(Best E Casino) - The
Toronto Maple Leafs have hit their share of low points since last winning the Stanley Cup in 1967, but the post-lockout era could be the lowest of them all.
First of all, Toronto has been left out of the playoffs in each season since the work stoppage wiped out the entire 2004-05 campaign, marking the first time in the franchise's storied history that the team has been left out of the postseason in three straight years.
John Ferguson Jr., the team's general manager from August 2003 until he was fired midway through last season, has rightfully been saddled with the lion's share of the blame, but the ownership must also take responsibility for signing veterans to try and make the playoffs when a rebuilding phase was obviously in order.
The owners apparently get the idea now, as they hired general manager Cliff Fletcher to replace Ferguson and have allowed him to get rid of some high- priced veterans. Fletcher, who had previously been Toronto's GM in the early 1990s, also hired Ron Wilson as the head coach, snatching him up a month after he was fired by the San Jose Sharks.
This summer, Toronto said goodbye to familiar face likes Mats Sundin, Darcy Tucker, Bryan McCabe and Andrew Raycroft in order to get the franchise back to basics.
The task for the Leafs franchise now is to remain patient and try to stay with the youth movement. It will be tempting to placate a small portion of the Toronto fans with big free-agent signings, but most Maple Leafs fans are savvy enough to know that this rebuilding process, if done right, is the best way to get their team back on the right track.
FORWARDS - Toronto had a decent offensive attack last year, as it was 11th in the NHL with an average of 2.78 goals per game, but the status of their leading scorer and former captain is in limbo.
Sundin has played his last 13 seasons in Toronto and had been the team's captain since the start of the 1997-98 campaign. However, Sundin is still contemplating retirement and, although he hasn't ruled out returning to Toronto, will likely end up elsewhere if he wants to win a Stanley Cup before sailing off into the sunset.
The 37-year-old Sundin was by far Toronto's best offensive weapon in 2007-08, leading the team in both goals (32) and assists (46) en route to a 78-point season.
After Sundin, there was a sizeable drop-off in scoring before centerman Nik Antropov checks in with 56 points (26 goals, 30 assists). The 6-6, 230 pound native of Kazakhstan will be called upon for even more scoring as the team's top centermen.
Winger Jason Blake had a trying 2007-08 campaign as he announced last October that he had a highly-treatable form of leukemia. Blake still played in all 82 games and was fourth on Toronto's roster with 52 points (15g, 37a). Blake is signed with Toronto through the 2011-12 campaign after signing a five-year, $20 million deal last summer.
Elsewhere, the Leafs will hope for increased production from younger forwards like Alexei Ponikarovsky, 28, and 24-year-olds Alexander Steen and Matt Stajan.
Steen had the highest point total of that group in 2007-08, recording 42 points on 15 goals and 27 assists. Ponikarovsky added 35 points (18g, 17a) and Stajan posted 16 goals and 17 helpers.
The departure of notorious agitator Tucker, who had 100 penalty minutes last year, will also open up a forward spot for anybody willing to mix it up on the ice.
DEFENSE - Technically, the Leafs defense was awful last year, giving up 3.12 goals per game (27th in the NHL), an average that was good for 27th in the NHL. One positive, however, was the team's ability to generate scoring from the blueline.
One could say that having two of your top-two scorers on defense is not necessarily a good thing, but a sign that a team has a lack of scoring depth up front. That's true of the Leafs, but still the production of veterans Tomas Kaberle and Pavel Kubina was impressive nonetheless.
Kaberle was the third leading scorer for Toronto last season, recording 53 points on eight goals and 45 assists. Kubina, meanwhile, led the defense with 11 goals while turning in 40 points.
The Leafs did let go of another offensive defensemen in the offseason, trading the high-priced Bryan McCabe to Florida for fellow blueliner Mike Van Ryn and a draft pick. Van Ryn, a 29-year-old veteran of 326 NHL games, saw action in just 20 contests for the Panthers last season after undergoing wrist surgery.
Toronto will spread the remaining minutes between free-agent signee Jeff Finger, a veteran who had 19 points in 72 games with Colorado last year, along with the homegrown talent of Carlo Colaicovo, Anton Stralman and Ian White.
GOALTENDING - One good thing that came out of the 2007-08 season for Toronto was the arrival of a No.1 goaltender in the form of 31-year-old Vesa Toskala.
The Maple Leafs acquired their Finnish starting backstop in a trade with San Jose last summer and Toskala impressed with a 33-25-6 record and decent numbers in goals against average (2.74) and save percentage (.904).
Undersized at 5-10 and 195 pounds, Toskala uses superb athleticism to stop the puck.
As a backup, the Leafs brought back 41-year-old Curtis Joseph for his second tour of duty in Toronto. Joseph, who spent four seasons as Toronto's starter from 1998-2002, played in nine games with Calgary last year and went 3-2-0 with a 2.55 GAA and .906 save percentage.
WHEN ALL IS SAID AND DONE - Unless Toskala carries the team on his back, Toronto is likely headed for its fourth straight year without a trip to the postseason. Consigning a team to fail in order to better the chance of future success is never the most popular decision, but in the Leafs' case it appears to be a necessity. Toronto fooled itself into believing it was a Stanley Cup contender under Ferguson, but through the rebuilding process it could actually achieve that dream a few years down the road.
