panthers think they're getting an upgrade in McCabe, and for all of his faults, they are. By all accounts, it seems McCabe would benefit a great deal from getting out from under the Toronto microscope, a focus only magnified when he signed a big $29M contract over five seasons, putting him -- at the time -- a mere $450k shy of Chris Pronger's yearly hit and less than $1M under Scott Niedermayer's.

As for Van Ryn, the future was bright on deadline day in 2003 when the Panthers traded Valeri Bure and a conditional fifth round pick in 2004 to St. Louis for Ryno and he was solid from the start, scoring 37 points in each of his first two seasons with the club. However, wrist injuries plagued Van Ryn for the better part of the past two seasons, culminating in season-ending surgery only twenty games into the '07-'08 season. While he's a guy that loved his team and that everyone liked here in south Florida, no one really knows how his wrists will hold up this season.

It's a gamble for both sides, but now Toronto has the option to buy out Van Ryn's contract if he isn't back to form at a smaller cap hit and at a shorter duration -- or even trade him at the coming deadline for a pick depending on how they're doing. For Florida, Van Ryn's absence last season will just carry over and we'll replace his spot with McCabe and hope for his very best. The deal leaves Florida with McCabe for the next three seasons, and with it, his no-move clause.