30 teams in 30 days: Toronto Maple Leafs
Finished: 12th eastern conference
Leading scorers: Jason Blake 63, Alexei Ponikarovski 61, Matt Stajan 55, Mikhail Grabovski 48
Who did they add?: Colton Orr, Mike Komisarek, Francois Beauchemin, Wayne Primeau, Garnet Exelby, Jhonas Gustavsson, Joey MacDonald, Rickard Wallin, Colin Stuart
Who did they lose?: Pavel Kubina, Tim Stapleton
Overview: The Leafs have been stuck in a recent funk that has landed them consistently out of the playoffs, but not low enough to get very high draft pick. Because of this, and other inconsistent GMing, they brought in Brian Burke, to try and make some signings and trades to make the Leafs better. It was quiet when he first came in, only making a few moves leading up to deadline day, but when the offseason rolled around, you knew Burkie wouldn’t hold his silence for much longer. Burke signed and traded and completely retooled the Leafs blue line, but left the offense basically the same. Leading the charge is Jason Blake, who came in to Leaf nation with lots of pressure on him to produce, and he hasn’t really lived up to expectations yet. Behind him are Mikhail Grabovski, Alex Ponikarovski, Matt Stajan and a bunch of other young, talented players. The one drawback with the Leafs attack is that they don’t have one prolific scorer or playmaker. They need one big offensive threat to try and rejuvenate the offense and bring it back to what it was when guys like Mats Sundin still wore the blue and white. The retooled defense is much better than it was last year. The addition of Mike Komisarek gives them a legit shutdown pairing with him and Luke Schenn. Following them on the blue line are Garnet Exelby, Francois Beauchemin, Tomas Kaberle and Ian White. This defense is good, albeit big, but will produce and help the Leafs immensely. The one thing they have to keep an eye on is penalties, and will have to make a big effort to stay out of the box. The goaltending looks to be in good hands, with Vesa Toskala starting between the pipes and Swedish sensation Jhonas ”Monster” Gustavsson backing him up. With Joey MacDonald brought into the fold, it should be tough to get pucks into the Leafs net. Toronto has a young and talented team, but I don’t think they have enough offense to be able to make a playoff run. The northeast will be tight this season and the Leafs MIGHT be able to make the playoffs, but don’t be too hopeful.
Winners or losers?: Winners. Winning teams are built from the net out and Burke seems to know what he’s doing. They just need to upgrade their offense and they should be fine.
