Leafs spending too much on defense and goalies

The Leafs are 29th in forward salaries, 3rd in defense salaries and 5th in goalie salaries. This is not the primary reason for the Leaf low position in the standings but it certainly is a contributing factor. It could be argued that a more balanced distribution of salaries could possibly produce more wins.

The solution for Brian Burke is trade one of the higher paid defenseman and perhaps J-S Giguere for some help up front. Obviously easier said than done. No doubt Burke tried to trade Tomas Kaberle without success. It is highly likely that he attempted to pick up Wojtek Wolski from Phoenix. It is rumoured that Burke was offering Francois Beauchimin to the Coyotes but Phoenix ultimately went with Michal Rozsival from the Rangers.

I just don't see Toronto being competitive until this imbalance is addressed.

	FOR	DEF	GOAL
New Jersey	58.3%	26.2%	10.3%
Boston	55.5%	27.9%	9.6%
Calgary	56.1%	31.9%	9.9%
Vancouver	49.8%	38.7%	10.0%
Toronto	42.1%	39.6%	12.7%
Montreal	54.5%	36.8%	6.2%
Philadelphia	52.8%	41.4%	4.4%
Pittsburgh	57.4%	32.9%	9.3%
Detroit	59.2%	36.4%	4.2%
Washington	62.4%	32.1%	3.9%
Minnesota	54.2%	28.6%	14.5%
San Jose	62.7%	29.3%	6.7%
Ottawa	59.3%	28.6%	8.4%
Los Angeles	63.5%	27.9%	4.5%
Chicago	51.9%	37.0%	3.6%
Rangers	60.3%	19.4%	13.2%
Anaheim	63.3%	25.8%	8.7%
Buffalo	62.6%	24.7%	12.2%
Tampa Bay	60.7%	26.8%	9.2%
Columbus	66.0%	23.1%	4.4%
Dallas	64.9%	23.1%	8.0%
Phoenix	44.3%	37.3%	10.0%
Carolina	59.2%	24.4%	13.1%
Florida	53.9%	29.9%	13.4%
Nashville	64.3%	26.9%	8.4%
Edmonton	58.9%	31.0%	9.0%
St. Louis	51.1%	34.9%	10.1%
Atlanta	46.7%	43.5%	6.4%
Colorado	58.8%	38.9%	6.6%
Islanders	41.4%	27.7%	11.5%