Toronto – It has been less that a year since Brian Burke took the reigns as the Toronto Maple Leafs President and General Manager but already the team has a new look and some much needed optimism in a city that was starved for it. Having to clean up the mess left behind by the previous GMs John Ferguson Jr. and Cliff Fletcher Burke still has some work ahead him but the wheels are already in motion.
Stating all along that he wanted this team to be more “truculent and tougher” Burkes first move when taking over was to bring in an old friend in winger Brad May from Anaheim. More for his locker room presence than anything May was very long in the tooth and ended up costing Toronto nothing in terms of any type of return; May was instrumental in helping rookie Luke Schenn in his development even moving in with the young star during the season. Not expected to return this season May was a great pickup for nothing.
At the end of the regular season Burke worked his magic and signed a couple of overage college players in Christian Hanson and Tyler Bozak. While Hanson isn’t expected to be more than a third line player Bozak has the potential to be a top six forward and will get every opportunity to ply his trade with a ton of ice time this season.
The trade deadline brought high expectations with names such as Nik Antropov, Alexei Ponikarovsky, Vesa Toskala, Dominic Moore and Jason Blake being thrown around Antropov and Moore ended up being the only roster players moved for some valuable second round draft picks. Burke showed his genius with an inventive deal with the Tampa Bay Lightning literally buying a fourth round draft pick in exchange for some garbage contracts causing a stir among fellow GMs around the league Burke showed off his Harvard law degree with this move.
Vowing to try to trade up in the entry draft to land coveted prospect John Tavares or even within the top five draft choices to get a shot at Luke’s brother Brayden Schenn Burke could not find a dance partner and wound up where they started selecting with their own pick in the number seven spot taking Nazem Kadri. The Kadri pick combined with all the trade talk that seemed to fall through Leaf fans, not exactly known for their patience, were starting to vent expecting Swedish stud Magnus Paajarvi-Svensson or defenseman Jared Cowen to be selected. Topping off the day in Leaf nation was the talk of a potential blockbuster deal that would send longtime Maple Leaf blueliner Tomas Kaberle to the rival Bruins in exchange for potential 40-goal sniper Phil Kessel and a draft pick. Miscommunication between the two clubs nixed the trade that many NHL experts expected to be a “sure thing.” Toronto fans were not pleased with many jumping off the bandwagon.
If draft day was a letdown the off season was anything but; free agent signings Mike Komisarek, Francois Beauchemin and the gem of the UFA season, netminder Jonas Gustavsson, “the best goalie outside the NHL” as has been said numerous times were all signed. Pavel Kubina was dealt to the Atlanta Thrashers for another heavy hitting defenseman Grant Exelby and potential third line agitator Colin Stuart. With the logjam of Leaf blueliners now at ten something has to give. Rumors are swirling of Kaberle being traded to either St. Louis, who are in dire need of a veteran puck moving defenseman, or to the Bruins for Kessel in a reworked draft day deal that went sour. Kessel would fill the Leafs biggest need right now, a slick top line goal scorer.
Burke may not be finished signing free agents; Anthony Stewart and Travis Moen have both been linked to Toronto and both seem to fit Burke statements of getting bigger and tougher up front.
Retooling rather than rebuilding Burke fully expects this team to make the playoffs from now on under his watchful eye. Judging by his first year on the job the Leafs bandwagon might not have enough room to seat everybody with each move he makes more and more people are buying into what Burke is selling. For the first time in a long time there is optimism in Leaf nation.
The season is under way and some great story lines have developed. From teams over achieving, stars playing ordinary and a lot of teams with goalie problems. One thing I have noticed is that the next generation has truly taken over the league. We all know about Ovechkin and Crosby, but it seems like a lot of there peers are catching up and leading the league. There is a lot of players in the league who are under the age of 20, its up to you to figure out if that is a good thing or not. Wow some big market teams are off to bad starts and might be growing impatient. The National Hockey League seems strong, the play seems good and there seems to be a lot of fans enjoying the game.
Philadelphia Flyers – A lot of hockey people picked the Flyers to be one of the best teams in the Eastern Conference, and guess what they have zero wins.. There seems to be a lot of problems here, but the most prevalent is the goals they are allowing. Don’t blame it all on the goalies, the defense looks lost out there. This team might need to trade one of there forwards to get a good defenseman. I don’t know if there is a trade to be made, but I would be looking if I was the GM in Philadelphia. Its obvious that something has to change, the defense is soft and Biron isn’t good enough to over come these time of defensive problems. The Flyers don’t tend to be a patient franchise and if this continues they will make deals that they think will improve there club. I am not ready to give up on this team, its only six games and they are to talented.
The Anaheim Ducks have only scored 16 goals in 7 games, they will not win a lot of games in the West averaging just over two goals a game.
Back to Canada - I have heard a lot of talk this week about putting another team in Canada. I hope this is a relocation idea, not expansion, this league doesn’t need more teams. We need to face facts some southern teams are struggling and they could end all that by putting a team north of the border. A lot of the talk surrounds putting a team in southern Ontario and maybe even a second team in Toronto. Not a bad idea, I’m not sure whether another team right in Toronto will work, but there are a lot of fans and money in southern Ontario. Other possibilities have putting team back in Winnipeg or Quebec City or what about Halifax. First off I think if a team is going to move the likely candidate is Nashville, sorry Preds fans, but you have ownership problems and you just don’t have enough of a fanbase. Hockey people realize that it is easy money to put a team in Ontario and it will be harder and harder to keep the franchises away.
Jason Blake is going to be a healthy scratch from the Maple Leafs lineup when they take on Boston. This has to hurt for a guy who had 40 goals just 2 seasons ago. He has never produced in Toronto and it looks like he has fallen out of favor with the coaching staff.
Evgeni Malkin leads the league in points with 11 and Thomas Vanek leads with 7 goals. Big surprise Malkin leads the league in assists and Vanek looks like he might be that star Buffalo hoped he would be.
Goalie Problems – I am not surprised that some teams have some serious goaltending problems early in the year. I am not surprised about Martin Gerber in Ottawa, Jose Theodore in Washington or Peter Budaj in Colorado. If these teams want to compete this year, they will need to figure this out. Budaj and Gerber especially, how about making a trade, we all know Khabibulin is available. “The Bulin Wall” is off to a great start, and it might be time one of these teams make a move for him. Yes, he makes way to much money, but you have to do what you have to do if you want to win. All around goalies haven’t been very good guys like Turco, Osgood, Luongo and Bryzgalov are all not playing as we expect them to. It is early and there is no reason to panic for most team, but if I was an Ottawa or Colorado fan I might be a touch concerned about the future.
Martin Brodeur had his 98th career shutout. Brodeur is a future hall of famer and is getting close to the all time shutout and wins records. When it is all said and done Brodeur might be considered the best goalie of all time.
Sarah Palin will drop the puck at an NHL game again, this time in St. Louis. I am sure her and her supporters hope to get a better response then they did in Philly.
The Ottawa Senators continue to struggle at home and have started re arranging there lines. Spezza will try to play on the second line, while Fischer will play with Alfredsson and Heatley. This team is struggling and I think need to make a major shake up move, in my opinion trading Spezza might be something they should look into.
Don’t worry its not panic time yet for most teams, the season is still very young. Goaltending is a big issue all over the league, but that was predicted in the pre season. You cannot truly evaluate how a season is going until your team has played about 20 games, at that point you might see some teams scramble to make there clubs better. The NHL product has been great so far and I look forward to more great story lines as the year continues.
Michael Lindow