TORONTO (CP) - John Ferguson Jr. doesn't think for a second the Toronto Maple Leafs picked up the consolation prize in Brian Leetch on Wednesday night after seeing Sergei Gonchar go to Boston earlier in the day.
In fact, the rookie general manager insists the 36-year-old Leetch was his man from the beginning.
"The discussions began quite some time ago and really did heat up more recently," Ferguson said on a late night conference call.
"Brian is a premier defenceman in this league and in my mind was the best defenceman available."
When pressed on Toronto's much-publicized interest in the 29-year-old Gonchar, Ferguson refused to go there.
"I'm not going to discuss other transactions or other players," he said.
Either way, Ferguson deserves credit for finally making his move under tremendous pressure from fans and media in Canada's largest market.
But it didn't come cheap. While the Leafs also got a conditional draft pick, they gave up their first-round selection in this June's NHL entry draft, a second-round draft pick in 2005 as well as prospects Maxim Kondratiev and Jarko Immonen.
"We acquired a premier defenceman, a Stanley Cup winner ... and that comes at a cost. We were comfortable with that cost," Ferguson said.
What Ferguson was not ready to give up was any of his true blue-chip youngsters such as Matt Stajan, Alexander Steen or Carlo Colaiacovo - whose name had long been linked in a deal for Gonchar.
"I said no consistently and repetitively on a host of deals and this was the one that made sense," Ferguson said.
The American-born Leetch, who is expected to play for Toronto on Thursday night against the Islanders, is an excellent puck-moving blue-liner with star offensive skills although his best years seem to be behind him. The Leafs hope he's got one more great playoff in him as the club attempts to end a 36-year Stanley Cup drought.
"He continues to be amongst the top players in the league in ice time, he's among the top group of defencemen in points, and he continues to play at a high, high level - a level that few others are at or hope to be at," Ferguson said, responding to Leetch's age.
Leetch is not a rental. He's making $6.6 million US this season and has another year on his contract next season paying him $6.4 million, of which Ferguson said the Leafs would pick up the full amount.
The pressure for Ferguson had intensified over the last 24 hours after Gonchar went to the Bruins and star winger Alexei Kovalev landed with the Montreal Canadiens.
"I'm not so sure there was any urgency," Ferguson insisted. "We paid a price that we were comfortable with. It was really the timing of the negotiations, we could tell early in the day it was coming to a head."
The Rangers, meanwhile, continued their fire sale in a big way. After Kovalev went to Montreal on Tuesday night, centre Peter Nedved was shipped to the Edmonton Oilers on Wednesday evening and then Leetch to Toronto as GM Glen Sather picked apart a disappointing outfit.
"It's never easy to make moves of this magnitude," Sather said during a conference call. "But the state that we're in now, we are obviously rebuilding and trying do what we can to make this club successful in the future."
Earlier Wednesday, the Washington Capitals sent Gonchar to Boston for defenceman Shaone Morrisonn as well as a first- and second-round draft picks. Sather said that deal helped set the stage for the Leafs deal.
"I think that the market was really set by what happened with Gonchar," said Sather. "We didn't agree with (Washington's) assessment but as we proceeded down the path we thought we did very well with the players we got and draft picks we got.
"Brian is a great player, he's a few years older than Gonchar but they're very comparable in a lot of the things they do. Brian is outstanding in his leadership and qualities on the ice, his endurance. We tried to get more than what Washington did with Gonchar."
Toronto's other rival clubs in the Eastern Conference had also made moves in the last two months, Ottawa with Peter Bondra, Philadelphia with Sean Burke, Danny Markov and Alexei Zhamnov, the Devils with Viktor Kozlov and Tampa with Darryl Sydor.
But the Leafs finally got their man, adding a quality top-four defender to a blue-line that sorely needed it.
"It puts us right there with a small group (of contenders), but let's face it, there's four or five teams that are vying for top spot (in the Eastern Conference)," Ferguson said. "This doesn't guarantee anything other than improving our club.
"You don't win the trade deadline unless you win the Cup."
And the Leafs may not be done before next Tuesday's 3 p.m. EST trade deadline.
"It's hard to say," said Ferguson. "If there is another deal out there that makes sense for the club and will improve us at the right price, we'll continue to explore things. But we do like what we have, we like our club better now."
Leetch, a two-time Norris Trophy winner as the NHL's top defenceman, has 13 goals and 23 assists in 57 games this season. He won the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP when leading the Rangers to the 1994 Stanley Cup championship.
Leetch has played 1,129 career games for Rangers collecting 981 points (240 goals, 741 assists) with 525 penalty minutes. He was the Rangers' first choice, ninth overall in the 1986 entry draft.
"Obviously he's going to make our team a lot better and help our young defencemen," said Maple Leafs winger Tie Domi on the NHL on TSN Wednesday. "More than anything, I think he's going to help our powerplay quite a bit. He's just a smooth guy and he never panics with the puck."