Think back to the squad that the Maple Leafs had at the end of last season. After the Dion Phaneuf and J.S. Giguere trades, is there anyone left? In a related question: Is Brian Burke Bat-Shit Crazy?
Last season, the Leafs finished the season in 12th place in the Eastern Conference. Today, they are dead last in the East. On top of the roster shakeup, they’ve managed to trade away their near future by trading away two 1st round picks and a 2nd rounder for Phil Kessel.
Here are the only players that are left from last season’s roster.
| Still Around | |
| Jeff Finger | |
| Mikhail Grabovski | |
| Christian Hanson | (he played 5 games last season) |
| Tomas Kaberle | (even though they TRY to trade him) |
| Nikolai Kulemin | |
| Alexei Ponikarovsky | |
| Luke Schenn | |
| Lee Stempniak | |
| Rickard Wallin |
Here is a side-by-side comparison of the rosters. I’m convinced that the Leaf’s new offensive philosophy is to pass the puck to Kessel and let him go 1-on-5. Then again, that’s been Kessel’s philosophy all season—so he should be able to seamlessly make the transition.
| 2008-09 Roster | 2009-10 Roster |
| Jason Blake | Francois Beauchemin |
| Alexei Ponikarovsky | Tyler Bozak |
| Matt Stajan | Garnet Exelby |
| Mikhail Grabovski | Jeff Finger |
| Nik Antropov | J.S. Giguere |
| Niklas Hagman | Mikhail Grabovski |
| Dominic Moore | Carl Gunnarsson |
| Pavel Kubina | Jonas Gustavsson |
| Nikolai Kulemin | Christian Hanson |
| Lee Stempniak | Tomas Kaberle |
| Tomas Kaberle | Phil Kessel |
| John Mitchell | Mike Komisarek |
| Ian White | Nikolai Kulemin |
| Jeff Finger | John Mitchell |
| Jamal Mayers | Colton Orr |
| Luke Schenn | Dion Phaneuf |
| Anton Stralman | Alexei Ponikarovsky |
| Boyd Devereaux | Wayne Primeau |
| Mike Van Ryn | Jay Rosehill |
| Jeremy Williams | Luke Schenn |
| Jonas Frogren | Fredrik Sjostrom |
| Jeff Hamilton | Viktor Stalberg |
| Alex Steen | Lee Stempniak |
| Jiri Tlusty | Rickard Wallin |
| Phil Oreskovic | |
| Christian Hanson | |
| Brad May | |
| Ryan Hollweg | |
| Jaime Sifers | |
| Tim Stapleton | |
| Jay Harrison | |
| Carlo Colaiacovo | |
| Andre Deveaux | |
| Kris Newbury | |
| Ben Ondrus | |
| Vesa Toskala | |
| Martin Gerber | |
| Curtis Joseph | |
| Justin Pogge |
