It’s already been a hell of a 2009 for the Toronto Maple Leafs. Who cares that they were one of the worst teams in the Eastern Conference this season. Who cares that they finished last in their division, a mere 35 points out of first place. Who cares that they finished behind the lowly Senators for bragging rights in Ontario. None of that stuff matters anymore—“In Brian Burke We Trust” is the new mantra coming out of the mighty TO these days.
In the biggest move of the offseason thus far, Burkie has already wooed (stolen, snagged, kidnapped, whatever) goaltending guru Francois Allaire from the Mighty Ducks to join the Maple Leafs. We’ll finally get to see if Justin Pogge is capable of being an NHL goaltender; and we’ll find out if Vesa Toskala is capable of being a consistent NHL goaltender.
Looking forward to the upcoming offseason and the Maple Leafs 2009-2010, we have the guys over at Pension Plan Puppets to help make sense of it all. If for no other reason, you should listen to what they have to say because their main writer is a self professed lover of NBC Hockey coverage and all things Pierre McGuire. They’re either completely crazy or misunderstood geniuses. We’ll let you be the judge!
Recent polls say that 98.9% of Leafs fans have a man-crush on Luke Schenn. The rest are secretly Senators fans...
1. What was the Maple Leafs’ biggest strength last season?
Ummm…there really was not anything I would call a strength other than I guess leading the league in number of games played by rookies. That helped us get a sense of what the team has going forward but in terms of offence (patchy), defence (mostly lost) and goaltending (catastrophic) the team didn’t have any strengths.
2. What was the biggest weakness last season?
See above.
3. What is the biggest strength of the pipeline/young players?
Surprisingly, it looks like the Leafs might have some kids that have potential at forward. Jiri Tlusty had a huge year in the AHL, Mikhail Stefanovich was over a point a game with the Quebec Remparts, Chris DiDomenico was looking amazing until he broke his femur, and a few others have shown the ability to do a job in the NHL.
4. What are the biggest holes in the pipeline/young players?
Defence. Beyond Luke Schenn and maybe Phil Oreskovic there is not much depth in the ranks.
5. Who do you think your GM will pick?
I think Burke will end up picking Brayden Schenn. It’ll involve moving up but there are a couple of teams ahead of them (Atlanta and LA) that would appear to be open to moving down in the draft.
6. Who do you think the Leafs SHOULD pick?
That’s a tough one. There is a lot to be said for picking any of the top 5 picks (I am assuming that a draft day deal is coming) but I think Hedman would be the best fit for the Leafs going forward.
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You have to love that just about every Leafs fan you talk to thinks they’re going to move up in the draft to get their man on Friday. Will they be able to come up with the tradable assets to move up from 7th to the #4-#5 spot? Whether you love him or hate him, Brian Burke is always good at making a splash and getting people to talk. The longer Maple Leaf fans are talking about the draft, the less time their focusing on their horrible 2008-09 season. That’s a good thing, right?
No matter what the Leafs do in the draft this weekend, it’s only the start of what SHOULD be a busy offseason in Toronto. Picking up Allaire was a huge addition to a team that struggled with goaltending all season. There are rumors all over the place that Francois Beauchemin is going to trade in his Mickey ears from Anaheim for—well… whatever they have in Toronto. A Doug Gilmour jersey? A Peter Zezel jersey? Speaking of which—how long is it before the Maple Leafs change their official name to “The Anaheim Ducks of Toronto?” If they trade for JS Giguere, Paul Kariya and Guy Hebert, I’m starting a petition to the NHL league offices officially change their name. I’m not even kidding.
A huge thanks to Pension Plan Puppets for helping us out with the Leafs Draft preview. In a world that has a ton of Maple Leaf sites—theirs is one of the best. They always have good information, good insights and it’s a great place if you need an outlet for a Luke Schenn man-crush. So go check out their site or follow them over on Twitter at @mlse. Either way, you won’t be sorry.
Tomorrow we’re going to shift our attention back to the Western Conference and the Dallas Stars. I’m sure we’ll be able to mix in a few Ducks jokes for them too! Here’s the schedule of the draft previews that we have coming up this week, as well as the previews that were contributed last week. We’ll catch you back here tomorrow…
