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By HOWARD BERGER

TORONTO (Sep. 8) – The Maple Leafs officially opened their elaborate and gaudy practice facility earlier today in suburban Etobicoke; it’s called the “MasterCard Centre for Hockey Excellence”, though the latter term is something that needs to be earned by the Blue & White. In any event, the four-pad structure adjacent to the old Lakeshore Lions Arena is thoroughly spectacular, and it provides the Leafs with a practice and training home that is, minimally, the equal of any competitor in the National Hockey League. If it also serves to help in the recruitment of free agent targets – as general manager Brian Burke intimated at the grand opening – it will prove even more valuable to the hockey club.

Burke entertained a swarm of media for 15 minutes after the event ceremonies, and though he repeated much of what he has said all summer, the GM did confirm his interest in restricted free agent Phil Kessel of the Boston Bruins. Though Burke is adamant that presenting Kessel an offer-sheet would not cast him as a raging hypocrite – he repeatedly lambasted Edmonton counterpart Kevin Lowe, you’ll recall, for signing forward Dustin Penner and luring him away from Anaheim in August, 2007 – the Leaf boss strongly implied he would forego the offer-sheet route and attempt to trade with the Bruins.

To that end, Burke acquired additional draft picks in a weekend swap with Chicago that could prove beneficial in coercing Bruins’ manager Peter Chiarelli to talk shop with the Leafs. Ordinarily, GMs are hesitant to trade with division opponents, though last season’s 35-point gap between Boston and Toronto probably limits the amount of fear Chiarelli has about dealing with Burke. More important is the quality of overture from the Leafs. If it involves a first-round draft choice – and, perhaps, the willingness to take on one of Boston’s unappealing contracts – chances are that Chiarelli will be all ears in conversation with Burke.

At the moment, the Bruins are up against the salary-cap ceiling; depending on whose numbers you trust, Chiarelli either has no wiggle room, or a very limited amount [less than $1 million]. As such, he cannot afford to re-sign Kessel, who has graduated beyond entry-level restrictions, and whose 36-goal output in 70 games last season allows him to command an annual stipend of roughly $5 million. But, if Chiarelli were able to dump, say, Michael Ryder’s $4 million pact on the Leafs – while obtaining a first-rounder from Burke – it would make abundant sense for him to trade Kessel to the Blue & White. Burke has implied, on several occasions, he’d be willing to assume a “bad” contract in the right deal. And that, in all likelihood, represents the tone of the Toronto-Boston negotiations right now.

Chiarelli has to consider that one of his other front-line players – centre David Krejci – is unlikely to be a factor in the early part of the season after undergoing hip surgery this summer. That’ll provide the Bruins some temporary cap relief, but Krejci will be back sooner rather than later, which behooves Chiarelli to think long-term about salary implications.

Whether or not Burke feels it is advantageous to be held hostage in bartering for Kessel remains to be seen, though he’s clearly had the Bruins’ forward in his sights ever since the original talks [surrounding Tomas Kaberle] began prior to the NHL Draft in Montreal. Dealing top-round picks has been strangely common for the Maple Leafs in the past 30-plus years and has proven unequivocally hazardous since the first such transaction – Jim Gregory’s donation of a pair of No. 1 selections [and scoring winger Errol Thompson] to Detroit for plodding forward Dan Maloney at the 1978 NHL trade deadline [though, to be fair to Gregory, the rather absurd deal was sparked by the craving of his coach, Roger Neilson].

First-round selections have never been more valuable than in the post-lockout NHL, where players that crack a big-league roster are bound by the graduating cap limit that starts at $850,000. This has to be a major consideration for Burke as he decides whether or not he’ll part with such a commodity in talks with the Bruins. On one hand, he’s guaranteed a prime NHL forward, still in his early-20s, that seems capable of challenging the 40-goal mark on a regular basis. Players of this caliber do not often become available. If Burke is convinced that obtaining Kessel – along with his other off-season acquisitions – removes the Leafs from draft-lottery domain and returns the club to playoff contention, then it’s a legitimate move.

Otherwise, yielding first-round picks has been repeatedly imprudent for the Blue & White. If goaltending is not drastically better this season, Burke knows his club is susceptible to either stagnating, or tumbling further in the Eastern Conference – Kessel or no Kessel. Such a circumstance would be devastating in the absence of a first-rounder next June. The flip side, of course, is that Burke went to great lengths to improve his netminding by shutting down Vesa Toskala late last season so the No. 1 goalie could undergo a trio of operations, and by zealously pursuing Swedish free agent Jonas Gustavsson. Double-B might therefore consider it well worth the risk of dealing a top-rounder for a proven goal man such as Kessel.

This is the sort of dilemma that NHL GMs frequently confront, and one that Burke is handsomely compensated to ponder on behalf of the Maple Leafs. Only time, of course, will prove whether it’s worthwhile.

NOTES: Former Leaf greats Johnny Bower, Ron Ellis and Darryl Sittler were on hand for today’s MasterCard Centre opening, along with recent additions Colton Orr, Michael Komisarek, Francois Beauchemin and Garnet Exelby. During Sittler’s reign as captain in the 1970s, the Leafs would bus to the North York Centennial Centre for practice when Maple Leaf Gardens was unavailable. The North York arena – at Bathurst and Finch – was reputed to have the best quality of ice in the region, far better than at the Gardens… Number confirmations: Beauchemin will wear 22 this season, taking it from the departed Boyd Devereaux. Orr will wear 28, Tie Domi’s old numeral. Komisarek moves into his familiar No. 8 from Montreal. It was most recently worn in Toronto by Carlo Colaiacovo, now with St. Louis. Exelby has taken Wade Belak’s old No. 3 jersey. Veteran Wayne Primeau takes No. 18, last worn by Chad Kilger. Gustavsson becomes only the second Leafs player to wear No. 50 – Darryl Boyce had it for his lone game with the Blue & White, at Washington, two seasons ago. Tyler Bozak gets No. 42, previously worn by Kyle Wellwood, David Cooper and Kevyn Adams.

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